1. 19th Century England
“An Era of Reform”

2. Civil Unrest Absent
While most European nations faced civil unrest in the mid-19th century (Rev. of 1848), England solved her problems with reform efforts.

3. Why Reform? England was not without social problems, BUT:
English aristocrats accepted reform
Industrialization had created a strong, wealthy middle class determined to gain corresponding political power
Early reforms often dealt with matters of interest to the middle class
Victorian compromise
Workers were excluded from the political process and were often cruelly exploited.

4. Background
Tory administration (Castlereagh) responsible for defeat of Napoleon
Conservative policies favored the aristocrats and angered the common citizens.
Serious economic problems due to huge military expenditures made during the wars and large-scale postwar industrial unemployment.

5. Corn Laws: 1815
English farmers faced disaster due to cheap, continental imported grains.
Hurt the landed aristocracy (already threatened by the growing econ. clout of the middle class factory owners)
The poor loved the cheap prices
Tory Parliament passed the corn laws, putting an import tariff on foreign grains

6. Responses
The poor rioted against the higher prices and the middle class formed the Anti-Corn Law League SO:
Coercion Acts of 1817
suspended “habeas corpus,” providing for arbitrary arrest and punishment
Drastically curtailed freedom of the press and public mass meetings

7. Peterloo Massacre: 1819 Public continued to protest
Peaceful public meeting in Hyde Park broken up by the police
4 killed and hundreds wounded
Public (poor and middle class) was outraged!!!

8. Six Acts: 1819
In response to public protest Parliament passed the 6 Acts.
Revoked freedom of the press, speech and assembly
Strengthened police powers and police brutality ok’d
Flimsy arrests became the norm.

9. 1820 Cato Street Conspiracy Elections of 1820
Extremists plotted to blow up the entire British cabinet
Elections of 1820
Younger more liberal Tories and some Liberal reps won Parliamentary seats
Even English aristocrats were frightened by the loss of their civil liberties
This led to an era of reforms

10. Victorian Era ( )
Queen V succeeded her uncle King William IV at age 18 and married her cousin, Prince Albert.
Encouraged reforms
Accepted by the aristocrats because together with the middle class, they all preserved their own interests at the expense of the poor
Middle class controlled the House of Commons and the aristocracy controlled the army, House of Lords, and the Church of England

11. Great Reform Bill of 1832 Annulled the Enclosure Acts Redistricting
No more new enclosures
Redistricting
No more rotten boroughs
Suffrage for factory owners & those paying large rents, as well as the traditional aristocratic voters
***Ended the era of squirearchy***
***Major shift in political power***

12. Reform Legislation Slave Act of 1833 Factory Act of 1831 (Age 9)
New Poor Law of 1834 (workhouses)
Municipal Reform Law of 1835 (officials to reside in the city limits for at least 5 years prior to their election to the city councils)
Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846
Due to fear of revolution

13. Chartism
Workers were astounded that all of these reforms failed to bring them prosperity and political power.
Chartism became their solution
Linked the solution of their economic plight to a program of political reform
Petitioned Parliament to adopt the 6 points of their “Great Charter”

14. Chartism Demands included:
Universal Male Suffrage
Secret ballot for voting
Elimination of property qualifications for members of Parliament
Salaries for MP’s
Annual elections for Parliament
Redistricting to create equal electoral districts
Demands were perceived as dangerously radical for their day

15. Failure of Chartism Chartism as a whole failed
Supporters were split between those who favored violence and those that advocated peaceful tactics
The return of prosperity and lower food prices coupled with slow but steady wage increases in the 1850’s and 1860’s robbed the movement of momentum

16. Lord Palmerston Dominant political power in England from 1850-65
Variety of positions included Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, and Prime Minister
Preoccupied with colonial problems in China and India and British interests in the Am. Civil War
Sepoy Rebellion
2nd Opium War
Little Attention to domestic affairs

17. Realignment of British Political Parties
Tired of Palmerston’s blunders, the Whigs and Tories reorganized to defeat him.
Tories became the Conservative Party
Whigs became the Liberal Party

18. Reform Prime Ministers
Palmerston died in 1865
Disraeli (Tory) and Gladstone (Whig) alternated with one another, sharing power for most of the rest of the century
Both were reformers

19. Gladstone (1809 – 1898)
Budget Expert (orig. Chancellor of the Exchequer)
Supported free trade and fiscal responsibility
Supported Irish Home Rule
Wanted extension of democratic principles to include a greater % of the British population

20. Disraeli (1804 – 1881) Wanted an aggressive foreign policy
Favored the expansion of the British Empire, particularly in Africa
Supported the extension of the franchise to include the working class

21. Great Reform Bill of 1867 Promoted by Disraeli
Redistribution of Parliamentary seats to provide more equitable representation
Extended the vote to include all adult male citizens who paid 10 pounds or more rent annually.
***Almost all men over 21 could now vote***
1868: Liberal majority elected by new electorate—lasted for next four terms.

22. Liberal Reforms Ballot Act of 1872 (secret ballot)
Civil Services Reform Act of 1870 (civil service exams)
Education Act of 1870 ($$ for schools all over England, even in poor areas)
University Act of 1870 (no religious tests for admission)
Representation of the People Act of 1884 (all males over 21 could vote; redistricting created 1 rep per 50,000 citizens

23. Disraeli’s Reforms
Food and Drug Act (regulated sale and quality of food and drugs)
Public Health Act (gov’t standards for sanitation)

24. Who’s Left Out???
Women!!! Particularly after the 1867 great reform bill.