Essential Question: How “democratic” did Britain become by the beginning of the 20 c ?

Essential Essential QuestionQuestion::

How “democratic” How “democratic” did Britain become did Britain become by the beginningby the beginning

of the 20of the 20cc??

Reading Focus

• How did social and political reforms change life in Britain during the early 1800s?

• What reforms helped to shape the Victorian Era?

• What changes transformed the British Empire?

Main Idea

During the 1800s Great Britain passed many democratic reforms that changed the way people lived and worked.

Reforms in the British Empire

Reforming ParliamentIn 1815, Britain was a constitutional monarchy. Yet, it was far from democratic:

• Less than five percent of the people had the right to vote.

• Wealthy nobles and squires dominated politics.

• The House of Lords could veto any bill passed by the House of Commons.

• Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants could not vote or serve in Parliament.

• Populous new cities had no seats in Parliament, while rural towns with few or no voters still sent members to Parliament.

• In 1832, Parliament finally passed the Great Reform Act.

• It redistributed seats in the House of Commons.

• It enlarged the electorate by granting suffrage to more men.

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Social and Economic Reforms

In 1807, Britain became the first leading European power to outlaw the slave trade.

In 1833, Parliament passed a law banning slavery in all British colonies.

Laws were passed to reduce the number of capital offenses and end public hanging.

Additional reforms improved prison conditions and outlawed imprisonment for debt.

Some British tariffs were repealed in the 1820s. In 1846, Parliament finally agreed to repeal the

Corn Laws, which imposed high tariffs on imported grain.

During the early and mid-1800s, Parliament passed a wide variety of important new laws.

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The Victorian Age

Victoria embodied the values of duty, thrift, honesty, hard work, and respectability.

She embraced a strict code of morals and manners.

Under Victoria, the British middle class — and growing numbers of the working class — felt great confidence in the future.

That confidence grew as Britain expanded its already huge empire.

From 1837 to 1901, the greatest symbol in British life was Queen Victoria.

Although she exercised little real political power, she set the tone for what is now called the Victorian age.

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VictorianVictorianEnglandEngland

A place in the Cabinet in 1812 Robert Peel became MP for

Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire. He represented many constituencies during his political career.

In 1822 Peel became a Cabinet minister in Lord Liverpool’s Tory government. He was given the post of Home Secretary. He also served in the Duke of Wellingtons Government.

Robert Peel became Prime Minister of Great Britain in1834, this time for just four months. He became Prime Minister again in1841, he resigned in from government in 1847.

What Robert Peel did. 1810 formed Royal Irish Constabulary, which

proved a great success. 1822 reformed the gaols and reduced the

amount of offences that carried the death penalty.

1829 passed the Metropolitan Police act, the first thousand uniformed police force began to patrol the streets of London.

1846 repealed the Corn Laws (which kept food at a high price) and encouraged free trade.

During the 1830s industrialization led to rapid changes in British society, and some began to call for social and political reform.

• Growing prosperity of working, middle classes led to greater demands for political reform

• 1800, landowning aristocrats made up most of Parliament

• Some industrial cities had no representatives at all

• Only wealthy male property owners could vote; public office restricted to men of wealth

Industrial Revolution• 1830s, demands for reform too

strong to ignore

• Liberals challenged old aristocratic, conservative order

• Reform Act of 1832 gave industrial cities representation

• Also gave voting rights to middle-class men who owned certain amount of property

• Women excluded from voting

Reform Act of 1832

Social and Political Reforms

Draft Reform Bill

• 50 boroughs lost franchise; 54 lost 1 MP; 6 towns given 2 MPs & 22 towns 1 MP; 6 more seats given to London; 22 counties were to have 2 extra seats; 7 1 extra seat;

• Was in favour of the secret ballot • Recommended higher qualification

of £20 to mitigate effects of ballot• Five year parliaments to be

introduced. • Non residents lost their right to

vote; • More polling places & voter

registration Ideas of responsible citizenship accepted but concepts of universal rights rejected.

