Condition Of England

Condition Of England

1. Sir Robert Peel and the repeal of the corn laws.

   • From debt and economic depression there was surplus and economic recovery through income tax; cutting tarrifs
     • This lead to relief of distress; dilution of the Chartist threat; slowdown in Anti-Corn Law league campaign
   • Repealed the Corn laws due to shortage of food; to remove the threat of the League and of class struggle; the Irish Famine made maintenance of the Corn Laws indefensible; to make Britain a free trade nation.

2. The challenge of the Anti-Corn Law League

   • Formed 1838 by Manchester Factory owners
   • Arguments for repeal
     • To boost industry
     • To provide cheap bread
   • They did this by having meetings; fund-raising; pamphlets and newspapers; lectures; getting free traders elected to Parliament

3. Chartism in the 1840's

   • National Charter Association and mass membership
   • The economic depression of 1842 lead to a Chartist revival, their second petition was made a rejected in May 1842; this caused Plug Plots and violence which led to mass arrests.
   • 1848: Chartist meeting in London; petition and rejected; end of chartism as a mass movement

4. The Charter, the petition and the convention 1937-9

   • Launch of the Peoples Charter, May 1838; there were mass meetings to elect delefates to national Conventio, Feb-Sept 1839; debate in conventions 'moral force' 'physical force' caused divisions
   • The rejection of the Chartist petition by parliament in July 1839 lead to the Newport Rising in Nov, which caused government repression

5. The Origins of Chartism

   • Attack on trade unions; 1834
   • Reform Bill Campaign; 1831-2
   • Factory Act; 1833
   • Anti Poor Law Campaign; 1837-8
   • War of the unstamped press

6. Diseases and public health

   • Overcrowding, disease and the impact of cholera lead to; opposition to public health reform (as little was known about it, there was resisitance from local gov and property owners and they thought it would cost too much)
   • Chadwicks 1842 report linked poverty and diseases and stressed the need for clean water supplies and sewerage
     • The 1848 Public Health Act was passed; general Board of Health empowered local councils to set up Health boards.

7. Education for the poor

   • The importance of church schools was recognised; in 1833 the government first gave an education grant which llead to Monitorial schools
     • This made people realiise that the teaching was bad (monitorial system) which made the gov also support teacher training

8. Children and Factory Reform

   • The people that supported reform were the Ten Hours Movement of factory workers; Tory radicals/evangelical Tories
   • The Royal Commission passed the Factory Act 1833
   • There were further acts in 1840's to protect women and children; there was, however, no restictions made on mens hours

9. The decline of the Whigs and the 1841 election

   • Irish Church Reform led to the split of the Whig cabinet and the eventual resignation of the gov in 1834
   • in 1835 the Whigs returned to gov and conservatives accused them of over-dependence on 'dangerous' Radicals and Irish MP's; failure to deal with the Chartist Threat
   • The 1841 election lead to a Whig defeat and a Conservative victory

10. Reform of Local Gov and Church

    • Municiple Corporations Act was passes to abolsih old, currupt corporations; have town councils elected by all ratepayers; incorporate new towns
    • Church reform was passed to set up the Ecclesiastical Commision; redistribute money; allow catholics/nonconformists to get married in their own churches; reduce financial burden on CoI and the Irish People

11. Poor Law Amendment Act 1834

    • The new poor law was based on the 'workhouse test' 'less eligibility' and centralisation; which resulted in poor law costs being reduces, hard conditions in the workhouses, anti poor law movement in 'industrial north' and outdoor relief being continued.
    • The old Poor Law
      • The majority of the population is poor and relied on relief at some time
      • property owning ratepayers were alarmed at the rising cost of poor relief and the immorality of the system

12. Pressures for Reform

    • 'Laissez Faire: belief in minimal gov interaction
    • Pressures came from
      • UTILITARIANS: emphasis on practical usefulness of laws and institutions
      • HUMANITARIANS: moral and religious responsibility to help the poor

13. Importance of the Reform Act

    • Whig Motives: party political gain over the Tories; fear of disorder/revoloution; enthusiasm for reform
    • Whig Achievements: restorded social and political order; settled a 'great consitutional question' and laid a basis for future stability and prosperity

14. The King, the Lords and the country 1831-2

    • The Lords rejected the second Bill in Oct 1831; this caused widespread riots and the gov reacting harshly; it caused alarm for political unions who wanted non violent mass movement too
    • DAYS OF MAY 1832: Gov introduced 3rd bill and Lords rejected it; the Whig gov then resigned and Lord Wellington created a Tory Gov. There was huge demonstrations by the unions and the possible threat of civil war - therefore the Whigs were recalled and the Bill was passed to keep the peace

15. Reform Bill 1830-1

    • The Introduction of the bill i March 1831 caused different views on reform
      • WHIG: preserve existing system; prevent revolution and be 'final'
      • TORY: would be destructive; incite revolution and lead to more radical change.
    • The defeat of the Bill and general election in April/May 1831 lead to massive support for reform and Whigs won election; the 2nd Bill passes the commons and is sent to the House of Lords

16. Support for reform

    • Growing demand for parliamentary reform (more seats); middle classes wanted more say (votes from property owners); universal manhood suffrage.

17. Economy and society 1815/Industrial Revolution

    • Rise in population; more labour industry; improving agriculture; growing towns/factories; improved transport; technological innovation (eg steam power)

18. The political system

    • Price Regent (future George IV) acted as monarch on behalf of sick George III; Landowning aristocray dominated parliament; magistrates (JP's) ran local govs
    • Whigs and Tories were the two main groups in Parliament

19. Effects of war with France

    • Luddite risings and harsh gov responses
    • Economic effects of war led to new taxes on everyday goods
    • Questioning of the Corn laws necessity

20. Radical campaign and gov responses 1815-20

    • Radical agitation toward radical press, political clubs and mass meetings
    • Threatened by spa fields; march of blanketeers; pentrich rising; peterloo massacre
      • Gov responded by the suspension of Habeas Corpus; banning public meetings; the use of spies (eg Oliver) and the Six Acts.

21. Liberal Tories 1820-7

    • Promotions to key posts 1822 (Peel; canning; Robinson; Huskisson)
    • Trade reform and the repeal of the combination acts 1824

22. Break up of the Tory Gov

    • There were many changes in PM, Lord Liverpool -> George Canning -> Viscount Goderich -> Duke of Wellington
    • Catholic Emancipation; splits the Tory party and brings Whigs to power Nov 1830
    • George IV died June 1830 and William IV becomes king

23. Whigs come to power 1830

    • Earl Grey forms a cabinet dominated by aristocrats 1830
    • New gov deals harshly with swing riots 1830-1
    • Revival of political unions and demand for parliamentary reform

24. What was the parliamentary electoral system like?

    • all counties returned 2 MP;s
    • Only 11% of the adult men could vote
    • Boroughs: variety of voting qualifications so that some had small electorates and some large
    • Over 200 seats in the H.O.C were controlled by aristocrats i.e. members of the House of Lords
    • There was no secret ballot; influence and bribery was common in elections
    • The rural south of England was over-represented and the more urban areas eg North and Midlands were under-represented