World History Chapter 14 Section 1

Reform in Great Britain Electoral Reforms Factory workers, farm laborers, and the middle class began to demand that they receive a greater political voice

Therefore, the liberal (open-minded) minority party, the Whigs, introduced bills to give voting rights to more people and to apportion, or divide and share, electoral districts more fairly

However, in the beginning the Whigs’ efforts were repeatedly defeated by the Tory Party. But, in 1832 the Whigs forced the king to announce that he would create as many new lords as necessary to give the reform bill a majority in the House of Lords.

The Reform Act of 1832 The act lowered the property qualifications for voting and gave more middle class males the right to vote. The act also took representation away from areas that had declined in population

Reform Movements While the Reform Act gave middle class men the right to vote, it frustrated the industrial and farm workers, who remained disenfranchised (excluded, deprived of). Chartists an important reform group of the working class, proposed political changes. Therefore, they put together a document called A People’s Charter.

Chartists demands included: Voting rights for all adult men, no property qualifications for voting, a secret ballot, salaries for members of Parliament sot that the middle and lower classes could take seats, and equal electoral districts.

Another reform movement was called the Anti-Corn Law League Another reform movement was called the Anti-Corn Law League. This group was supported by the middle class and their aim was to repeal the Corn Law, which since 1815 had severely limited and taxed the importation of foreign grain

Political Parties After 1832 the Tory and Whig parties began to change into the modern Conservative and Liberal parties. They changed to these names because both parties now became more recognized as associated with these political ideals than before. Plus, both groups were now more organized.

Conservative parties gained support from the aristocracy and members of the old Tory party. Liberal parties gained support from the industrial and commercial classes and members of the old Whig party. Both Parties competed for middle-class and working-class votes.

This era of political reform took place during the reign (time) of Queen Victoria. She came to the throne in 1837 at age 18 and reigned for 64 years. Two Brilliant prime ministers served during Victoria’s term, William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli.

William Gladstone He was part of the Liberal Party and served 4 times as prime minister His first term, became known as the Great Ministry because of his many social reforms. He directed, led, reforms in areas like government, education, and elections.

In government, he initiated a civil service reform that made appointments to most civil service positions dependent on competitive examinations. In education, he divided the country into school districts, which were maintained by local control.

In elections, he created the Ballot Act of 1872, which satisfied the old Chartist demand for the secret ballot. He also changed election districts by forming the Redistribution Act of 1885, an act that divided Britain into electoral districts almost equal in population.

Benjamin Desraeli He was part of the Conservative party and gained fame in Britain as a novelist and later as a politician. He served 2 terms as a prime minister. He truly believed that Conservative party could save aristocratic (noble) traditions while cautiously adopting democratic reforms.

He introduced a Conservative reform bill He introduced a Conservative reform bill. The bill lowered property qualifications for voters, and the bill extended the vote to all male homeowners and most men who rented property. All these steps changed the last quarter of Britain’s government in the 1800’s. This was because these steps headed toward democracy, the working class. Also, political reforms inspired many groups to fight for increased rights

Women Began to Demand Greater Rights In 1850, women activists began to speak out for political and social equality. They fought to win property rights for married women. Their efforts led to the Married Women’s Property Acts of 1870 and 1882, which gave women increased legal control over a family’s earnings and property.

Finally, in 1869, women gained the right to vote in local elections but not on a national level. However, in 1903, a women named Emmeline Pankhurst and her two daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, founded the Women’s Social and Political Union. They led a voting rights campaign on behalf of all British women and became known as suffragettes.

The movement grew and in 1918 Parliament finally granted women over 30 the right to vote. Ten years later, it gave the vote to all women over 21.

Ireland Like Britain, other Irish Catholics sought for greater participation in the government. In 1801, Parliament had passed the Act of Union, joining Ireland and Great Britain. This union entitled Ireland to representation in Parliament, but it was not until 1829 that Catholics in the British Isles won the right to vote and hold office.

Unfortunately, Irish hatred of British rule grew when a disastrous potato famine (food shortage) known as the “Great Hunger” hit the country in the 1840s. This was because peasants were forced to export the grain they grew in order to pay their high rents, they came to rely on the potato as their main source of food. In 1845 a deadly fungus destroyed much of the potato crop, and the British government sent inadequate aid to Ireland during the famine.

In four years, at least one million Irish died of starvation and disease. Millions more immigrated to the United States, Canada, and Australia. After this incident various groups began to fight for Irish rights. The most notable Irish man was Charles Stewart Parnell. He was an Irish born member of a Protestant family, led Irish nationalists who sought to have the question of self-government, heard in Parliament. Finally, in 1914 Parliament passed a self government rule, but in never went into effect.