Was pressure from outside parliament the main reason for the reform of parliament in the years 1852-70??

Question 1

External pressure- 1- National reform league/ union

Answer 1

Facts- oth set up in 1864, both wanted extended franchise to all males, a secret ballot, and the NRU wanted equal distribution of seats. They were middle class liberals

• NRL being slightly more radical, however they were more popular, attracted many ex chartists and used non violent demonstrations that were widely successful and hard for the government to ignore.
• NRU had Samuel Morley, a nottingham MP in 1865 who believed in universal suffrage to empower society
• NRL organised the Hyde park riots and Birmingham reform demonstrations in 1866
• Politicians who supported them could also gain support by pushing for further reform, a legitimate reason for the 1867 reform act; a way to gain further support for the parties.

The peaceful yet powerful nature of these groups put a massive amount of pressure on parliament, especially due to the increasing role and power of the middle class that was increased by the 1832 act. Their demands for further reform were hard to ignore when they were getting MPs on side whilst simultaneously running the IR

Question 2

Legacy of the 1832 act-

Answer 2

Facts

• whigs made no attempt to deny the fact that the £10 land owning clause was designed to exclude the lower classes
• still only 18% of the male population was able to vote post 1832
• the chartist movement campaign heavily as a result of the failure of the 1832 act to accommodate them; their multiple petitions in 1839,42 and 48 as well as the Newport uprising in 1839 and plug riots 1842 showed the extent that the lower classes were willing to go to persuade the government
• landowning elite still had too much influence and comparatively the lower and middle classes had no where near enough

Though not its intention, the 1832 act served as a starting point for even further reform, and its lack of changes motivated both the Lower and middle Classes to put increasing pressure on the government to pass reform

Question 3

Internal pressure- the role of Disraeli

Answer 3

Facts-

• • 1866, Gladstone introduced a reform bill (not radical) which reduced borough franchise to workers earning £7 a year which would include 200,000 more workers, in counties the £50 a year rental requirement was reduced to £14 to bring in 170,000 more voters. This split the liberals, and Lowe led a group of people who voted against the bill, which saw it fail.
• Disraeli was chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the commons when him and the tories formed a minority government under Earl of Derby in 1866
• sensed there was a mood for parliamentary change and wanted to take political advantage by being the party to advertise moderate reform, gaining support from those who would be given franchise. Would extend franchise to urban voters who voted liberal, but expected them to vote tory for extending the franchise. The bill that was passed included a larger franchise than Disraeli had proposed at the beginning, showing its success

Explanation- Although Disraeli was defeated by Gladstone in the 1868 elections after replacing Earl of Derby as PM, he changed parliamentary attitudes so that they realised the importance of providing political change to the masses, which allows Gladstone and the liberals to beat Disraeli in the election. The outside pressure may have influenced this change of attitudes among politicians, but without internal work from people like Disraeli and Gladstone, reform wouldn’t be possible anyway, making it a more important reason in getting reform.

Question 4

Line of argument/ judgement

Answer 4

Both pressure from inside and outside parliament were important in getting parliamentary reform between 1852-1870, but it’s likely that the internal pressure was the main reason because without the work of Disraeli to spot the changing attitudes towards increased suffrage, reform may have taken even longer to be passed. The outside pressure showed that attitudes were changing and the work of the NRU showed that not all those who campaigned for reform were radical; they could be level headed and respected. However, if Disraeli let himself be disheartened by the failed first bill, the 1867 act may have taken much longer to be passed; he was pragmatic and turned around the failure of the first bill within a year, to have an improved bill passed by the end of 1867.

Question 5

Other factors ie American war of independence and population changes

Answer 5

facts-

• American war of independence debunked the idea that the working classes were selfish as thousands continued to support anti-slavery despite losing jobs
• workers in British cotton mills refused to handle slave picked cotton leading to taking wage cuts
• such ideas presented the working classes as progressive and respectable in America and Britain, which changed the attitudes of more progressive and liberal politicians
• The exponential population growth of Britain from 24 million in 1821 to 31 million by 1861 meant electorate maps were now out of date even after the redistribution of seats in 1832

these gradual changes of demographics and attitudes only added to the demand for reform and were not individually significant. They added to the argument instead