february 24, 2014 bell work: do guided reading 14-1. turn this in when finished

Democracy and Reform

September 26, 2014Bell Work: Source Reading 14 “American Mosaic”Read the Article and answer the questions on the back. Turn in when finished!

Democracy and ReformChapter Focus

The next slide is a photograph of Emmeline Pankhurst, along

with her two daughters. These women led the suffrage

movement in Great Britain.

Chapter Focus Transparency


Chapter Focus Transparency 14


British gov’t moved toward democracy through evolution rather than revolution.1800s-G.B. limited constitutional monarchy.British people in theory represented by House of Commons.British gov’t not a true democracy in early 1800s.


• Political power remained with the landed aristocracy, while middle and working class had no voting rights

Democracy and ReformSection 1 Lecture Notes

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• Whigs, introduced bills to give voting rights to more people.

•Apportion-divide or share, electoral districts more fairly.

Electoral Reforms

•In the early 1800s rural districts well represented in the House of Commons

•Growing industrial areas-little representation.


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Electoral Reforms (cont.)

•The Whigs’ repeatedly defeated by the Tory Party.

•Tory party opposed Whigs bills.

•In 1830-Whigs came to Political power.


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•The proportion of voters increased from 1 in 100 to 1 in 32 men.

•The act also took representation rights away from areas that had declined in

population, shifting representation to the heavily populated cities.

The Reform Act of 1832

•The Reform Act of 1832 lowered the property qualifications for voting and

gave more middle-class males the right to vote.


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•The Chartists, an important reform group of the working class, proposed

political changes in a document called A People’s Charter.

Reform Movements

•The Reform Act frustrated the industrial and farm workers.

•Disenfranchised-deprived of the right to vote.


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Reform Movements (cont.)

•The Chartists’ demands included voting rights for all adult men

•With no property qualifications

•A secret ballot

•Salaries for members of Parliament/middle

and lower classes to take seats and equal

electoral districts.


• Chartists submitted two petitions to parliament.• Both rejected• Millions of signatures


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•After the defeat, the Chartists had little success and their movements faded by

1850s.

•Parliament eventually pass many reforms that Chartists wanted.

Reform Movements (cont.)


• Anti-Corn Law League-aimed to repeal the Corn Law.• Since 1815-severely limited and taxed importation of

foreign grain.• Middle-class industrialists fight the Corn Law.• Forced to pay higher wages to enable them to buy

bread.


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•Before 1800 both parties–the Tories and the Whigs–represented wealthy

landowners.

Political Parties

•One result of electoral reform-More organization of political parties in Great

Britain.


• After 1832-Tory and Whig parties began to change.• Modern Conservative and Liberal parties.• Conservative party

–Aristocracy and members of the old Tory Party.The industrial, commercial, and members of the old Whig party supported the Liberal party.


• Era of political reform• Queen Victoria-throne 1837, age 18 and reigned 64

years.• Two prime ministers-Williams Gladstone and

Benjamin Disraeli-served during Victoria’s reign.• Both men offered leadership for emerging Liberal and

Conservative parties.


• William Gladstone/Liberal party• Served four times as prime minister/1868 and 1894.• 1st term-1868-1874/the Great Ministry.• Many social reforms:

–The Education Act of 1870-divided country into local school districts.

–Ballot Act of 1872-est. secret ballot.–Redistribution Act of 1885-divided Britain into electoral

districts equal in population.


• Benjamin Disraeli-Conservative party• Served two terms as prime minister• 1st term briefly in 1868• 2nd term-1874-1880.• Believed conservative party could save aristocratic

traditions while adopting democratic reforms.


• 1867-Disraeli introduced Conservative-backed reform bill.–Extended vote to all male homeowners and most

men who rented property.Bill added many working class voters, increasing the electorate by about 1 mil men.


• British gov’t changed in the last quarter of the 1800s.• Political influence increased of

–Working class–Women–Irish Catholics


Rise of Labor

• 1884-middle class intellectuals formed Fabian Society-an organization promoting a Socialist gov’t.

• Fabians-favored parliamentary action over strikes and demonstrations.


Rise of Labor cont…

• 1900-trade unionists and Socialists laid foundation for a new political party.-The Labor party-represented the working classBetween 1906-1914 new legislation backed by Labor party provided: -old-age pensions-minimum wage-unemployment assistance-health and unemployment insurance


Riots in Hyde Park, London

An 1865 meeting of Reform League in London dissolved into rioting. Riots such as these helped bring about Second Reform Bill in 1867.


• Liberal gov’t called for higher taxes in 1909• Upset the largely Conservative (wealthy) House of

Lords.• Ended in victory for the House of Commons.• 1911 Parliament Act-narrowed the powers of the

House of Lords by removing money bills from their control.


• British middle class women speak out for political and social equality in mid 1800s.

• Married Women’s Property Acts od 1870 and 1882• 1869 women gained right to vote in local elections.• Not on a national level.


• Women’s rights activists fought to win property rights for married women.


• 1903-Emmeline Pankhurst and two daughters founded the Women’s Social and Political Union.

• Suffragettes-lead voting rights campaign• 1918-Parliament grants women over 30 the right to

vote.• 10 years later-gave right to vote to all women over the

age of 21.


Women fight for voting rights

Forced feeding of English Suffragist, 1912


• 1800s-Irish Catholics seek greater participation in gov’t.

• Largely under Protestant minority control.• 1801-Parliament passed the Act of Union, joining

Ireland and Great Britain.


• Act of Union entitled Ireland to representation in Parliament.

• 1829-Catholics in British Isles win the right ot vote and hold office.

• Irish hatred of British rule-potato famine known as the “Great Hunger” hit the country in the 1840s.

• In 4 yrs-1 mil Irish die of starvation and disease.• Millions more emigrate to the U.S., Canada, and

Australia.


“Tumbled Houses and Eviction”

Unable to grow potatoes to sell or eat, thousands of penniless tenants were evicted from their homes by landlords who needed the rent to pay their taxes. The roofs of the peasants’ homes were “tumbled,” or removed, to prevent the tenants from returning.


Human Suffering One official told of entering what he thought was a deserted village. In one home, he saw “six famished and ghastly skeletons, to all appearances dead…” huddled in a corner on some filthy straw. “ I approached with horror and found by a low moaning they were alive-they were in a fever, four children, a woman, and what had once been a man…”


• Charles Stewart Parnell-led Irish nationalists who sought home rule-self-gov’t.

• 1914-Parliament passes a home rule bill.• Never went into effect.• Irish Protestants threatened to fight British troops if

Parliament enforced it.


• Anti-British feelings: • Had to pay taxes to the Anglican Church• Irish people wanted to rule themselves• Peasants were forced to export the grain they grew in

order to pay their rents• Government was slow in in sending aid during the

famine.

february 24, 2014 bell work: do guided reading 14-1. turn this in when finished

Documents

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true democracy

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lecture notes

reform movementsthe

electoral reforms

important reform group

whigs bills