Parliamentary Reform of 1832
Commonly known as: Reform Act 1832, also the First Reform Act, Great Reform Act
Reasons:
The Whigs: (later known as liberals)
Realized the need to improve social conditions
Social situation 1815 - 1832
Before 1815:
Napoleonic Wars - nation wanted to defeat the French, they didn't thought of resolution to abolish the king (as in France)
wars also hidden the negative effects of industrial revolution
Peace in 1815
After 1815:
no need for factory-made foods (guns, clothes, other supplies) - unemployment
Soldiers and men from navy - also made redundant
Farmers suffer because the imported corn is cheaper than their - they made the government introduce laws to protect locally grown corn (establishing the price) - it lead to general rise of prices - wages were still the same
New methods of farming also led to unemployment
Riots, people starving, or stealing, more and more cruel punishments for thieves. (the laws showed that the rich feared the poor
There were laws to help the poor but ended in failure (lack of money)
Disastrous conditions in workhouses (Dickens described them). People wanted to avoid it and went to towns that grew fast - the rich were afraid because the fast-growing towns were hard to control (risk of revolution)
Feared revolution (like the one in France)
Knew the revolution can be avoided only by reform
Idea of changes:
The Tories : Parliament should represent „property” and the property owners and protect their interests
The radicals: Parliament should represent the people.,
The Whigs: in the middle - just enough change to avoid resolution
1830 - the Commons agree on reform - it was turned down by the House of Lords
1830 - Tories fell from Power
Lord Grey - Prime Minister (who supported the call for reform as a radical in 1792) forms a Whig government
1832 - the Lords accept the Reform Bill (it was the result of public pressure, they feared the riots and revolution)
The Reform Bill:
Introduction of changes to the electoral system of the UK
The number of Scotland's voters increases (5 thousands - 65 thousands)
41 Eng towns represented in Parliament (ex. Manchester Birmingham, Bradford) - the towns sprung up as the result of the industrial resolution
(Still, of course, only men had the right to vote, they had to have the property worth 10 pounds)
Shortcomings:
Total number of voters increases by only 50%
England still had a vast majority in Parliament (70%) although iit was only 54% of British population
Small towns still had as many electors as the big ones (ex. small town Buckingham had the same number of electors as the city of Leeds
The Act only applied in Britain and Wales
Results:
„rotten and pocket boroughs” (parliamentary borough or constituency in the UK that had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain undue and unrepresentative influence within Parliament) were disfranchised (taken rights to vote),
Bribery of voters still was a problem,
Chartist movement - due to the lack of representation of working classes
Reform strengthened the House of Commons but Lords were still powerful
New voters chose different kind of MPs - men from the commercial rather than landowning classs
Assessment:
Recognition that Britain had become an urban society,
Cementing the rise of modern democracy in Britain (but others argue it started to rise only with the following reforms)
Chartism (1838-1850)
Generally speaking:
It was possibly first mass working class labour movement in the world. Chartists were largely unsuccessful at convincing Parliament to reform the voting system of the mid-1800s; however, this movement caught the interest of the working class. The working class's interest in politics from that point on aided later suffrage movements.
Reasons:
Situation of workers:
Since 1824 - can join together in unions that were small, weak, they tried to make sure employers pay reasonable wages and wanted to prevent others from working in they trade. The working classes didn't co-operate.
Employers could easily defeat strikers and did it, sometimes with the help of soldiers.
1834
6 farmworkers from the village of TOLPUDDLE joined together and promised to be loyal to their union.
Their employer found a law to punish them, judge found them guilty.
London: 30 thousands of workers and radicals ask the government to pardon the “Tolpuddle Martyrs”, the government doesn't agree (they didn't wanted to seem weak).
Effect: Tolpuddle - symbol of employers' cruelty, and of the working classes' need to defend themselves through trade union strength.
1840 - introduction of a cheap postage system (cheap communication for everyone) - facilitation to organize the radicals and workers unions
People's Charter - 1838
Unions demanded:
The vote for all adults
The right for a man without property to be an MP
Voting in secret
Payment for MPs
Election every year
(Equal constituencies)
The demands were refused by the House of Commons
Soon Chartists divided:
Some were ready to use violence
Some believed in change by lawful means only
Many didn't like the idea of voting women
1839 - 14 men killed by soldiers in a riot in Newport (Wales), many punished (colonies). This again showed that the rich feared the poor, taking power by them, establishing a republic.
Prime Minister - Robert Peel:
He saved the government
Made changes slowly but steadily,
Used improved economic conditions to weaken the chartist movement
Abolished the Corn Law (it kept too high price for corn) - it was very good decision that also showed that the gentry had no so much power as before, there was much power now in the hands of industrialists and traders.
Turned attention to the problem of crime, established a regular police force for London in 1829, then it was also established in other cities. Police was very successful.
(He also led Catholics to the government)
New situation in Britain:
Success in avoiding revolution
Monarch safe on the throne
Radicals acted freely
Model both of industrial success and of free constitutional government
This situation was the envy of the world.