What was the most significant cause of the 1832 reform act??

Question 1

Factor 1) Unreformed political system

Answer 1

Facts

• Constituency and qualification; More than 50 boroughs had less than 40 voters yet 2 MPs, whilst Manchester had population of 400,000 people and 0 MPs.
• Rotten boroughs; ancient constituencies which were grossly depopulated yet had MPs voted for by very small numbers of people. eg Old Sarum had one landowner (voter) but multiple MPs
• Pocket boroughs; wealthy land owners owning all property providing occupiers with the right to vote, then bribed voters to vote for who they wanted eg Appleby in Cumbria.

Elections- 1/2 of elections were uncontested, no secret ballot
-‘lambs’ were groups of thugs used to intimidate voters, and ‘treating’ was where candidates would pay for all voters, food drinks and lodging during elections.

This clear misrepresentation of the majority of people in Britain could’ve encouraged the 1832 act because of how rigged and oppressive it was towards the lower classes. However the archaic system had worked in making Britain the bigger economy and empire in the world, and among the elitist classes there was no incentives to change it.

Question 2

Factor 2) growth and demand of middle classes

Answer 2

Facts- Hatred of aristocratic nepotism in the government by the middle classes, who demanded parliamentary representation to help them spear head the industrial revolution.

• Corn laws in 1815 epitomised this demand, as the government were looking after the land owners whilst raising the price of food, causing middle class to put up their employees wages
• They weren’t radical like the lower classes and had justified demands due to their good education and determination to succeed
• London corresponding society 1792- set up among skilled artisans and tradesmen plus booksellers, printers, authors. The society ‘open to all’, which attracted 100,000 people to Copenhagen field in October 1795 in a peaceful protest
• Birmingham political union in 1829 incorporated middle AND lower classes into an organisation that attracted 100,000 regularly and 200,000 to a rally during the days of may.

showed the reasonable attitude of the middle class compared to the lower classes even after the French revolution. by 1829 middle class were able to reduce the radical nature of the lower classes and present further support towards a reformed system that was needed for the masses of unrepresented middle and lower classes. Also showed growth in respectability for lower classes AS A RESULT OF THE GUIDANCE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

Question 3

Factor 3) Riots/ economic stress

Answer 3

Facts
-Economic- taxes increased to reduce national debt from war, increased from £238m to £902m and was paid for via indirect taxes on basic goods which was regressive as they made them more expensive for lower classes. 1815 corn laws meant wheat could not be imported for less than 10s a bushel, increasing the prices of food further for peasants. Government looking after their own without Lower classes having the representation to help themselves. increases resentment and leads to popular unrest

-Riots-spa field riots 1816 led by Henry Hunt in December, attracted 20,000, then 1817 the Prince regents coach was attacked at the opening of parliament
-Days of May 1832, popular demonstrations scared Grey’s new government into passing the reform bill, helped by BPU formed in 1829 which attracted 200,000 people to its meeting
-Swing riots, broke out in Kent in 1830, spreading across 20 counties, involved machine breaking, arson, assaults. 200 petitions signed and sent to parliament demanding tax reductions in rural areas.
Came from the agricultural south that was over represented compared to the industrial north, which scared parliament further as there was clear growing demand for reform even among those who weren’t associated with radicalism

Question 4

Line of argument/ judgement

Answer 4

It was primarily the ineffectiveness of the pre-reform system that led to the passing of the great reform act, because its repressive nature motivated both middle and lower classes to voice their concerns. A mixture of peaceful protest from the middle class and radical protest from the lower classes showed the government a growing determination of lower classes to push for reform, and clearly their demands couldn’t be ignored as the middle and lower class were a great force when combined in the BPU and subsequent Days of May.