England s Restoration Reform 1818 1867 Rena Levin History 102 Notes 7 22 OUTLINE I England Napoleonic Wars Era A Combination Act B Corn Laws Peterloo C 6 Acts D Reform Bill of 1832 E Repeal of Corn Laws F Chartism Labor Aristocracy G Reform Bill of 1867 H Reform Bill of 1884 I Trade Union Act Sanitary Code Sale of Food and Drug Act Suez Canal purchase 1799 Combination Act prohibits formation of unions bc England is at war no time for strikes 1815 o Poor harvests o Unemployment bc of returning soldiers o Low wages o Social unrest England reacts defensively Corn Laws keeps prices of grain artificially high protecting English landowners from foreign competition o Leads to malnutrition and famine among poor consumers bc price of wheat too expensive o In effect for 30 years 1819 Peterloo o St Peter s Field Manchester protest against Corn Laws and lack of suffrage led by Henry Hunt arrested 15 killed by cavalry hundreds injured o Parliament sees this as pre cursor to revolution and respond o Criminal Libel Act outlaws seditious and blasphemous literature convicts sent to 6 Acts penal colonies o Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act increases and extends taxes on editorial periodicals newspapers books o Sedition Meetings Prevention Act restricts right of assembly to matters of church and state 50 people permission from law officer only local parish members attend o Misdemeanors Act reduces opportunities for bail o Seizure of Arms Act authority to conduct searches for arms o Training Prevention Act outlaws military training drills weapons use outside municipal militias and institutions only city police or national guard can carry arms and train Reform Bill of 1832 made by liberals supportive of integrating new middle class o Expansion voting franchise by a little o Elimination of rotten boroughs small population big representation pocket boroughs left untouched o Voting system changed to open ballet resulting in coercion Repeal of Corn Laws 1864 made by Anti Corn League o More effective than Peterloo bc England has become more dependent on workers and their food consumption o Keeps grain prices lower o Goods cultivated more quickly and cheaply Chartist Movement People s Charter o Rise of industrial working class o Includes points of political reform that Bill of 1832 did not Secret closed ballot Universal white male suffrage Abolition of property qualifications for House of Commons Annual Parliament elections Only point not adopted by 1918 Equal electoral districts in population size etc Salaries given to members of House of Commons get paid to attend Parliamentary meetings o Chartists petition Parliament to adopt these points twice 1839 1842 o Differing interpretation of Chartism Lovett focus on improvement of middle working class and vocational education the more talented and educated a worker is the more leverage he has over his employer and the gov O Connor Physical Force appealed to working poor and unemployed attacked industrialization bc of intrusion of machines Luddites Captain Swings O Brien Moral Force appealed to sense of ethics and morality to gain rights and stop suppression of working class by not paying well poor working conditions etc o 1848 Revolutions break out all over Europe France Austria Hungary Italy Chartists take advantage of this and march to Parliament to present People s Charter Chartists sent home but Labor Aristocracy evolves Labor Aristocracy mechanics employed to fix new and better machines in the textile construction engineering industries o Money set aside for retirement o Schools promoted not just the 3 R s but also general knowledge power o Right to vote by middle class reformers bc they are productive members of society o Confluence of upper and middle class leading to Reform Bill of 1867 o British PM Benjamin Disraeli supports integration of new working middle class o Provisions Doubles voting franchise including members of newer larger industrial northern cities men s right to vote o Does not allow voting for Women s suffrage Fawcett not taken seriously by government gradual John Stuart Mill Subjection of Women women are equal to men and should be treated legally equal Enlightened societies treat vulnerable groups well rational Pankhurst Women s Social and Political Union as long as women are non confrontational men will ignore them militant platform riots protests demonstrations disruptions men harass in response Urban poor Domestic servants Boroughs w populations less than 10 000 1 member of Parliament not 2 Farmers Reform Bill of 1884 o Drafted by liberal PM William Gladstone religious moralist o Provisions Enables all adult males who pay regular taxes or rent to vote no minimum Most of these new voters will be liberal farmers o Excludes Women Bachelors Trade Union Act 1875 Sanitary Code enacted Sale of Food and Drug Act Suez Canal Purchase o Rights for union workers same as individual workers o Legalizes picketing strikes o Benjamin Disraeli uses money from Rothschilds to maintain control