From Bill to Act

• 24 January 1831 cabinet amended the committee's draft - striking out the proposal for the secret ballot and lowering the franchise again to £10 householders.

• 1 March 1831 bill was introduced to the Commons by Russell. • 22 March at the second reading the Bill was passed by only

302 votes to 301. • 18 April bill defeated at its third reading by 299 votes to 291. • May 1831 general election with Whig landslide.• Second Reform bill introduced and won its second reading by

367 votes to 231• In committee stages Marquis of Chandos won amendment that

fifty pound tenants at will could enjoy the franchise in the counties

• 21 September bill defeated in Lords by 41 votes. • Grey introduced slightly amended third bill. • 13 April 1832 Lords rejected the third Reform bill by 184 votes

to 175. • May days: Britain close to revolution. • Wellington attempted to form a minority ministry but failed• Grey used the creation of peers as a threat and in September

1832 the bill got through the Lords with a majority of 9.• The first election to be held on the new franchise was

December 1832.

Electoral effects

Over 40 pocket boroughs survived + 12 which regularly returned same families

8 English boroughs with electorates less than 200

Southern rural bias continued. London under-represented

Positive electoral changes

Registration: boosted party organisation and canvassing; candidates could locate voters accurately; encouraged people to see themselves as voters

Number of voters participating increased dramatically after 1832

Partisan voting is the norm (97% of Newark’s electorate cast straight party votes in 1841)

Election No. of Voters

1826 106,397

1830 88,216

1831 74,638

1832 390,700

1835 272,946

Summary

Participation increasesOrganisation of electionsPublic more politicised2 main political parties benefitedNational politics increases1832 was an opportunity

Reaction to Report

• As result of Sadler’s report, Parliament passed Factory Act, 1833

• Act limited working hours of children in textile factories, made it illegal for teenagers to work more than 12 hours per day

• Children between ages 9 and 13 had to receive two hours schooling per day

Sadler and the Factory Act

• While Parliament debated Reform Act, one member investigated treatment of children in Britain’s textile factories

• Michael Sadler showed harmful conditions endured by child workers

• Report noted physical mistreatment, long hours, low wages

Glossary

Poverty Not earning enough for food, clothing and housing.Outdoor Relief Poor people were given relief (from poverty) while they still lived in

their own homes.Workhouse A place where poor people were given food and shelter in return for

work.Master and Matron The people in charge of a workhouse, often husband and wife.Board of Guardians Local people elected to supervise the running of a workhouse.Less eligibility Conditions inside a Workhouse had to be worse than conditions for

the lowest paid labourer outside.Living wage When workers are paid a wage that is sufficient to live in.Poor RateMoney collected from local property owners to support the poor.Monotonous Dull and boring.

Pauper PalacesWhy did people disagree about the New Poor Law?


Step One – The New Poor Law

CriticI am against the New Poor Law because it has ended outdoor relief for poor people. This helped them because they could get money for short periods when they might be unemployed and they could still live in their own homes.

There has been a lot of unemployment because of the growth of factories and changes to farming. Factory workers would not have any pay if there was no work at the factory. Farm labourers are being put out of work by machinery.On top of this the cost of bread is going up, so many poor people need help to feed their families.

The New Poor Law says that the only way that the poor can get help is by going into a Workhouse. This has got to be a more expensive way of helping them!



SupporterI am in favour of the New Poor Law because it will save money and encourage the poor to work harder.

The new law will save money because the Workhouse will be “less eligible”. This means that the poor will be less likely to choose to go there, rather than to take the lowest paid job and to live at home. To do this, families will be broken up, inmates will have to wear a uniform and they will be put to work. The food they eat will be the cheapest and most basic and they will have their lives organised for them.

Less eligibility means that the Workhouse will be worse than conditions for the lowest paid labourer outside its walls. This will stop those lazy idlers from scrounging money by asking for poor relief.



