Voting Reform and The Chartists

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  • Voting Reform & Chartism
    • 1820s Voting System- Why was change needed?
      • In the 19th century, voting was a privilege only for the wealthiest people in society.
      • The country was divided into constituencies known as counties, and boroughs. Most of these would send 2 MPs to Parliament.
      • Before the reform bill in 1832, there were certain conditions that had to be met to allow you to vote.
        • Only men over the age of 21 could vote.
        • You had to own property over a certain value to vote.
        • The right to vote varied from borough to borough.
      • It was an extremely unfair system. In many areas the local landowner was so influential that there was no contest as he could control the election.
      • Voting was not held in secret and bribery and threats of violence were very common.
      • The poor, working class and women were not represented in Parliament.
      • All MPs had to be men and they were not paid so had to come from a wealthy background.
      • Rotten boroughs were areas with few voters that could be very easily bribed. Dunwich in Suffolk was a rotten borough. It had been destroyed but the 30 residents could still vote and elect 2 MPs.
      • Boroughs in the south of Britain could elect more MPs than northern boroughs because they were better represented in the voting system/
      • Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds had no MPs in the 1820s.
      • Reformers no longer felt Parliament was representative and wanted change.
    • The Reform Act 1832
      • This Act extended the franchise so that more men could vote.
      • It got rid of some of the differences in the old system in an attempt to make it fairer.
      • The impact of this act was limited. It was still only a small percentage of British men that could vote.
    • The Chartists
      • The Chartists were a reformist movement that demanded more change to the voting system.
      • 6 key demands
        • A vote for all men over 21.
        • Secret ballots.
        • Payment for MPs
        • No property qualifications.
        • Annual Parliaments.
        • Equal constituencies
      • Chartism was a mass movement with the aim of securing votes for all men.
      • They also campaigned for better living conditions, increased wages and the end of workhouses.
      • A group of London artisans created the London Working Men's Association in 1836.
      • The Charter was signed by over 1.25 million people but was dismissed by Parliament in 1839.
    • The Newport Rising
      • In Newport, Wales a group of around 30,000 miners and ironworkers demanded the release of Chartist leader Henry Vincent.
      • Thousands of soldier had to be brought into to quell the uprising.
      • 8 Chartists were arrested and sentenced to transportation
      • Government used this event to suggest that Chartism was a violent movement and a further 500 Chartists were arrested.
    • The end of Chartism
      • The Chartists attempted another petition in 1848 and this time had over 6 million signatures. They planned a mass march to present it to Parliament.
      • Only 20,000 people turned up for the march and when inspected, the petition only had 1.9 million signatures, not 6 million.
      • The meeting and petition were a disaster for the Chartists and it would take another 50 years for their demands to be implemented.

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