The Extension of the Franchise Flashcards

All 15 cards in this deck

What was the Peterloo Massacre (1819)?

Cavalry charged a peaceful crowd at St Peter's Field, Manchester, who had come to hear Henry Hunt demand parliamentary reform; about 15 people were killed. The government responded with the Six Acts restricting meetings and the radical press.

What did the Great Reform Act of 1832 do?

Gave the vote to wealthier middle-class men and gave seats to the growing industrial towns; the electorate rose from about 400,000 to about 650,000. Fear of violence like the French Revolution of 1789 lay behind the concession.

True or false? After the Great Reform Act of 1832 most working men could vote.

False. Only about one in seven men could vote; the vote went to wealthier middle-class men, not the working class.

Name three further reforms of the electoral system after 1832.

The Second Reform Act 1867 (vote for many urban working men), the Secret Ballot Act 1872, and the Third Reform Act 1884 (vote for rural working men).

What were the six points of the People's Charter (1838)?

Votes for all men, secret ballot, no property qualification for MPs, payment of MPs, equal constituencies, and annual parliaments.

What happened to the three Chartist petitions to Parliament?

All three (1839, 1842 and 1848) were rejected. After rejection some turned to Physical Force Chartism, such as the Newport Rising of 1839 and the riots of the late 1840s.

What was the difference between Moral Force and Physical Force Chartism?

Moral Force Chartists, led by William Lovett, used peaceful methods — petitions, newspapers and processions; Physical Force Chartists, associated with Feargus O'Connor, were prepared to use violence.

True or false? None of the six points of the People's Charter ever became law.

False. Five of the six were eventually adopted; only annual parliaments never became law.

What was a 'rotten borough'?

A constituency with very few voters that still elected MPs before 1832, often controlled or sold by a wealthy landowner, while big industrial towns had no MP.

How did people vote before the Secret Ballot Act of 1872?

In public at the hustings, announcing their choice aloud, so landlords and employers could pressure or bribe them.

Which men gained the vote in the boroughs under the Great Reform Act of 1832?

Men occupying property worth at least £10 a year in rent, which mainly meant the middle classes.

What happened when the House of Lords blocked reform in 1831?

Riots broke out in towns such as Bristol, Nottingham and Derby; fear of further unrest helped get the Reform Act passed in 1832.

What was the Northern Star?

The Chartist newspaper published by Feargus O'Connor; cheap and widely read aloud, it spread the Chartist message across the country.

What happened at Kennington Common in April 1848?

The Chartists held a mass meeting before taking their third petition to Parliament; the government prepared troops and special constables, and the petition was rejected.

Give one reason Chartism declined after 1848.

Better economic conditions in the 1850s: with more work and cheaper food, fewer working people were driven to support it.