What was the most significant cause of the 1867 Reform Act? Flashcards
What four factors need to be discussed?
1) Legacy of the 1832 reform act
2) Actions of the political parties
3) Role of Pressure groups
4) Riots and External Factors
What did Lord Russell propose in 1852?
The borough qualification should be reduced from £10/year to £6/year
In what year’s were Lord Russell’s 1852 reforms rejected?
1854 and 1860
What did Lord Russell’s reforms being rejected in 1854 and 1860 demonstrate?
Whilst this demonstrated that there was a significant movement for reform to the voting system, the opposition was based on partisan politics and a fear of the working classes. The sceptics remained after the act had been passed, which suggests that that they were not a significant impediment.
When did the Liberals return to power?
1859
Under whom didi the Liberals return to power under in 1859?
Lord Palmerston
When did Lord Palmerston die?
1865
Who was Lord Palmerston replaced by?
Earl Russel
Why did Earl Russell’s appointment help the 1867?
The helped to cause the 1867 act because he was determined to enact reform, yet previously whilst Lord Palmerston was PM there was never really any social change.
How were Earl Russell’s endeavours supported by Gladstone?
Gladstone’s 1864 announcements that he thought that the working class had proven themselves and should be allowed to vote.
What didi the 1861 American civil war mean for Britain?
The cotton supply to the UK was cut off, known as the cotton famine, upon which relied thousands of British jobs.
When was the Hyde Park Riot?
23rd July 1866
Who led the Hyde Park Riots?
John Bedford Leno
What were the Hyde Park Riots prompted by?
The failing of the first Liberal Bill
Who declared the Hyde Park meeting illegal?
Tory Home Secretary Spencer Walpole
Why did the police call in in military support for the Hyde Park Riots?
The police called in military support due to a crowd of about 200 000.
What did John Bedford Leno also announce?
John Bedford Leno announced another rally in Trafalgar Square the following evening which also ended peacefully
What happened in 1864?
In 1864 the National reform Union was established
What did the NRU want?
Which wanted to extend the franchise to all male ratepayers, distribute seats evenly across the country and establish a secret ballot.
Out of the Reform League and the National Reform Union, which can be described as suffragists and which can be described at suffragettes?
Reform league suffragettes but not as violent
Nation Reform Union Suffragists
How is a major consequence of the 1832 reform act demonstrated by the newly enfranchised exercising their right to vote?
The Reform League
What about the reform league meant that government would have to take notice of them if they wanted to stay in office?
they were middle class voters
How had the 1832 reform act impacted how parties saw reform?
Of the twenty years between 1832 and 1852, the Tories and Conservatives were in power for just 7 years. The 1832 reform act had given the Whigs great credit for its passage, when Disraeli passed the 1867 reform act, he was thinking of his own party’s success, though this did not ultimately come to fruition
What happened in 1852 that suggests that reform passed due to the actions of the Tories and whigs?
1852 Lord Russel proposed that the property qualification in boroughs be reduce? from £10/year to £6/year.
What happened to Russell’s 1852 proposal that the property qualification in boroughs be reduced from £10/year to £6/year?
Rejected in 1854 and 1860
The fact that Russell’s act’s sceptics from the 1852 proposal remained after the 1867 reform act suggests what?
That they weren’t the reason that reform took so long
When did the liberals return to power and under who did they do this?
1859 the Liberals returned to power under Lord Palmerston
When did Russell come to power, who did he replace and why did he replace him?
1865 replacing Palmerston because Palmerston died
Why did the replacing of Palmerston with Russell create the 1867 reform act?
The helped to cause the 1867 act because he was determined to enact reform, yet whilst Lord Palmerston was PM there was never really any social change.
Palmertson’s 1865 death changed what in the House of Commons?
The nature of debate
After Palmerston’s 1865 death, how was the nature of debate changed in the house of commons?
Many started to believe that increased working class voting would favour their ‘natural masters’ rather than specifically create class conflict.
Earl Russell’s endeavours where supported by whose announcements and when were these?
1864 Gladstone announced that he thought that the working class had proven themselves and should be allowed to vote
Why did Gladstone announce in 1864 that he felt that the working classes had proven themselves?
witnessed their maturity in regard to the American Civil War
Who launched an impassioned speech making campaign, where was this and when was this?
Liberal MP John Bright in Birmingham to campaign for parliamentary reform at the end of 1858
What did Bright’s role morph into, when was this and whose support could he manage?
By the second half of 1866 Bright found himself the the hero and chief mouthpiece of the reformers, accepted by both those who demanded universal suffrage and those who wanted more limited reform
Which two MPs served as the parliamentary face of the reform movement?
Gladstone and John Bright
What had Bright long been?
A moderniser
What shows Bright to be a long running progressive moderniser?
founding the Anti-Corn law league in 1839 and had opposed Britain’s involvement in the Crimean War
When did the Conservatives come to power and under whom did they come to power?
June 1866 Benjamin Disraeli
What were Disraeli’s two motives for passing the bill in 1867?