CriticBy ending outdoor relief the poor will be unfairly punished for their poverty. The real causes of their poverty is not laziness, but low wages, high food prices and under-employment.

If the poor were paid a living-wage then they would not have to ask for help. No matter how hard a man works he still never earns enough to support his family. This has been made worse by the very high prices of bread. Sometimes the poor do not have regular work. When there is no work, factory workers are laid-off, but they will not be paid. Farm labourers have been put out of work by the new threshing machines.

The poor cannot do anything about their low wages or their unemployment. The New Poor Law punishes them for their poverty. This can’t be right.



SupporterI am in favour of the New Poor Law because it will encourage employers to pay a living wage and to help workers during periods of unemployment.

The old system of poor relief made up a man’s wages so that he had enough money to feed his family. This encouraged employers to pay the worker less than a living-wage. It also meant that employers could lay workers off for short periods, without having to pay them. It also kept a lot of farm labourers in areas where there was not enough work for them.

The New Poor Law means that the Poor will get back their self-respect, because it will force employers will have to pay a living wage and a man will be able to support his family without having to beg for charity.

New Laws

• 1833, Parliament abolished slavery in Great Britain, all British Empire

• Government compensated slave owners depending on how many they freed

• Parliament also passed new public health and crime laws

Parliamentary Reaction

• People’s Charter rejected; Chartists gained wide popular support, staged uprisings; large revolt, 1848

• Chartists did not see immediate results but many reforms passed eventually

Chartism

• 1839, group called Chartists worked for voting rights for all men

• Name from People’s Charter, petition sent to Parliament demanding voting rights, secret ballot, annual elections, pay for representatives in Parliament

Other Reforms

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The Chartist ChallengeWhat did different people think about Chartism?

Charter The Peoples Charter – a list of six demands that if they were granted would improve living and working conditions for ordinary people.

Chartist A supporter of the People’s Charter.

Petition Another name for the Charter – or to request something.

Vote Make a choice to elect a representative in Parliament.

Bias Favouring a particular point of view.

Parliament Where new laws are discussed and made.

Ballot Another name for voting.

Constituency The area that elects on person to Parliament.

Moral Force Chartist Used peaceful methods to support the Charter.

Physical Force Chartist Used threats of violence to support the Charter.

Transported Sent to Australia as a punishment for breaking the law.

Prejudice To have a one-sided, or biased opinion.

Chartism : 1836-48 Working class not

given vote in 1832 1834 New Poor Law

splitting families up High level of

unemployment Chartism set up to

get vote for the poorer

people

1. A vote for every man over 212. Secret Ballots3. Abolition of

property qualifications for MPs

4. MPs to be paid5. Equal size

constituencies6. Annual elections

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The Six Points of the PEOPLE'S CHARTER

1. A VOTE for every man twenty-one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for crime.2. THE (Secret) BALLOT to protect the elector in the exercise of his vote.3. NO PROPERTY QUALIFICATION for Members of Parliament-thus enabling the constituencies to return the man of their choice, be he rich or poor.4. PAYMENT OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT thus enabling an honest tradesman, working man, or other person, to serve a constituency, when taken from his

business to attend the interests of the country.5. EQUAL CONSTITUENCIES, securing the same amount of representation for the

same number of electors, instead of allowing small constituencies to swamp the votes of large ones.

6. ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS, thus presenting the most effectual check to bribery and intimidation, since though a constituency might be bought once in seven years (even with the ballot), no purse could buy a constituency (under a system of universal suffrage) in each ensuing twelvemonth; and since members, when elected for a year only, would not be able to defy and betray their constituents as now.

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The Causes of Chartism• Most people did not have any political power. They had no say in the laws made in Parliament.• People wanted the political power to pass

laws that would help working people.• They were very disappointed not to have got the vote in 1832.• There was great poverty caused by unemployment and low wages.• Food prices were very high.• People were starving.• The Workhouses were the only places to get

help and they were like prisons, punishing people for their poverty.

