The Growth of Parliamentary Democracy c1785-1870
- Created by: Marrigo
- Created on: 21-09-18 17:51
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- The Unreformed Parliament and its critics
- The pre-reform franchise
- Borough
- Corporation: only members of the town could vote
- Counties
- All shires elected two MPs to Westminister
- Franchise was based upon owning a freehold property worth more than 40 shillings.
- Each county returned 2 MPs regardless of their size
- All shires elected two MPs to Westminister
- Only 2% if the population could take part in an election
- Borough
- Demand for reform c1785-1820
- 1780:London-Based Society for Constitutional Information (created by Major John Cartwright) promoted public awareness of the need for reforms by pamphleteers
- The political demands of the manufacturing interests
- Industrialisation (end of the 1700s) established a new British class (the middling class): owners of new factories, self-made men with a commercial drive that would translate into a political appetite big enough to consume the unreformed model of government
- Was located between the labouring classes and traditional landed aristocracy
- Was a collection of individuals who carried out the potential to force political change as they were not only educated but also employers of thousands of workers who relied on their goodwill
- favoured laissez-faire (government should have no control over economic matters)
- Industrialisation (end of the 1700s) established a new British class (the middling class): owners of new factories, self-made men with a commercial drive that would translate into a political appetite big enough to consume the unreformed model of government
- The pre-reform franchise
- Freemen:Anyone with a tittle of a freeman could vote
- Scot and Lot: Anyone who paid poor rates could vote
- Burgage: Anyone who owned this property could vote
- Potwalloper: Householders who had a hearth that was big enough to boil a pot on could vote
- Freeholder: freeholder with a property worth over 40 shillings
- Potwalloper: Householders who had a hearth that was big enough to boil a pot on could vote
- Burgage: Anyone who owned this property could vote
- Corporation: only members of the town could vote
- Scot and Lot: Anyone who paid poor rates could vote
- Thomas Paine 'The Rights of Man'- inspired a raft of young reformers who sought to bring greater democracy to the country
- 1792:Sheffield Society for Constitutional Information had nearly 10,000 signatures on a national petition for manhood suffrage
- end of
Napoleonic
Wars,
when the
government
passed
legislation to
restrict trade,
middle class
fought back
- Corn Law
- aimed to
protect British
farmers
from foreign
competition
now that war
was over -
prohibited
the import
of foreign
corn until
domestic corn
prices rose to
10 shillings
a brushel
- Corn Laws
drove up the
price of bread
which was a
staple food
source for
the poor -
employers
forced to
raise wages
to maintain
a healthy
workforce
- There was still a blatant unrepresentative distribution of seats in parliament which failed to reflect a huge migration of people to the cities
- Increasingly it appeared to membeers of the growing urban middle class that as the providers of both employment and much of Britain's resources, they perhaps needed more of a say in how the country was to be governed
- In their eyes the dominance of the landed gentry was declining; people were leaving the rural areas and moving in vast numbers to the cities for work supplied by themselves
- Increasingly it appeared to membeers of the growing urban middle class that as the providers of both employment and much of Britain's resources, they perhaps needed more of a say in how the country was to be governed
- There was still a blatant unrepresentative distribution of seats in parliament which failed to reflect a huge migration of people to the cities
- Corn Laws
drove up the
price of bread
which was a
staple food
source for
the poor -
employers
forced to
raise wages
to maintain
a healthy
workforce
- favoured laissez-faire (government should have no control over economic matters)
- Corn Law
- aimed to
protect British
farmers
from foreign
competition
now that war
was over -
prohibited
the import
of foreign
corn until
domestic corn
prices rose to
10 shillings
a brushel
- rotten
boroughs:
used to be
prominent in
the medieval
period but
not anymore
- Parliamentary seats and elections before reform
- system created in the medieval period: distribution of the seats was based upon the importance of the constitution and did not reflect modern development
- Lack of secret ballots
- intimidation
and bribery
were used and
effective (rich
landowners
controlled
these pocket
boroughs)
- 1801: Gatton in Surrey was 'bought' at auction for £90,000, so the 'owner' did not have to stand for election against a rival
- intimidation
and bribery
were used and
effective (rich
landowners
controlled
these pocket
boroughs)
- Parliamentary seats and elections before reform
- allowed the
wealthy to
ensure their
political
dominance (in
the houses
of Commons)
- intimidation
and bribery
were used and
effective (rich
landowners
controlled
these pocket
boroughs)
- 1801: Gatton in Surrey was 'bought' at auction for £90,000, so the 'owner' did not have to stand for election against a rival
- intimidation
and bribery
were used and
effective (rich
landowners
controlled
these pocket
boroughs)
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