Table Of Contentaccess to history
1
and
Protest, Agitation Parliamentary
Reform in Britain
780-1928
MICHAEL SCOTT-BAILJMANN
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MICHAEL SCOTT-BAUMANN
THIRD EDITION
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MICHAEL SCOTT-BAUMANN
THIRD EDITION
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ISBN 978 1-47183,8477
Contents
CHAPTER 1 The unreformed political system in the .1780s 1
1 1
1 The political system in the 1780s 1
2 The electora I system in the 1780s 4
1
CHAPTER 2 The origins and impact of parliamentary reform
1780-1860 10
1 Support for parUamentary reform 1780-1830 11
2 The campaign for, and resistance to) the Reform BiU 1831- 2 17
3 The impact of the Representation of the People {Ref;orm)i Act 1832 26
and its impact
CHAPTER 3 Parliamentary reform 1860-1928 35
1
1 The passing of the se,cond Representat~on of the People (Reform) Act 1867 35
2 The impact of the second Representation of the People {Reform) Act 41
1
3 The th~rd Representation of the People {Ref:orm1}i Act 1884-5 46
4 The Parliament Act 1911 SO
5 The Representation of the People {Reform} Act 1918 53.
Radical reformers 1780-1819 ,58
CHAPTER4
1 Rad ica~ reform in the time of the French Revolution 58
2 The effects of the war with France 62
3 The growth of popular radlicaiUsm 1815-19 64
4 The government response to radical protest 69
Chartism .1,838-50 75
1 The origins of Cha rtism1 75
2 The Charter, the Petrrtion and the Convention 1837-9 79
3 Chartism1i n the 1840s 84
4 Key debate 89
V
Contents
· CHAPTER 6 Th~ Contagious Diseases Acts and the campaign for
the1r repeal 1862-86, 93
1
1 Prostitution in mid-ninete,enth-century Britain 94
2 The Contagious Diseases Acts 1864, 1866 andl 1869 97
3, The impact ,of the Acts on prostitutes andl ordinary wom,eni 100
4 The campaign for repeal 1867-86 101
The w·omen's Social ,and Political Union 1903-14 112
1 The National Union ,of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) and votes for women
1897- 1903 113
2 The Women's Social and Politica1I Union (WSPU) 1903-14 114
3 The WSPU and the Liberal government 1906-14 121
4 Key debate 127
· CHAPTER 8 . Trade un1ion mUitancy 1917-27 132
' - '
- -
1 Trade unions and gove,rnment 1914-22 132
2 The origins of the General Str~ke 137
3 The 1926 General Strike and its aftermath 141
Study guide 150
Glossary of terms 161
Further reading 164
Index 166
1
Dedication
Keith Randell (1943-2002)
The Access to History series was conceived and developed by Keith, wl10 created a series to 1cater for
students as they are., not as w,e might \r\rish the1n to be-'. He 1eaves a livi11g legacy of a series that for over
20 years l1as provided a trusted, sthnulatjng and weU-loved accompaniment to post-16 study. Our aim
with these new editions is to continue to offer students the best possib]e support for their studies.
vi
The unreformed political system
in the 1780s
Th is introd udory chapter wi II examine how Britain was governed and, in particular, how
the electoral system worked, in the 1780s. The key themes are:
*
The pol itica I system in the 1780s
*
The elector aI system in the 1780s
Between 1780 and 1928, Britain was transformed from a largely agricultural, rural society
to an industrial, urban society. It also experienced a political transformation: from a state
ruled by a monarchy and aristocracy to a parliamentary democracy. This occurred through
the passing of a series of Representation of the People (Reform) Acts of Parliament, the
most important of which were in 1832, 1867, 1884-5, 1918 and 1928. Chapters 2 and 3 wil I
examine how and why those changes took place and assess their impact on how Britain
was governed and on the development of political parties. First, howeverJ it is necessary to
examine the unreformed system.
The political system in
the 1780s
I
.,... To what extent did the aristocracy dominate political life?
.I . -
____ .,...,_ -9iiltliiiiiiM.
In 1780, Britain was undergoing swe,eping economic and social changes. The
country was in the throes of the Industrial Revolut1on. Yet the political system
reinained largely ut1changed. At the very top of this syste1n was the inonarch.
The role of king and the aristocracy
Th.e king could appojnt and dis1niss a prime minister. He could. also insist on
having a say in the appointment of other tni.nisters. George III, who was king at
this time,. frequently used his pow~ers to do s.o. However, the mona:tch
had to take account of the wishes of Parliatnent if h.e was to influence their
policies and get them to agree to the tax,es ,vithout which his goven11nent
1
Protest, Agitation and Partiam,entary Reform in Britain 1780-1928
could not operate. Thus; if a parliamentary leader had a Jarge body of support
in the House of Co1n1nons, the king was usuaUry obliged to inake hitn prime
minister.
Both gov,enm1ent (the nunisters) and Parliament wer,e dominated by the
landowning classes. In fact, Britain was largel} governed by a few thousand
landowning fa1niHes who, between them, held 1nore than half the agricultural
land. Generation. after generation inherited the land and, with it, the wide
ranging pow,er and influence which they had wielded for hundreds of years .
... KEYTERM
The most hnportant of these ]andownit1g fanill.ies were members of the
Aristocracy The nobles, or a1~istocracy. Th ir ancestors had been n,ade nobl s with titles like lord, duke1
1
peers, who ,inherrted landed viscount or earl by earlier kings and queen:s a.nd they had ·thus becoine m.embers
1
titil es which gave them1t he
of the House of Lords.
rrght to sit ,i r, the Ho us.e of
Lords. The la11do,v11ing aristocracy assumed their right to supremacy to be naturaL
Their status was h reditary so that the right to a seat in the House of Lords
was passed on to succeeding generations. Their central power base was the
Hous,e of Lords but they had huge influence over the Hous,e of Comm011s as
well. Thls was because nearly half of the Metnbers of Parlian1-:ent (!vIPs) ow1ed
their seats to p,eers (men1bers of the House of Lords). For instaneie, inany MPs
we~ the sons, younger brothers, cousins or friends of 1nembers. of the House
1
of Lords. The landed c]a.sses held the highest positions in the Church, the
armed services., the judiciary ar1d the civH service. They also dominated local
government.
Whigs and Tories
Parliatnent consist,ed of two Houses, as it does today~ The .House of Lords was
n1lade up of hereditary peers whereas the House of Co1n1nons was e]ected.
However, only a small percentage of the 1na1e populatio11 had the vote. This is
explained more fuUy on page 4.
The majority of MPs were landowners, although increasing number were
a11
men who h.ad 111ade thejr money in trade or industry. Many MPs saw thetnselves
as independent and 1nost b longed to either the Tory or the vVhig Party. The
main sitnilarities and differen,ces betwee11 Whigs and Tories are sum1narised in
Table 1.1 (see page 3).
2
