The Voting System Flashcards
What was wrong with the Voting System in the 1820s?
- Rotten Boroughs- Constituencies with small amount of people voting who coud easily be bribed: In suffolk, there were still 30 people voting despite the fact the whole town had been destroyed by erosion.
- Big cities like Manchester had no MPs and some tiny villages had up to 2
- MPs were not paid so only rich people could afford to be one
- Nobody under 18 and no women could vote
- Only men can be MPs
- Pocket boroughs: In many town the landowner was so powerful, he controlled the elctions
- Elected MPs join the house of commons however the unelected house of commons is more powerful than the commons
- Voting wasn’t secret, but in public
What happened in the Peterloo Massacre?
A large meeting of 50,000 working class people to protest the political system in Manchester, St Peter’s field, in August 1819. Henry Hut was due to make a speech calling for the reform of Parliament. The army arrested him and attacked anyone who got in the way. Eleven people were killed and 400 were injured.
Concequences of the Peterloo Massacre
- The government congratulated the army and those involved in keeping order in Manchester.
· Henry Hunt was sentenced to over two years in prison
· The government banned meetings of more than 50 people at any one time
· Tax on newspapers was increased so that working-class people could not afford to read them and they would be less likely to publish negative things about the government
Arguments for women having the vote made at the time:
- Women pay taxes just like men
- Other countries like New Zealand allow women to vote
- Uneducated working men can vote
- Women could vote in local elections since 1888, why not national ones?
Arguments against women having the vote made at the time:
- Women don’t fight for their country and so haven’t earned the right to vote
- Women’s views are already represented by their husbands
- Women are too emotional to be trusted with the vote
- If women left there housework for work in order to vote, the house woukd be neglected
Who were the suffragists?
By 1900, there were 50,000 members of the National Union of Women’s suffrage Society- the suffragists. They collected petitions, wrote to parliament and went on marches as protest for women’s votes. By 1905, they had gotten nowhere, some of their members decided ti change to more violent tactics.
Who were the suffragettes?
The suffragettes were a group of people led by former member of the suffragists: Emmilene Pankhurst and her daughters Christabek and Sylvia. Their motto was ‘deeds not words’, meaning they took a more violent and physical approach to protesting women’s right to vote.
Examples of suffragettes’ protests:
-Emily Wilding Davison set off a bomb at Lloyd George’s house in Surrey- a leading MP- Feb 1913
-Emily Davison jumps out infornt of kings’ horses and dies from injuries- Jun 1913
- Disrupted political, Smashing politicians windows with rocks, set fire to churches amd railway stations, attacked MPs etc…
Arrested and fined, refused to pay so sent to jail. Hunger strike in jail giving government two choices: leave the to starve or release them so they force fed them. Governement defeats their bill by 47 votes despite previously promising to support it
What happened in 1914?
The suffragettes called off their campaign to help with war effort. Many men left their jobs to fight in ww1 so women took over the role of many jobs such as: bus drivers, milk deliverers, police officers, munition factories and car mechanics.
What happened in 1918?
Many people felt women had earned their right to vite due to their help with war effort. In 1918, Parliament allowed women over 30 to vote and women gained full equality in 1928 through the Representation of the People Act, where all men and women could vot over the age of 21
What was the Great Reform act and when was it?
In 1832, Parliament passed a law that changed the British electoral system. It was known as the Great Reform Act which basically gave the vote to middle class men leaving working men disappointed.
What did the Great Reform Act change?
- It gave Middle class men the right to vote.
- Voters increased to 2 in every 10 men.
- No more rotten boroughs.
- Anyone occupying a house worth at least £10 per year could vote.
- Some seats in parliament were redistributed so some northern towns gained an MP while others lost.
- Scotland and Ireland were given extra seats in Parliament.
What were the limitations of the Great Reform Act?
- Elections were still held in public so threats and bribery could still take place.
- Property in the North wasn’t worth as much as in the South so many still couldn’t vote.
- M.P’s were still not paid so many were still from the upper classes.
- Working class men were not given the right to vote.
- Constituencies were still not of an equal size.
- The Upper Classes gave away just enough power to the Middle Class to stop the threat of a Revolution.
- Women were still disenfranchised, and the limited women who could legally vote had this
What were the reasons for the Great Reform Act?
•The Upper Classes were worried that the revolutions which had happened in France and America could happen here in Britain.
•They were concerned that, in their anger, the lower classes might take control of the country.
•There had been many protests over recent years, such as the Peterloo Massacre.
•The Middle and Working Classes had been protesting together for the right to vote.
•There were many problems with the British parliamentary system, such as rotten boroughs.
What was the public response of the Great Reform Act?
•The working class were angry that the middle class had received the vote and they had not.
•This was because the two groups had protested together to gain the vote.
•There was only a small increase in the number of men who were able to vote.
•The North was still under represented.
•There were still no working class MP’s in Parliament as there were no salaries for MP’s.
•The disappointment of the working classes led to the formation of another protest group called ‘The Chartists’.
