Why did the French Revolution of 1789 lead to the passing of the 1832 Act?
The government feared a revolution similar to the events in France. If they did not listen to popular demand there could be backlash.
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What evidence is there of popular pressure for reform pre 1832?
rural unrest in the 1830s due to bad harvests, destruction of machinery and crops, the swing riots, hatred of the Poor Law
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How did the alliance between the working and middle classes influence the 1832 act?
The government was threatened by the alliance as it was made powerful by the presence of the middle class. The gov wanted to convince the middle classes that it was best for them to support moderate reform, which the 1832 act was evidence of.
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Why did a split in the conservative party result in the passing of the 1832 act?
led to a decline of the Tories and the revival of the whigs who were more willing to consider reform
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How many men could vote pre 1832?
less than 500,000 which was around 11% of adult men (5% of population)
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What did electoral representation look like pre-1832?
UNEQUAL! The boroughs of rural south-east England were over represented- e.g rotten + pocket boroughs. Boroughs had variety of voting qualifications so some had large electorates and some had smaller ones. all counties returned 2 MPs
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What were elections like in 1780?
No secret ballot so influence and bribery were common in elections.
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How did the 1832 reform act affect the boroughs?
56 boroughs with fewer than 2,000 voters disenfranchised, 31 small boroughs lost 1 of their 2 MPs
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What was the new electorate after the 1832 reform act?
813,000, an increase of over 300,000
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What was the uniform property qualification for all boroughs?
£10
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What were the voting qualifications in the counties?
property worth £50 a year in rent or an owned property worth £2 or more
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How many new 2 member constituencies were created?
22
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How many new one member constituencies were created?
20
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How did the number of representatives for counties increase?
By 61 to 253
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How did the 1832 act affect the power of the upper classes?
There was a slight loss of power but the nature of the act meant that they still dominated the country as they had controlled the pace and extent of reform - very limited
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How did the act affect the middle classes?
Appeased the middle classes and destroyed the alliance between them and the working classes. The wealthier middle classes were enfranchised due to changing of property qualifications.
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How did the 1832 act affect the working classes?
It didn't. The tories had made sure that the working classes were still excluded from the franchise as reform was very limited
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How did the 1832 act affect elections?
It didn't, bribery and corruption continued.
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Did the 1832 act extend representation beyond rural south east England?
Not really. There was move towards greater representation but the Tories ensured that reform was very conservative so power remained in these areas.
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Was the 1832 act significant?
Yes as it was the first major act to reform the political system thus displayed the effect of popular pressure on the gov. However it was just an appeasement measure the gov used to avoid revolution and control the pace of inevitable reform
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What evidence is there of popular pressure for reform pre 1832?
Back
rural unrest in the 1830s due to bad harvests, destruction of machinery and crops, the swing riots, hatred of the Poor Law
Card 3
Front
How did the alliance between the working and middle classes influence the 1832 act?
Back
Card 4
Front
Why did a split in the conservative party result in the passing of the 1832 act?
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