• Parliament only passed laws that helped rich people.

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Three Chartist PetitionsThere were three petitions, in 1839, 1842 and 1848.1839: 1.25 million signatures, led by moral force chartists. Rejected causing a Chartist rising in Newport. 1842: 3.25 million signatures due to poverty and hunger caused by unemployment. Rejected, causing strikes, riots and the Plug Plots.1848: led by Physical Force Chartists. Caused by hunger and poverty and by revolutions in France, Italy and Germany and the American Civil War. Massive meeting planned with a march from Kennington Common to Parliament. Rejected. Chartism collapsed.

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Moral Force Chartists were led by William Lovett.

They wanted to change things through writing, speaking, better education and the

“moral force of peaceful persuasion”. This meant that if an argument was

“moral” (correct) then it would eventuallywin, if it was argued peacefully.

Different types of Chartist

Physical Force Chartists were led by Feargus O’Connor.

They were prepared to use force topersuade the government to change things. Chartism was a “moral force” idea, but when it was rejected twice, O’Connor gained control. Kennington Common was a threatened revolution.

What happened to the Chartists?

1839 Newport Rising – direct action taken by authorities – 20 Chartists killed

Between 1839-48 100 Chartists transported

Chartists collected 3 petitions outlining their demands – each rejected by Parliament

1848 Mass demo planned in London

Govt brought in troops & policeEvent was failure for the Chartists

Britain: 1850-1870s* The most prosperous period in

British history. Unprecedented economic growth. Heyday of free trade. New fields of expansion

shipbuilding from wood to iron. By 1870, Britain’s carrying trade

enjoyed a virtual monopoly.

Br. engineers were building RRs all over the world.

Br.’s foreign holdings nearly doubled.

* BUT, Britain’s prosperity didn’t do away with political discontent!

A New Era in British PoliticsIn the 1860s, the old political parties regrouped under new leadership:

• The Tories became the Conservative party, led by Benjamin Disraeli.

• The Whigs evolved into the Liberal party, led by William Gladstone.

In the late 1800s, these two parties pushed little by little for suffrage to be extended. By century’s end, almost-universal male suffrage had been achieved.

In 1911, a Liberal government passed measures to limit the power of the House of Lords. In time, the House of Lords would become a largely ceremonial body, while the elected House of Commons would reign supreme.

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The “Victorian Compromise”

* Both Tories and Whigs had considered the 1832 Reform Bill as the FINAL political reform.

* Therefore, the aims of the two political parties seemed indistinguishable.

* But, by the 1860s, the middle class and working class had grown they wanted the franchise expanded!

* This era saw the realignment of political parties in the House of Commons:

Tory Party Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli.

Whig Party Liberal Party under William Gladstone.

In 1837 Queen Victoria became the ruler of Great Britain. The Victorian Era lasted until 1901. It was a time of great change, including voting reforms that made the country more democratic.

• 1868–1885, two influential prime ministers, William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, elected several times

Disraeli and Gladstone

• Gladstone, Liberal party, took more progressive approach to solving society’s problems

• Disraeli, Conservative party, wanted to preserve traditions of past

Liberal vs. Conservative • Disraeli put forth new

reform bill to extend voting rights to more working men; passed 1867

• Another law created the secret ballot; discouraged bribery, intimidation

Male Suffrage

Victorian Era Voting Reforms

The Two “Great Men”

* William Gladstone, Liberal Prime Minister

1868-1874 1880-1885 1886 1892-1894

* Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Prime Minister

1868 1874-1880

The 2nd Reform Bill - 1867

* In 1866, Gladstone introduced a moderate reform bill that was defeated by the Conservatives.

* A more radical reform bill was introduced by Disraeli in 1867, passed largely with some Liberal support.

* Disraeli’s Goals: Give the Conservative Party control over

the reform process. Labor would be grateful and vote

Conservative.

