The great reform act 1832 Flashcards
What happened in 1832?
The great reform act - middle-class voting
What was the franchise based on before 1832?
- amount of land owned (meant voting was limited to the upper class)
What caused the middle class to secure the vote?
- the industrial revolution
- Britain underwent rapid economic change
- UK shifted from rural, land-based to a more urban, industrial one
How did the industrial revolution cause the middle class to secure voting
- it led to the rise of the middle class as a major economic force
- they contributed more to the economy than land-owning nobility
- this meant that most of the economic group in the country was denied representation
What did the industrial revolution cause the middle class to do?
- their public discontent, led to middle class campaigns which led to the passing of the great reform act in 1832
What did the great reform act entail
- extended the right to vote to an additional 300,000 people as the value of property, rather than land became the key factor for awarding the franchise.
How may people could vote after the great reform act in 1832?
- 5.6% (about 20% adult male)
what did the great reform act of 1832 show?
- that reform was possible
- it also showed how future groups might be able to persuade parliament to make further changes
who were the chartists?
a group that campaigned for the franchise to be extened to all men aged 21 and over, payment of MPs, a secret allot, no property qualification for MPs, equal size constituencies (1884) and annual parliamentary elections. They believed that this would hold parliament accountable
what was the great reform act of 1867?
extended the right to vote to skilled workers (men who paid their own rates and had been resident in a property for a year) removed many rotten borough and gave MPs to industrial towns and cities that had not had MPs 700,000 men gained the vote
