The Growth of Parliamentary Democracy: Unreformed Parliament

Question 1

Who could vote in the counties?

Answer 1

Freeholders with property worth 40 shillings a year

Question 2

What were the main voting systems in boroughs?

Answer 2

Freeman, Scot & Lot, Burgage, Freeholder, Potwalloper

Question 3

Bedford had _____ members and 2 MPs, while Yorkshire had _____ and still only 2 MPs

Answer 3

2,000 & 20,000

Question 4

In 1780 there were only 2 contested elections because?

Answer 4

The most powerful families usually bribed/forced vote

Question 5

What were Pocket Boroughs? ( + eg.)

Answer 5

Small borough easily manipulated by wealthy families, eg. Gatton, Surrey- bought at auction for £90,000

Question 6

Only _% of the male population could take part in an election

Answer 6

11

Question 7

What were Rotten Boroughs ( + eg.)

Answer 7

Small areas with high representation, eg. Dunwich, Suffolk, had 14 voters and 2 MPs

Question 8

What was the population of Manchester and how many representatives did they have in 1832?

Answer 8

182,000 and no MPS

Question 9

How was reform promoted?

Answer 9

Leaflets and pamphlets (from 1780 onwards)

Question 10

When were the Gordon Riots and why did they undermine reform?

Answer 10

1780, they were violent and anti-catholic: Scared politicians away from reform

Question 11

In 1785, what did William Pitt propose?

Answer 11

Disenfranchising 36 of the worst boroughs and redistributing the seats

Question 12

What year did the French Revolution break out and why did it effect calls for reform?

Answer 12

1789… It questioned rule by the rich

Question 13

What book did Edmund Burke write in response to the French Revolution?

Answer 13

Reflection on the Revolutions in France, published 1790

Question 14

Who wrote the Rights of Man in response to Burke’s criticism of the French Revolution?

Answer 14

Thomas Paine, published 1792. By 1793: 200,000 copies sold. Inspired ideas of natural rights and democracy.

Question 15

Name two reform societies & action they took

Answer 15

Sheffield Society for Constitutional Reform: Petition for national male suffrage 10,000 signatures and London Corresponding Society, Copenhagen Fields meeting: 100,000 people, October 1795

Question 16

The Treason Act in ___ meant that…

Answer 16

1795, treasonable acts were punishable by death (later including Six Acts and political resistance)

Question 17

In 1816 the harvests failed, meaning that…

Answer 17

Even more demands for reform, particularly in conjunction with the decline in wages due to soldiers returning from war with France

Question 18

Active reform press began to circulate from 1816 onward, including…

Answer 18

Cobbett’s Political Register (dropped price to 2d) and Wooler’s Black Dwarf

Question 19

When was the March of the Blanketeers?

Answer 19

1817

Question 20

When were the riots in Spa Field, Islington?

Answer 20

1816

Question 21

Bradreth attempted to lead a rebellion in Derbyshire in…

Answer 21

1818

Question 22

Who made speeches on reform and was speaking at the Peterloo massacre in 1819?

Answer 22

Henry Hunt

Question 23

How many were there and how many killed at the Peterloo Massaccre?

Answer 23

60,000 there, 18 killed

Question 24

In what year did Arthur Thistlewood and other radicals plot to assassinate the cabinet?

Answer 24

1820

Question 25

Manufacturing classes (Middle Class) wanted the vote, and the government needed to oblige because…

Answer 25

Their entrepreneurship was fueling the industrial revolution

Question 26

New Corn Law in 1816 meant that…

Answer 26

Peasants were unable to afford food, which now cost 10 shillings a bushel (equaled more demand for reform). Also meant that MC had to put wages up- generally made public unhappy