* Components of the Bill: Extended the franchise by 938,427 an

increase of 88%. Vote given to male householders and male

lodgers paying at least £10 for room. Eliminated rotten boroughs with fewer than

10,000 inhabitants. Extra representation in Parliament to larger

cities like Liverpool & Manchester.

* This ended the “Victorian Compromise.”


Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

* A dandy and a romance novelist.

* A brilliant debater.* Baptized by his

father into the Anglican Church.

* BUT, he was the first & only Prime Minister of Jewish parentage.

* A strong imperialist. “Greater

England” foreign policy.

* Respected by Queen Victoria.

William Gladstone (1809-1898)

* An active legislator and reformer.

* Known for his populist speeches.

* Could be preachy.* Queen Victoria

couldn’t stand him.* Tried to deal with

the “Irish Question.”

* Supported a “Little England” foreign policy.

Gladstone’s 1st Ministry Goals: [“Gladstonianism”]

1. Decrease public spending.2. Reform laws that prevented

people from acting freely to improve themselves.

He’s against privilege & supports a meritocracy.

Protect democracy through education.

3. Promote peace abroad to help reduce spending and taxation, and to help enhance trade.

Low tariffs. All political questions are

moral questions!

Gladstone’s 1st Ministry Accomplishments:

1868: Army reform peacetime flogging was illegal.

1869: Disestablishment Act Irish Catholics did not have to pay taxes to support the Anglican Church in Ireland.

1870: Education Act elementary education made available to Welsh & English children between 5-13 years.

1870: Irish Land Act curtailed absentee Protestant landowners from evicting their Irish Catholic tenants without compensation.

1871: University Test Act non-Anglicans could attend Br. universities.

Gladstone’s 1st Ministry Accomplishments (con’t.):

1872: Ballot Act secret ballot for local and general elections.

1872: The settlement of the CSS Alabama claims [from the American Civil War] in America’s favor.

1873: Legislation was passed that restructured the High Courts.

Civil service exams introduced for many government positions.

Disraeli’s 2nd Ministry

Accomplishments: Domestic Policy

1875: Artisans Dwelling Act govt. would define minimum housing standards.

1875: Public Health Act govt. to create a modern sewer system in the big cities & establish a sanitary code.

1875: Pure Food & Drug Act. 1875: Climbing Boys Act

licenses only given to adult chimney sweeps.

1875: Conspiracy & Protection of Property Act allowed peaceful picketing.

Disraeli’s 2nd MinistryAccomplishments:

Domestic Policy 1876: Education Act 1878: Employers & Workmen Act

allowed workers to sue employers in civil courts if they broke legal contracts.

Gladstone’s 2nd Ministry

Accomplishments: Domestic Policy

1884 Reform Bill Extended the franchise to

agricultural laborers. Gave the counties the same

franchise as the boroughs. Added 6,000,000 to the total

number who could vote in parliamentary elections.

1885: Redistribution of Seats Act changes M.P. seats in Commons to reflect new demographic changes.

Reforms for the Working Class

Parliament passed laws to regulate the conditions in factories and mines.

Government and business leaders slowly accepted worker organizations.

Workers won higher wages and shorter hours.

Social reforms were enacted to benefit the working class.

These included improved public health and housing for workers, free elementary education for all children, and protection for the poor and disadvantaged.

By the early 1900s, Parliament gradually passed a series of reforms designed to help the workers whose labor supported the new industrial society.

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The Irish QuestionThe Irish never accepted English rule: They resented English settlers, especially absentee landlords. Many Irish peasants lived in poverty while paying high rents to landlords living in England. The Irish, most of whom were Catholic, were forced to pay tithes to the Church of England.

Irish nationalists campaigned for freedom and justice.

In 1845, a disease destroyed the potato crop, causing a terrible famine called the “Great Hunger.” At least one million Irish died while the British continued to ship healthy crops outside Ireland. The Great Hunger left a legacy of Irish bitterness that still exists today.

The Irish struggled for years to achieve home rule, or local self-government. However, Parliament did not pass a home rule bill until 1914. It then delayed putting the new law into effect until after World War I.

