england and wales booklet 1

• American war of independence 1776 - 1783
• Napoleonic wars 1803 - 1815
• French revolution 1789 - 1801
• William Pitt as PM - 1783 - 1801
• reasons for the growth of the parliamentary reform movement -

  • parliamentary system - hadn't changed since medieval times and wasn't suitable anymore
  • parliamentary procedure - general elections every 7 years and two types of constituencies: boroughs and counties
  • types of boroughs: freeman (owned property or land) potwalloper (fireplace big enough to hold a large cauldron) scot and lot (paid taxes) rotten (population declined but still sent 2 MPs) pocket (local landowners bought votes for his choice of MP)
  • voting was public and therefore open to corruption and bribery
• growing calls for parliamentary reform -

  • urbanisation and radicalisation - urban middle class weren't willing to accept aristocratic power. landowners favoured agriculture and they relied on trade for their success
  • disaffection with gov policies - loss of independence war showed parliament wasn't governing properly.
  • fear king was too powerful - owned 30 boroughs
  • French revolution triggered radicals
  • Tom Paine - rights of man
• William Pitt's reaction to French Revolution

  • local magistrates expected to take action against radicals
  • small secret service est - spies joined radical groups
  • seditious literature banned in 1792
  • Habeas Corpus abolished in 1794 and again in 1798
  • seditious meetings and treasonable practices act - expanded definition of treason and banned meeting with more than 50 people
  • combination laws 1799 - trade unions banned
• why did Pitt react so harshly?

  • fear of revolution - believed radicals were in touch with French revolutionaries
  • threat to the constitution - France was supposed to become a constitutional monarchy before the terror took over
  • war with France 1793
  • state of economy worsened because of the war so people were more willing to protest
• Lord Liverpool as PM 1812 - 1822

  • inherited the war with France
  • economic depression - cost of corn went up and wages went down (cost of the war didn't help)
  • weak grip on power - his gov wasn't as powerful as he'd have liked
  • defeated Napoleon 1815 battle of Waterloo.
• why was there unrest in Britain 1815 - 1820?

  • machines - men were losing jobs or seeing a reduction in wages
  • living conditions - urbanisation meant houses were built rapidly next to factories with little care given to quality and no clean water or sewerage systems
  • working conditions - long shifts in dangerous environment for poor wages
• problems caused by the French war

  • economic depression - war products not being bought anymore so industries went into decline
  • returning soldiers added to unemployment figures
  • fall in price of corn so corn laws passed in 1815
  • radicals took the opportunity to stir up people that were already unhappy with their situation
• actions of Liverpool's gov

  • corn laws passed in 1815 to prevent importation of foreign corn until household prices rose to 80 shillings
  • removing income tax in 1816 because of pressure from the wealthy who had to pay it - burden then fell to working class because taxes were raised on goods like tea and tobacco
  • reacted oppressively to protests - supported the violent way magistrates dealt with spa fields riots and many radicals were imprisoned in this time and 6 acts were passed
• why did Liverpool act so oppressively?

  • support of the rich was key in elections - it was wealthy landowners that elected MPs so had to govern for them not the people
  • fear of revolution - the terror started with people protesting
  • if revolution occurred landowners would lose wealth, privilege and position - oppressive measures were necessary to maintain status quo
  • no police - had to use army who naturally use more violence
• the oppressive measures -

  • use of spies - joined radical groups to encourage violent behaviour and then warn gov - gov used this to paint the country as in a worse situation and justify their oppressive actions.
  • hunting act 1816 - hunting became completely outlawed
  • habeas corpus repealed again in 1817
  • seditious meetings act 1817
• the 6 acts -

  1. magistrates given right to search houses for weapons without warrant
  2. magistrates given right to search houses for radical literature without warrant
  3. military drilling or training was banned
  4. large mass meetings couldn't happen - you could only attend if you lived in the same parish
  5. no need for courts to wait for juries to convict people
  6. stamp duty increased on newspapers to make them too expensive to buy and stop the spread of radical ideas
• liberal Tories 1822 - 1830

  • in 1822 Liverpool changed the most important positions in his cabinet because his previous home sec - Castlereagh killed himself - he was replaced by Canning but the current cabinet didn't like him so they all had to replaced.
  • these new men were more open to social reforms so should help silence radicals
• economic reforms - William Huskisson -

  • reduced custom tax on goods - prices fell - more were bought - work was created
  • introduced slip rate for corn
• social reforms -

  • removal of combinations laws 1824 (but this caused mass strikes so they were adjusted in 1825 - people were allowed to strike but not if it affected the economy)
• legal reforms - Robert Peel -

  • reform of the penal code - down from 200 to 4 crimes
  • prison reform - separated men and women and paid wardens
• religious reforms -

  • removal of probation and corporation acts 1828 - change in law meant all religions but Catholics could become MPs
  • catholic emancipation - County Clare election and Daniel O'Connell made Peel and Wellington realise Catholics had to emancipated. parliament was shocked - Peel had been the one man consistently against it - Catholics were given full civil rights in 1829 - impact - protestant Tories were very angry with Peel and Wellington and he lost support of the Ultras.
• why did tory rule end in 1830?

  • loss of Lord Liverpool who was a strong leader and united the party
  • anger and sense of betrayal because of catholic emancipation
  • swing riots - chaos in the country and gov hadn't fixed it
  • revival in calls for parliamentary reform which Wellington ignored and the Whigs as well as members of his own party started to work against him - forced to resign and Lord Gray formed a radical/Whig gov
• great reform act 1832 -

  • took 3 attempts to pass the bill
  • terms: a lot of boroughs lost MPs and seats were redistributed to counties, larger towns, Scotland and Ireland
• what were the effects of the great reform act -

  • rotten boroughs disappeared
  • number of voters basically doubled but some working class people did lose the vote
  • some industrialists entered parliament but majority was still landowners
  • pocket boroughs still existed
  • parties started to organise themselves locally to make sure their supporters were on the electoral call