1) Getting support for the conservatives
2) taking support away from Gladstone
Disraeli’s 1867 act passed with a larger what than it started with and why was this?
Franchise and this was due to amendments being proposed
Disraeli’s plan was so radical that which three members of the cabinet resigned following its passage?
Cranbourne, Peel (jnr) and Carnarvon
What does the Historian Bentley say about Disraeli’s passage of the 1867 reform act?
“turned a political crisis into a personal opportunity”
What are the three pressure groups that need to be discussed?
1) Reform union
2) National reform league
3) Chartists
When was the NRU established?
1864
What did the NRU want to do?
extend the franchise to all male ratepayers,
distribute seats evenly across the country
establish a secret ballot
What did the NRU’s members bring in?
The intelligentsia behind the reform movement
What were the NRU members mostly?
. Members of the NRU were mostly liberal-minded employers
Give an example with detail of a prominent member of the NRU?
Samuel Morley, a wool manufacturer from Nottingham who was elected as MP for the city in 1865
What did Samuel Morely believe about giving the working classes the vote?
It would empower them and advance society
Why did the government find the NRU so hard to ignore?
Because they were the middle classes exercising their power gained in 1832
When was the reform league set up?
1864
what did the Reform League campaign for?
universal males suffrage and a secret ballot
The 1864 Reform League was much more radical than the NRU, yet it was still what?
relatively moderate
How does the leadership show the Reform League to be, despite being more radical than the NRU, relatively moderate?
Its President was a barrister called Edmond Beales
How does the membership criteria show the Reform League to be, despite being more radical than the NRU, relatively moderate?
Radical trade unionists were disallowed from joining
What respectable method of pressuring did the NRU use, seen as respectable as long as they remained non-violent?
demonstrations
Why were the Reform League careful not to turn to out and out violence?
This would create an unconstructive atmosphere with government
Instead of resorting to violence which would compromise their relationship with government, what did the Reform League instead want to do?
promote public discussion and take advantage of a political climate in which governments were willing to listen
At the time, what about the work of the NRU and more radical Reform League appealed to government?
Politicians at the time were able to gain considerable support by promising to extend the franchise
Compare the public support and funding of the NRU and Reform League?
The NRU had more money but the Reform league had more public support
With more public support than the NRu but less money, which two types of people did the Reform League notably attract?
trade unionists and ex-chartists
Name all the demonstrations of the Reform League in 1866
1866: Hyde Park Riots, Birmingham Reform Demonstrations (August) Chiswick demonstration (December)
Name all the demonstrations of the Reform League in 1867
Agricultural Hall meeting in Islington February 1867 and the Hyde Park demonstrations May 1867
Though chartism failed, assess its value?
Though none of the Chartist’s 6 points were achieved and Chartism failed within its own lifetime, it did keep radical ideas alive until a time when they found a more appreciative ear after 1852.
The chartists’ goal of obtaining universal franchise was taken on by which influential group?
New Model Unions form 1851, and so carried the support of many skilled workers
What three things belong in the ‘Riots and External Factors’ factor?
1) Hyde Park Riots
2) American Civil war 1861
3) Population changes
Who declared Bedford-Leno’s 1866 Hyde Park Riot illegal?
Tory Home Secretary Spencer Walpole
Though the gates to Hyde park were shut, how did protesters gain entrance in 1866?
people climbed and swung on the railings until they collapsed to get into the park
How many people at the Hyde Park Riots 1866?
200 000
Due to the crowd of 200 000 at the Hyde Park riots, what did the police call in?
military support
After the peaceful end of the hyde park riots, what did Bedford Leno announce?
A second Rally in Trafalgar Square the following day, which also ended peacefully
When were the Hyde Park Riots?
23rd July 1866
When was the American cicivl war?
1861 - 65
What did the American civil war of 1861 mean for the British economy?
meant that the cotton supply to the UK was cut off, known as the cotton famine, upon which relied thousands of British jobs
Why was the American Civil war of 1861 significant for the 867 reform act?
This was a significant cause of the 1867 reform act as whilst thousands of workers became redundant, they still supported the anti-slavery cause in the USA. This prompted Gladstone to take a greater interest in the north, and come and visit. Witnessing their maturity, he became convinced they were ready for suffrage.
Gladstone’s acceptance that the working class were ready for suffrage was contrary to what?
This was also contrary to the view that the working classes were apathetic and did not have the capacity to vote rationally. The government had traditionally viewed the workers to be violent and ignorant and this alleviated this.
Complete the sentence about Population changes: As Britain underwent fundamental structural and demographic changes it became….
…necessary for the political system to mirror such a transformation
Between 1821 and 1861, the population in Britain rose from what to what?
rose from just over 24 million to more than 31 million
The majority of the growing population fell where and what did this mean for the franchise?
The majority of this growing population resided in ever-developing towns and cities, so falling under the 1832 £10 borough franchise.
The majority of the growing population were in the towns and cities, so what did this mean for the electoral Map?
This meant that having re-drawn the electoral map in 1832, this new map was again out of date. A growing majority of people in these boroughs did not have the right to vote.