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During the years of the famine, about 1 million people starved, and about 1.5 million others emigrated—many to the United States.

Beyond Britain, people living in other parts of the British Empire were also moved by the spirit of reform. In the mid-1800s people in Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand took steps to rule themselves.

• 1801, Ireland joined United Kingdom

• Some Irish hated British rulers, particularly British landlords who had power to evict Irish farmers

• Policies created to help British industry hurt Irish agriculture

Ireland

Changes in the British Empire

• Mid-1800s, potato crop failed several times, left many with no food, no income

• Potatoes Irish peasants’ main food source; famine swept Ireland

• Without money to pay rent, many evicted from homes

Potato Famine

Exports

• Ireland continued to export food through famine years

• Shipments left Irish ports for England under heavy guard by British soldiers

• British officials believed interfering with trade would harm British economy

Self-Government

• Parliament debated several bills to grant home rule to Ireland, 1800s

• None of them passed

• Ireland did not receive limited self-government until 1920

Resentful of British Rule

• Famine left many Irish more resentful of British rule than ever

• 1860s, many Irish began to fight for change

• Some wanted independence, others home rule within United Kingdom

Ireland

Gladstone’s Last Ministries

3rd Ministry: 1886 First introduced an Irish Home

Rule Bill. This issue split the Liberal Party. Gladstone lost his position in a

few months.

4th Ministry: 1892-1894 1893: Reintroduced a Home

Rule Bill. Provided for an Irish Parliament. Did NOT offer Ireland

independence! Passed by the Commons, but

rejected in the House of Lords.

Home Rule for Ireland??

Gladstone debates Home Rule in Commons.

Colonies

• Britain’s colonies in Canada very different

• Some mainly French-speaking, others mainly English-speaking

Unity

• 1838, Lord Durham sent as governor-general to Canada

• Wanted colonies to unite, form “great and powerful people”

Rebellions

• Diversity created lack of unity, led to calls for reform

• 1837, rebellions in Canadian colonies convinced British reform necessary

Dominion

• 1867, Parliament granted colonies power to govern selves

• Canada become dominion, self-governing colony; continued to expand westward

Canada

OH! Canada

Canada begins the move for self government in the 1830’s

Great Britain looks to avoid mistakes of the revolutionary war and unites upper and lower Canada

Great Britain gives self-governance to Canada by creating Four Provinces in upper and lower Canada

Britain eventually gives Canada more independence as Gold is discovered in the northwest and as its territory continues to grow

New Zealand• British government made agreement with local Maori people, land in

exchange for self-rule

• New Zealand became a dominion of Great Britain

• 1893, New Zealand became first country to give women the vote

Australia• Since 1700s, Britain had used Australia as place to send criminals

• Mid-1800s, other colonists began to settle there, attracted by copper, gold deposits

• 1901, Britain granted self-rule to Commonwealth of Australia; established own parliament but remained part of British empire

G’Day Mate Settlers from Asia begin move to

Australia 40,000 years ago

Australia begins as a prison colony of Great Britain but settlers and convicts begin to settle the land

Colonists, convicts, and aborigines begin to clash over land with the aborigines being killed by disease and racial conflict

Great Britain makes Australia a commonwealth giving Australia more independence

As Australian economies grew, social programs begin to expand

New Zealand

New Zealand is claimed by Great Britain in the 1840’s when they sign a treaty with the Maori

New Zealand gained self-governance again in 1852

Original Maori and the new inhabitants clash over land with many Maori Dying in warfare and because of Disease

Women get right to vote in 1893, the first country to allow women to vote

• Disraeli argued that if a woman could be queen, she should be able to vote

• Tried to add women’s suffrage to 1867 reform bill but did not succeed

• Suffragists tried but made little progress for nearly 40 years; lobbied, signed petitions, educated public

1867 Reform Bill• 1800s, women not seen as equals

to men; could not own property, not legal guardians of their children

• Many women thought right to vote would increase power in society

• Queen Victoria against women’s suffrage, called it “mad, wicked folly”

Question of Rights

Women’s Suffrage

Women’s Social & Political Union

[W.S.P.U.]

