To what extent does the strength of government resolve explain the decline in demand for reform in the years 1785-1830? Flashcards
What are the factors that need to be discussed?
Government resolve within parliament Government action against protesters Hunger politics/ improving economy Dominance of the tory party External factors
Describe parliament in 1785
Not supportive of radical change or reform to the parliamentary system
What shows that parliament in 1785 was not supportive of radical change or reform to the parliamentary system?
Pitt’s proposal to disenfranchise 36 of the worst boroughs and redistribute their seats to larger counties was defeated by 74 votes in commons.
In 1785, what were few MPs not motivated to do?
Change the system from which they benefitted
What in the 1820s shows that Parliament was still just as opposed to parliamentary reform as it was in the 1780s?
1822 Whig Leader John Russel sought to introduce a bill designed to disenfranchise 100 of Britain’s most rotten boroughs, yet this received no support from the Tory government and failed by a large majority.
1822 Whig Leader John Russel’s failed bill is symptomatic of what?
the continued aristocratic conservatism of government that meant that people did not demand reform because they knew that they wouldn’t get it
When was the highly reactionary period of government?
1815-21
What were there not during the majority of the 1820s which suggests government approach thought the 1810s had worked?
Truly threatening protests
What ensured that there were no serious challenges to government’s authority until the end of the wars in 1815?.
Treason Act 1795 allowed for the use of the death penalty in any reasonable activity, including political meetings and the publication of seditious material that might challenge gov’s authority.
When did war outbreak with France?
1793
What did the outbreak of war with France replace?
Any sense of revolutionary spirit with a strong sense of patriotism which reinforced the existing status quo and brought more rigorous government control
What strengthened the hand of a government that was increasingly alarmed at the threatening discontent?
December 1819 6 acts
What, a part of the 6 acts, did the Seditious meetings prevention act do?
Banned public meetings of more than 50 people
What, a part of the 6 acts, gave power to search for and seize arms?
Raw Seizure of Arms Act
What, a part of the 6 acts, introduced a tax on newspapers to make them more expensive and what were newspapers who did not pay this tax known as?
The Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act
What did the The Newspaper and Stamp duties Act do?
introduced a 4d tax on newspapers to make them more expensive
What was the purpose of the The Newspaper and Stamp duties Act?
To stop the spread of radical and revolutionary information, which they saw as something the drove the French Revolution
By silencing those who made speeches (sedition), what did the government remove?
A key component of the revolutionary structure
When was peterloo?
August 1819
Who spoke at peterloo?
Henry Hunt
How many at peterloo?
60 000
Who were sent to suppress Henry Hunt’s peterloo?
Manchester Yeomanry
How many people were killed and wounded at Peterloo?
killing 11 people and wounding 400-600
What was the peaceful march in 1817 and when was this?
March of the Blanketeers 10th March 1817
How many gathered for the March of the Blanketeers at St Peter’s fields and how many actuarily left?
4 500 and 300
How far did the Blanketeers get?
Stockport 7 miles away
What happened when the Blanketeers reached Stockport?
stopped by Yeomanry, with one Blanketeer begin shot dead and several more wounded.
What did the Cato Street Conspirators plan to do?
The Cato Street Conspirators, all planning to assassinate Lord Liverpool’s Cabinet in February 1820
What was the government response to the Cato Street Conspirators?
all arrested and a number executed. Five more were transported.
When was the northern rebellion and what is it called?
Pentrich Rebellion
What were the two rebellions of the Pentrich Rebellion?
Huddersfield in June 1817
Pentrich in Derbyshire march to Nottingham Castle
what happened to the Huddersfield June 1817 rebellion?
200 men were quickly stopped by a small detachment of troops
What happened with the Pentrich Rebellion?
Jeremiah Brandreth led 200 stocking-makers, ironworkers, quarrymen and labourers to seize Nottingham Castle. Before reaching the castle, the leaders were captured and three of them were executed, with a further 30 being transported.
What were protests often motivated or catalysed by?
poor economic situations
What fact about Britain’s GNP shows improving economic conditions?
Between 1821 and 1829 Britains’s GNP rose by 16.8%
What two facts about Britain’s manufacturing shows improving economic conditions?
1) Between 1821 and 1829 manufacturing grew by 25%
2) By 1811 British Manufactures produced £130 million of goods of which £40 million was exported
By what percentage did Glasgow’s population grow by during the 1810s?
Glasgow’s population grew by 46% during the 1810s
By what percentage did Manchester’s population grow by during the 1820s?
44%
What can a growing population said be said to be a symptom of?
Good economic conditions
When did the french wars end?
1815
Between which dates was Lord Liverpool providing the country with strong and stable leadership?
1812-27
What can be said about the position of the Whigs that led to declining demands for reform?
The Whigs were a poor opposition party during this period therefore not giving the necessary support to those people in the country who wanted change.
What did Lord Liverpool not address because he thought it would precipitate further calls for reform?
Catholic question
What was the split in the tories after the 1826 election?
between Peel (anti-Catholic) and Canning (supporter of Catholic emancipation)
Even when Lord Liverpool suffered a stroke in 1827, why could it be said that reform was not addressed by government?
there was apparent chaos in the Tory party who had 3 leaders in 11 months with the Duke of Wellington taking over in August 1828. The Tories were trying desperately to sort themselves out so the last thing on their minds was bringing about electoral reform.
When were the two relevant French revolutions?
1789 1830
What was the effect of the French revolutions?
Scared the government and made them keen to enact even more draconian laws
Faced with the criticism of the ‘rule by the rich’, what happened?
a strong defence of the status quo ensued from conservative politicians and other figures who benefitted from the system
At the heart of the a strong defence of the status quo ensued from conservative politicians and other figures who benefitted from the system, lay what argument?
why change something that was working so well?
Describe the situation in france and compare that with Britain?
Turmoil, “reign of terror” wheres Britain had kept the monarchy, kept a stable and increasingly prosperous society and had victory in the French Wars
What political writer gave reactionary figure ammunition following he french revolutions?
Burke
When did Burke publish his book and what was it?
1790 book “reflections on the revolutions in France”
For Burke, what was the value of the British system?
For him, the value of the British system was its slow and adaptive nature based on traditional practices.
The initial force of government against protest, combined with the latter internal problems of the Tory party ensured that both parliamentary and external calls for reform could not gain what?
Significant traction
the decline in hunger politics and the economic improvement did what?
help to placate the calls for reform towards the end of the period, particularly from the poorest segments in society
What are the most significant factors?
those which decreased the parliamentary demands for reform, rather than those which reduced the much less effective radical protest
when the tory party was having internal fights, what was there no room for?
Any internal reform to come from within parliament