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Year 8 Topics 3 & 4. How dramatically did Britain change in the 19 th century?. Political Change. Political situation in 1800. Although it was not actually written down anywhere in British law in 1800, women could not vote, anywhere.
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Year 8 Topics 3 & 4 How dramatically did Britain change in the 19th century?
Political situation in 1800 • Although it was not actually written down anywhere in British law in 1800, women could not vote, anywhere. • In constituencies such as Essex and Yorkshire, voting rights were decided based on whether or not you owned land. If you were a ‘freeholder’ (outright owner of land), you were able to cast a vote in all elections. • In constituencies such as London, you could vote if you were a ‘freeman’. This usually meant that you owned your house and had a middle class job, like a doctor, lawyer or merchant. • In constituencies such as Bedford, Aylesbury and Northampton, you could vote if you were a ‘potwalloper’! This meant that you owned a house with a hearth (fireplace) big enough to cook a large pot or cauldron over. • There were some fairly strange cases where people could vote for quite odd reasons. For example, the choristers at Ely cathedral were allowed to vote because of their religious background. This was not true at all cathedrals! • The political situation was confused, inconsistent, and unfair!
The Great Reform Act 1832 • Middle class people got the vote • Before the act, 400,000 people could vote. Now it was 620,000. • Rotten boroughs like Old Sarum were abolished. • Constituencies were still not equal. • As a result of the Great Reform Act, only one in seven adult males had the vote. • MPs were given to new towns and cities like Manchester. • 35 constituencies had a population of less than 300 and sent 1 MP. Liverpool had a population of 11,000 and still sent only 1 MP.
The Chartists • The Chartists were a protest group, who in 1838 wrote the ‘People’s Charter’ • Their demands included voting in secret, MPs should be paid and not have to own a house, constituencies should all be the same size, every man over 21 should be able to vote, and elections should be held every year • They had a large membership and some large protests, including an uprising in 1848. • After the Chartist uprising of 1848, the movement seemed to have failed. Many of the leaders were thrown in prison and ordered to spend years doing hard labour. Support fell to an all time low.
Reform Act 1867 • The 1867 Reform Act gave an extra 1.5 million men the right to vote. This almost doubled the number of people who could vote in Britain. • Every male householder, including those who rented houses worth more than £10, got the right to vote, as long as they lived in towns or cities. • 52 MPs were taken away from small towns such as Chichester, Harwich and Windsor. They were given to growing industrial towns or counties. This made constituencies more equal. • Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester saw their representation increase from 2 MPs to 3 MPs. • The counties of Cheshire, Kent, Norfolk, Somerset, Staffordshire and Surrey were all given 6 MP’s instead of 4, because they had large populations.
Reform Act 1884 • The 1884 Reform Act gave the countryside areas the same voting rights as the towns and cities: men renting property worth more than £10 in the countryside were now allowed to vote. • The electorate after this act stood at 5.5 million– (2 million more than in 1867). • About 40% of men still couldn’t vote after 1884, because they didn’t earn enough, and therefore didn’t rent or own expensive enough houses. • Extra information • In 1858, an act was passed stating that you did not have to own property to become an MP. • The ‘Ballot Act’ of 1872 made secret voting compulsory, meaning people could no longer be forced to vote by their employer or their landlord.
Votes for Women • Suffragists- peaceful protest movement led by Millicent Fawcett. Wrote letters, led petitions, silent protests, and were generally seen to be co-operative. Did a lot for women’s cause because they made working arrangements with parts of the government and lobbied for the 1918 Franchise Act which gained women the vote. • Suffragettes- more radical, violent, and attention grabbing movement. Damaged buildings, went on hunger strike, resisted arrest, in some cases even used explosives. Some believe they were responsible for drawing enough attention to the votes for women movement for it to gain traction. Other historians argue that their volatile, illegal techniques actually set the cause back, as they gained negative publicity which fed the idea that women could not be ‘trusted’ with the vote. • Male support- men such as JS Mill campaigned for women’s rights too. He wrote ‘The Subjection of Women’ in 1869 which used his utilitarian philosophy to argue that women should be politically equal to men. There is a body of historical thought that argues that without positive support from high profile men such as Mill, women’s equality would not have been taken nearly as seriously. • WWI- during WWI women took on men’s jobs when Britain’s men went to Europe to fight. They proved themselves to be reliable workers and were undoubtedly key to the war effort. This is often argued to be one of the key reasons for women gaining the vote in 1918, once the war ended.
Life of the working class • People moved to cities in large numbers due to industrialisation. Jobs in factories became more available with the growth of industry, whilst farming jobs became more scarce, due to new technology making farming more efficient. • Poor working conditions in many factories; incredibly long hours, few breaks, child labour. • Slum housing- closely packed, small homes which housed up to 8 families at a time. Unhygienic; shared lavatories, open sewer systems, smog from factories, cramped. Basement flats often flooded with sewage. High death rate, especially amongst infants. • Often close communities; local pubs with entertainment a few nights a week, due to close quarters of living people knew each-other well. Evidence of families pooling money and resources to support one another.
Rise of the middle class • Industrialisation meant rise of management jobs such as factory foremen, and of administrative roles such as clerks. • Expansion of empire and trade led to the emergence of a mercantile class who made very good money • These combined led to expansion of commerce and business, and the British economy and exchange of capital led to an increase in banking and finance jobs in the City of London • Expansion of government in 19th century led to rise in paid politicians, teachers recruited by the government. Medical advancements – increase in doctors and nurses employed in cities and towns.
Leisure and tourism • Transport advancement (steam trains, canals, better roads) enabled people to travel more freely, and relatively cheaply • Important roads started to be maintained by the government in the 19th century • Seaside resorts such as Brighton and Blackpool began to establish themselves as holiday destinations for middle and upper-working class city workers to escape to on the train • Most working class people were afforded little holiday, but some were able to afford train fare in the later Victorian period and so could travel • Wealthy people were able to travel by steamboats and trains across Britain’s colonies for more exotic holidays
Websites • http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution • http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/britain-1700-to-1900/industrial-revolution/ • http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/britain-1700-to-1900/political-changes/ • http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/britain-1700-to-1900/transport-1750-to-1900/