Votes for Women

Suffragists led by Emmeline Pankhurst used aggressive tactics and sometimes resorted to violent protest.

Many middle-class women disapproved of such radical actions. Yet they, too, spoke up in increasing numbers.

Some women, including Queen Victoria, opposed suffrage altogether.

Despite these protests, Parliament refused to grant women’s suffrage.

Not until 1918 did Parliament finally grant suffrage to women over age 30.

Younger women did not win the right to vote for another decade.

In Britain, as elsewhere, women struggled for the right to vote against strong opposition.

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Women’s Social and Political Union

Early 1900s, women grew more frustrated with slow pace of suffrage movement

Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) said, “You have to make more noise than anybody else.”

Government continued to ignore issue of women’s suffrage

WSPU adopted destructive tactics Many suffragists went to prison

1918, Parliament granted vote to women over age 30 By 1928 voting rights for British women were on the

same basis as British men.

Emmeline Pankhurst* 1858-1928.* Her husband & children were all

involved in the suffrage movement.* They became militants & were

arrested and imprisoned.* 1917: She and her

daughter, Christabel, formed the Women’s Party in 1917:

Equal pay for equal work. Equal marriage & divorce

laws. Equality of rights &

opportunities in public service. A national system of maternity

benefits.

Representation of the People Act (1918)

* Women over 30 got the right to vote.

* All men gained suffrage.

Property qualifications were completely eliminated!

* Reform Act of 1928

Women over 21 years of age gained the right to vote at last!

England’s Economic Decline?

(1870s-1914) Germany & the U. S. became England’s

chief economic rivals. Influx of cheap agricultural products

from overseas caused a rapid decline in British farming.

Germany & U. S. overtake Britain in basic iron & steel production.

England’s share of world trade fell from 23% in 1876 to 15% in 1913.

British science & technological education lagged behind Germany.

England is slow to modernize her aging industrial infrastructure.

England clings to free trade while everyone else is erecting tariff walls.

Fabianism A British socialist intellectual

movement founded in the mid-1880s. Purpose advance socialism by

working through the political system, not through revolution.

Laid the foundations for the British Labour Party.

Famous Fabian Society members:

George Bernard Shaw. H. G. Wells. Sidney & Beatrice

Webb. Emmeline Pankhurst. Bertram Russell. John Maynard Keynes.

* Founded in 1900 by the Scotsman, Keir Hardie.

The growth of labor unions gave voice to socialism in Britain.

By 1906, it won 26 seats in Commons.

Had to form a political coalition with the Liberal Party.

By the 1920s, Labour would replace the Liberals as on of the two major British political parties.

The British Labour Party

* Labour’s Political Agenda: Gradual socialization of key

industries & utilities. Workman’s Compensation Act. State employment bureaus. Minimum wage set. Aid to dependent children & the

elderly. Old age pension to all over 70. National Insurance Act.

The Beginnings of the “Welfare State”?

How to pay for all of this??

* The Liberals dominated government from 1906 to 1924.

* The Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, presented a “People’s Budget” in 1911.

Increase income taxes for those in the higher brackets.

Raise the inheritance tax.

* The House of Lords rejected this budget.

The “People’s Budget”

* A political crisis. WHY? Lords had traditionally approved

all revenue bills passed by the Commons in the past.

By threatening to create enough new Liberal peer to control that chamber, King George V forced the House of Lords to pass this bill!!

* Also known as the 4th Reform Bill.* Provisions:

Lords could not defeat a bill passed three times by Commons.

Lords can’t hold up revenue bills for more than one month.

Members of Commons would be paid a salary.

The Parliament Act of 1911

Essential Question: How “democratic” did Britain become by the beginning of the 20 c ?

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