The Brtisih Political System 1783-1812

Question 1

WHO WAS IN CHARGE

Answer 1

Power shared between the king and the parliament. Parliament was made up of lords and commons. “Supreme authority”
King chose his ministers but they had to be from inside the parliament

Question 2

PATRONAGE

Answer 2

Patronage is the right to give privileges or make appointments- the King had the patronage and therefore had a great political influence. He had the power to appoint men in his parliament which supported him and his policies- this shows just how corrupt and unorganized the British government was in the early 19th century. Patronage was the key to holding them together -if the king didn’t reward loyalty (he payed the ministers well,provided annual pensions and honours like nighthoods). Without this he would have lost control of the government.

Question 3

CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

Answer 3

1783 Britain had a system of Constitutional Monorchy. The king (George III) was bound to govern by oath. After the Glorious Revolution 1689, Supremecy of Parliament over the Monarch was established in the Bill of Rights. It aimed to restrict the power of the monarchy and prevent any future monarch interfering with the law. Constitutional Monarchy meant that the parliament made laws,took decisions on taxation and spending as well as debated issues of national and local importance. However the Monarch still had a significant amount of power-he was head of state,influenced general policy, and still had the power to choose or dismiss ministers of his choosing. He could summon or dissolve Parliament however he could not rule without it. The king was also financially dependent on the parliament. Therefore while the king had the power to to veto legalisation and dismiss parliament, he would not do so because his income would be jeopardised.

So, by 1783, despite having Bill of rights establish Supremecy of the parliament (1689) - political party was shared between The King and the parliament.

Question 4

SOVEREIGN

Answer 4

Sovereign - the pope (plr)
Between the glorious Revolution and Reform act (1689 - 1832) the Sovereign powers were gradually diminished. Before, anyone who wanted to become a minister would seek the pope’s support, however this support became not needed or useful. Gradually, to become a prime minister you had to have support of the commons rather than royal or religious support.

Question 5

COMPOSITION OF PARLIAMENT

Answer 5

The the parliament was made up of House of lords (upper house) and House of commons (lower house).
The house of lords, the lords were unelected hereditary peers, ruling elite with great political influence. (It could block measures passed by commons)
House of commons was elected assembly most belonging to the gentry (not democratic not many could vote). Controlled the taxation and check on ministers. The Prime minister had to have the support of the commons.

Question 6

SOCIAL TERMS

Answer 6

Society was organised according to the ranks in which a person was born.

The minority was propertied classes- very wealthy,powerful with social superiority. Divided into arisotocraty or substantial property and local influence or the gentry whose position in society was based on lesser land ownership.

There was a small prosperous middle class which was expanding.

The vast majority of the population was lower class, labouring classes and the poor.

Question 7

THE CABINET

Answer 7

The king has a group of advisers called the Privy Council. It helped the king and the parliament to settle on policy decisions. The Privy council members were appointed for life and therefore the council became too large - nothing was manageable. This made the Cabinet emerge and gain more executive power - it was made up of a small number of ministers. Within the cabinet there would be a person called the First Lord of the Treasury, who would become a monarch’s chief or Prime minister.
The king would usually choose someone he could trust as the PM, however that person also had to be supported by the house of commons (this meant that the king would choose either a member from the Whigs or the Tories whichever was the most popular at the commons). This allowed smooth ability to carry out business of government.
The PM - used public patronage,handing out honours,positions and pensions, cement essential parliamentary support.

Question 8

PM AND KINGS POWER DECLINE

Answer 8

In 1782 George III power was weakened after the loss of American Colonies, the Parliament forced Prime Minister Lord North to resign (who was chosen and close with the king) and instead made the king appoint lord Rockingham (who the kind detested)

Question 9

GEORGE III RULE IN MONARCHY AND THE POLITICS

Answer 9

Could be argued that George III during his long rain (1760-1820) could’ve done a lot more in restoring royal influence on policy decisions and the laws. Some argue that he was ignoring constitutional priorities when he appointed the 24 year old William Pitt as a prime minister as an attempt to overthrow Charles Fox and Lord North. Especially since Pitts rule hastened the declined if monarch’s powers.

Question 10

REPRESENTATION IN THE BRITISH POLITICAL SYSTEM

Answer 10

In the early eighteenth century the government was desperately in need of reform. The parliament was dominated by rich influencing landowners and aristocrats who only cared for their own interests. They believed that their government was close to perfection with a great fair balance between the parliament and the king. However this free and democratic national was in fact not - only a small number of men were allowed to vote and the majority of the population was unrepresented. During the industrialization period, this problem has become very clear and popular - it was changing the social and economic landscape and causing movement of the population from the country side to the expanding towns and cities. Many new large urban areas lacked represantion while the town’s with little population and importance still had 2 representatives sent to Parliament. Corrupt.

