Condition Of England

Sir Robert Peel and the repeal of the corn laws.
1. From debt and economic depression there was surplus and economic recovery through income tax; cutting tarrifs
  1. This lead to relief of distress; dilution of the Chartist threat; slowdown in Anti-Corn Law league campaign
2. Repealed the Corn laws due to shortage of food; to remove the threat of the League and of class struggle; the Irish Famine made maintenance of the Corn Laws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.
The challenge of the Anti-Corn Law League
1. Formed 1838 by Manchester Factory owners
2. Arguments for repeal
  1. To boost industry
  2. To provide cheap bread
3. They did this by having meetings; fund-raising; pamphlets and newspapers; lectures; getting free traders elected to Parliament
Chartism in the 1840's
1. National Charter Association and mass membership
2. 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.
3. 1848: Chartist meeting in London; petition and rejected; end of chartism as a mass movement
The Charter, the petition and the convention 1937-9
1. 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
2. The rejection of the Chartist petition by parliament in July 1839 lead to the Newport Rising in Nov, which caused government repression
The Origins of Chartism
1. Attack on trade unions; 1834
2. Reform Bill Campaign; 1831-2
3. Factory Act; 1833
4. Anti Poor Law Campaign; 1837-8
5. War of the unstamped press
Diseases and public health
1. 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)
2. Chadwicks 1842 report linked poverty and diseases and stressed the need for clean water supplies and sewerage
  1. The 1848 Public Health Act was passed; general Board of Health empowered local councils to set up Health boards.
Education for the poor
1. The importance of church schools was recognised; in 1833 the government first gave an education grant which llead to Monitorial schools
  1. This made people realiise that the teaching was bad (monitorial system) which made the gov also support teacher training
Children and Factory Reform
1. The people that supported reform were the Ten Hours Movement of factory workers; Tory radicals/evangelical Tories
2. The Royal Commission passed the Factory Act 1833
3. There were further acts in 1840's to protect women and children; there was, however, no restictions made on mens hours
The decline of the Whigs and the 1841 election
1. Irish Church Reform led to the split of the Whig cabinet and the eventual resignation of the gov in 1834
2. 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
3. The 1841 election lead to a Whig defeat and a Conservative victory
Reform of Local Gov and Church
1. Municiple Corporations Act was passes to abolsih old, currupt corporations; have town councils elected by all ratepayers; incorporate new towns
2. 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
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
1. 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.
2. The old Poor Law
  1. The majority of the population is poor and relied on relief at some time
  2. property owning ratepayers were alarmed at the rising cost of poor relief and the immorality of the system
Pressures for Reform
1. 'Laissez Faire: belief in minimal gov interaction
2. Pressures came from
  1. UTILITARIANS: emphasis on practical usefulness of laws and institutions
  2. HUMANITARIANS: moral and religious responsibility to help the poor
Importance of the Reform Act
1. Whig Motives: party political gain over the Tories; fear of disorder/revoloution; enthusiasm for reform
2. Whig Achievements: restorded social and political order; settled a 'great consitutional question' and laid a basis for future stability and prosperity
The King, the Lords and the country 1831-2
1. 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
2. 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
Reform Bill 1830-1
1. The Introduction of the bill i March 1831 caused different views on reform
  1. WHIG: preserve existing system; prevent revolution and be 'final'
  2. TORY: would be destructive; incite revolution and lead to more radical change.
2. 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
Support for reform
1. Growing demand for parliamentary reform (more seats); middle classes wanted more say (votes from property owners); universal manhood suffrage.
Economy and society 1815/Industrial Revolution
1. Rise in population; more labour industry; improving agriculture; growing towns/factories; improved transport; technological innovation (eg steam power)
The political system
1. Price Regent (future George IV) acted as monarch on behalf of sick George III; Landowning aristocray dominated parliament; magistrates (JP's) ran local govs
2. Whigs and Tories were the two main groups in Parliament
Effects of war with France
1. Luddite risings and harsh gov responses
2. Economic effects of war led to new taxes on everyday goods
3. Questioning of the Corn laws necessity
Radical campaign and gov responses 1815-20
1. Radical agitation toward radical press, political clubs and mass meetings
2. Threatened by spa fields; march of blanketeers; pentrich rising; peterloo massacre
  1. Gov responded by the suspension of Habeas Corpus; banning public meetings; the use of spies (eg Oliver) and the Six Acts.
Liberal Tories 1820-7
1. Promotions to key posts 1822 (Peel; canning; Robinson; Huskisson)
2. Trade reform and the repeal of the combination acts 1824
Break up of the Tory Gov
1. There were many changes in PM, Lord Liverpool -> George Canning -> Viscount Goderich -> Duke of Wellington
2. Catholic Emancipation; splits the Tory party and brings Whigs to power Nov 1830
3. George IV died June 1830 and William IV becomes king
Whigs come to power 1830
1. Earl Grey forms a cabinet dominated by aristocrats 1830
2. New gov deals harshly with swing riots 1830-1
3. Revival of political unions and demand for parliamentary reform
What was the parliamentary electoral system like?
1. all counties returned 2 MP;s
2. Only 11% of the adult men could vote
3. Boroughs: variety of voting qualifications so that some had small electorates and some large
4. Over 200 seats in the H.O.C were controlled by aristocrats i.e. members of the House of Lords
5. There was no secret ballot; influence and bribery was common in elections
6. The rural south of England was over-represented and the more urban areas eg North and Midlands were under-represented

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