Was fairer representation of the new industrial cities the main consequence of the Great Reform Act in the years 1832-52?

Question 1

What are the four consequences of the Great Reform Act 1832-52?

Answer 1

1) Fairer représentation of new industrial cities
2) Increased electoral size
3) Two party system and the decline of the Tories
4) Rise of the chartists and protest groups

Question 2

How many boroughs disenfranchised that led to fairer representation of the new cities?

Answer 2

56

Question 3

What size boroughs were disenfranchised?

Answer 3

If they had fewer than 2 000 voters

Question 4

How many boroughs lost one of their MPs?

Answer 4

30

Question 5

What was the property qualification in boroughs?

Answer 5

adult men who owned or rented property worth £10/year

Question 6

How many new boroughs were created?

Answer 6

42

Question 7

As the electorate grew to around 650 000, what did this mean for representation of the new cities?

Answer 7

Because these people became represented, key figures sought to appeal to their vote, and started issue based campaigning on affairs such as Education and Public Health.

Question 8

Of the 42 new boroughs created, how many new 2 member constituencies were created for new towns such as?

Answer 8

22 Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham

Question 9

How many seats did Scotland and Ireland receive?

Answer 9

Scotland Received 8 new seats and Ireland 5

Question 10

Why could most middle class men not become an MP, meaning that Parliament remained an unrepresentative body?

Answer 10

Most middle class men could not afford to become an MP due to its full time nature and its lack of salary

Question 11

What happened to the composition of parliament following 1832?

Answer 11

Not much, there was no immediate influx of MPs

Question 12

due to the fact that it only gave franchise to men who owned land worth £10/ year, what was the change in the electorate in Leeds, showing the weakness of fairer representation of the New Cities?

Answer 12

5 000 out of a population of 125 000

Question 13

What percentage of the male population could vote after the 1832 reform act?

Answer 13

about 18%

Question 14

What was the property qualification in counties?

Answer 14

Property qualification for voting in counties reduced to men in counties to owned land worth £10/year or rented land worth £50/year.

Question 15

What was the property qualification in boroughs?

Answer 15

men who owned or rented property worth £10/year provided they had owned it for a year and paid taxes

Question 16

What suggests that the act’s intention was not to extend the franchise?

Answer 16

The Whigs, however, made no attempt to conceal the fact that the £10/year property qualification was there to exclude the lower classes from voting, suggesting that the new reform’s act principal intention was not to genuinely increase the electoral size but instead to bring the middle classes on side.

Question 17

The whigs did not really want reform, so what was the 1832 reform act?

Answer 17

More an attempt to stabilise an increasingly dangerous and precarious situation than it was to increase the electorate size

Question 18

What does the existence of the Chartists from 1836 suggest about the extension of the franchise?

Answer 18

That it cannot be considered the main factor when so many groups were arguing that it had not gone far enough

Question 19

How can the “Poor Man’s Guardian” be described?

Answer 19

The mouthpiece of working class radicalism

Question 20

What did the “Poor Man’s Guardian” say that epitomised the working class sense of betrayal?

Answer 20

claimed that the “millions will not stop at the shadows”

Question 21

How were the Chartists born?

Answer 21

Born out of the ashes of the 1832 reform act

Question 22

What kind of discipline started to increase after the 1832 reform act?

Answer 22

Party discipline and partisanship

Question 23

As a result of the 1832 reform act, what did voters have to be and what id this mean for the behaviour of a party?

Answer 23

Voters had to be registered and this meant that members of each of the parties had to encouraged their supporters to register to vote in order to win seats, so they would stand more chance of winning the election.

Question 24

As a result of the need for voters to be registered following then 1832 reform act, what tory and whigs clubs emerged to persuade people?

Answer 24

Tory-leaning Carlton Club and the Whig-Sponsored Reform Club

Question 25

Despite the rise of the national party identity, what did campaigns tend to be run on?

Answer 25

Local issues rather than any national party cohesion

Question 26

Of the twenty years between which two dates, the Tories and Conservatives were in power for fewer than how many years?

Answer 26

7

Question 27

What was one of the Whig’s motives for passing the bill, other than the aversion of revolution?

Answer 27

One of the Whig’s motives for passing the bill in 1832 was to gain support from the middle classes.

Question 28

Between which two dates were the whigs in power for 6 years?

Answer 28

1835-41

Question 29

During the 6 years that the whigs were in power for between 1835-41, what did Peel do with the Tories?

Answer 29

Peel spent this time trying to reform the party and demonstrate to the electorate that they weren’t divided and stuck in the past. The fact that he had to do this implies that there was great reason to do so, suggesting that the party was truly divided.

Question 30

After what did the tories become known as the Conservatives?

Answer 30

Tamworth Manifesto

Question 31

Between which dates was Peel in charge and why did he resign?

Answer 31

in power between 1841 and 1846, he resigned following his 1846 repeal of the Corn Laws

Question 32

Why did Peel need Whig support to pass the repeal of the Corn Laws?

Answer 32

Many Tory MPs, as landowners, benefitted directly from it and so Peel passed it only thanks to the support of the Whigs,

Question 33

Peel only passed the 1846 repeal of the Corn Laws because of Whig support as well as outside pressure from which two things?

Answer 33

Anti-Corn Law league and the Irish Famine

Question 34

From when was there pressure from the Anti-Corn Law league and the Irish Famine?

Answer 34

October 1845

Question 35

Who was Peel’s main internal party political opponent?

Answer 35

Benjamin Disraeli

Question 36

Who were Peel’s supporters?

Answer 36

Peelites

Question 37

The division between Peelites and the rest meant that there were major divisions within the party for decades and they were unable to secure an overall majority between which two dates?

Answer 37

1846-74

Question 38

How were the Whigs power increased by the 1832 reform act, apart from by the gratitude of the newly enfranchised?

Answer 38

The increased enfranchisement of Scotland, Ireland and Wales increased the Whig’s power as any elections in these areas tended to be won by the whigs.

Question 39

How did the contemporary author George Elliot describe the mood following the 1832 reform act?

Answer 39

Hope was mighty that further reform could be made

Question 40

What did the 1832 reform act do for further change?

Answer 40

Opens the door on new calls for change

Question 41

What were many Chartists?

Answer 41

Those who had directly suffered the disappointment of the 1832 reform act, workers who thought they would get the vote then didn’t, and were frustrated that whilst middle class men could vote, they still couldn’t.

Question 42

How was the people’s Charter drawn up?

Answer 42

London Working Men’s Association (LWMA), founded by William Lovett in 1836, aimed to gain representation for all men and drew up the People’s Charter in 1837 to push for more radical reform.

Question 43

What were the 6 provisions on the people’s charter?

Answer 43

1) Universal suffrage for all over 21
2) Secret ballot
3) Abolition of property qualifications for MPs allowing everyone to stand
4) Annual parliaments to ensure MPs kept in touch with constituent’s needs
5) Payments to MPs to allow men to give up jobs and focus on helping constituents
6) Constituencies of equal size to deal with under-representation not dealt with in 1832.

Question 44

Lovett’s 1836 LWMA attracted reformists such as which two people?

Answer 44

Henry Hetherington and Thomas Attwood

Question 45

When were the three Chartist petitions?

Answer 45

1839, 1842 and 1848

Question 46

What are the two uses of Chartist violence?

Answer 46

1839 Newport Risings and 1842 Plug Riots