Question 11

UNREPRESENTATIVE PARLIAMENT PT 2

Answer 11

While the power of the parliament increased the the power of the Monarch decreased, the government was no where near to being more democratic or representative.The electorate was small male group based on ownership of property. The government was UNREPRESENTATIVE of the population as a whole.
William Pitt made 2 attempts 1792 & 1795 to reform parliament and redistribute seats but was defeated in the commons, no one wanted to risk their power. Especially the house of lords - who were just wealthy aristocrats with hereditary titles, losing seats in Parliament or having any sort of reform meant that they jeopradisrd their power and wealth.
House of commons had 558 elected members all who were gentry, knights and wealthy gentlemen.

Question 12

THE FRANCHISE

Answer 12

Franchise : the right to vote, depended on property owning and the Borroughs they lived in. E.g. in some only the freemen could vote.
1783 - only 250,000 men in England and Wales were allowed to vote. While the population grew, the number of votes dropped.
No uniform system of the Franchise. In some boroughs like Preston anyone who stayed the night in the town before elections could vote.

Question 13

THE BOROUGHS

Answer 13

Pocket boroughs : places controlled by the landowner

Rotten boroughs : few qualified voters yet still returned 2 MP’s.

Question 14

SCOTLAND AND REPRESENTATION

Answer 14

Severely unrepresented-only 45 Scottish MPs in commons, and only 16 in the lords. They were rich landowning men who had no interest in social and economic issues of the Scottish people.

Question 15

CORRUPTION

Answer 15

The Parliament was corrupt especially in their electoral procedures. Not all seats were contested. In rotten pocket boroughs it was the landowner who nominated the MP not the people. Where voting did take place it was held in public which allowed widespread corruption and bribery. Men saw their vote as a piece of property which they could financially benefit from, many sold their votes to the highest bidder. Sometimes threats and dirty tricks would be performed e.g. cooping where the opposition got the voter drunk so he couldn’t vote.

Question 16

HOW WAS THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT SEEN AS

Answer 16

The British constitution was generally seen as liberal and democratic and was admired by European neighbours. In early 1780s the constitutional monarchy expanded ,there was apparently more ((religious toleration for dissenting protestants, independence of judiciary (established in Bill of rights 1689)) and a free press.
However the majority of the people didn’t have many chances to voice their opinion and couldn’t vote. The people who were ruling were convinced that authority belonged to those from good birth,rank,property in order to maintain law and order and preserve a stable and well-governed society.

Question 17

THE SEPTENNIAL ACT

Answer 17

1716 The Septennial act was passed-it extended parliament from 3 to 7 years which meant that it provided a more stable government and cut down election expenses. However many seats were not contested, many different not get to vote.

Question 18

POWER IN TOWNS

Answer 18

Power was shared by the gentry in and merchant class who were known for their property, wealth and influence. Some towns were run by mayor and corporation, which compromised the elite with the alderman as justice of the peace (alderman - civic dignitary in the borough -  next to mayor rank elected by fellow councilors.) 
Close towns e.g. Edinburgh were self electing and therefore self perpetuating (sustained)

Question 19

THE EXCLUSION CRISIS

Answer 19

During the reign of Charles II, (1660-1685) the two main political parties were Whigs and Tories. The Whigs tried to prevent Charles brother James Duke of York from succeeding the throne because he was Catholic, however the Tories supported his claim believing in the Monarchy. Tories lost most of political influence after the succession of Protestant William of Orange. Most of 18th century The Whigs were the more popular party while the Tories were associated with their failed attempt to restore the Stuart Monorchy.

Question 20

THE WHIGS AND TORIES 1783 late eighteenth century

Answer 20

By 1783, while the Whigs and the Tories were known for general political, economic and religious beliefs the parties had factions inside with different interests and parties who often opposed each inside the parliament and were regrouping constantly. However the members came from aristocracy so all remained wanting to remain the status quo and focused on getting political advantage over the other party. Both parties also accepted royal patronage as part of a political system.

THE WHIGS believed political power should be with the people (people representatives - Parliament) that the monarch should not interfere with the will of Parliament and not have the power to appoint ministers and officials. Believed in religious toleration for Dissenters
THE TORIES believed sovereignity belonged to the monarch and the People were there to obey, accepted the hereditary nature of monarchy and authority established by the Anglica Church. Hostile to Radicals, Dissenters and Catholics

Question 21

WHIGS AND TORIES (END OF LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY)

Answer 21

Whigs and Tories were emerging as distinct parties. However they lacked unity and organisation withing the party. After the election of Pitt there was a gradual redefinition of Tory term and the Whigs supremacy and oilgarchy was slowly being broken. By 1830’s Whigs were seen as reformed and associated with liberal ideas and reform. Tories were seen as reactionary and against reform.