100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Previously searched by you
Previously searched by you
logo
‘Britain in Depth’ Notes (Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform) £3.49
Add to cart
Quickly navigate to
Preview
  2.  
  3. PEARSON (PEARSON)
  4.  
  5. History 2015
  6.  
  7. Unit 36.1 - Protest, agitation and parliamentary reform in Britain, c1780-1928

Other

‘Britain in Depth’ Notes (Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform)
 0 purchase

A comprehensive assortment of notes for the ‘Britain in Depth’ aspect of ‘Britain: Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform’ for your Pearson Edexcel A-Level History exams! Covers: members, aims, tactics and impacts of the Society for Constitutional Information and London Corresponding ...

[Show more]

Preview 3 out of 18  pages

Document information

  • August 22, 2024
  • 18
  • 2021/2022
  • Other
  • Unknown

Subjects

Written for

All documents for this subject (22)

Seller

avatar-seller
zoehunter

Reviews received

Content preview

Britain Depth Boxes

Radical reformers 1790-1819
 Aims, tactics and impact of extra-parliamentary protest: the London Corresponding Society,
1792–93, the Spa Fields meetings, 1816, the Pentridge Rising, 1817, and Peterloo, 1819; extent
of success by 1819.
Organisation/ Members Aims Tactics Impact
Group
Society for  Founded by  Social and  Members interested  Support fell after
Constitutional Major John Political in discussing political 1783 as members
Information Cartwright Reform affairs but not joined other
(SCI)  Middle-class prepared to go organisations
industrialists beyond this into  Ceased to exist
radical activity after 1795
London  Founded by  Universal  Produced pamphlets  Worried Pitt who
Correspondin shoemaker suffrage promoting their views sent out spies to
g Society (LCS) Thomas Hardy  Annual – The Address of the monitor it, but this
1792-93  Supported by Parliaments LCS to the other only revealed that
skilled craftsmen  Hoped that Societies of Great the LCS operated
in London social and Britain. strictly within the
 Never tried to political  Peaceful methods – law
limit membership reform would petitioning rather  Received backlash
to any particular come about than mass from conservative
class and charged as a result of demonstrations groups and other
a very low parliamentary  Discussions and radical groups
subscription fee reform debates in small local  Gvt preferred the
associations Association
movement of
middle classes

Event Participants Aims/ Motivation Events Impact
Spa Fields  Spenceans, who  Parliamentary  Hunt came dangerously close to  Exposed many of
meetings were unhappy reform suggesting the use of physical the difficulties
1816 with the force if the petitioners’ faced by radical
moderate demands were not met reformers in post-
stance of relief  During the second meeting, war years (use of
for the poor but Spenceans stirred up the crowd gvt spies and
not political and the rioters were dispersed agent
reform and the leaders arrested, provocateurs
 Henry Hunt although they were acquitted made gvt well-
 10,000 people after it was revealed that gvt informed and
(largest London informers and spies had a difficult to outwit)
gathering in significant role in the protests
nearly 40 years)
Pentridge  A number of  Insurrection  Oliver convinced the members  A Leeds Mercury
Rising 1817 revolutionary  Attempting to that radicals in London were article detailing
activists from seize city of preparing an uprising which Oliver’s role
Derbyshire and Nottingham would be supported by similar caused public
Oliver, a gvt spy actions throughout the country revulsion against
 Led by Jeremiah  Acting on this, Brandreth led the gvt.
Brandreth 300 men towards Nottingham  14 were

,  They were intercepted, many transported and
fled and 80 were arrested Brandreth as well
as two others
were executed.
March of  Textile workers  March to  A 10,000-strong crowd saw off a  Contributed to
the from London to 300-strong marching party, dissatisfaction
Blanketeers Manchester petition the although most of the group was that caused
1817 Regent to arrested or dispersed only six Peterloo
take steps to miles south of Manchester.
improve the
cotton trade
Peterloo  Henry Hunt  Parliamentary  Magistrates issued a warrant for  Widespread
1819 invited to reform, Hunt’s arrest. As the Yeomanry national revulsion,
address including moved to carry this out, they leading to
gathering universal were held up by the density of outbreaks of
 80,000 men, suffrage and the crowd and they and their rioting and the
women and annual horses began to panic. further growth of
children Parliaments  Troops defended themselves political unions
from stones thrown at them by  Symbolised
hacking at the crowd with their savage repression
sabres. of WC by
 The crowd rapidly scattered, authoritarian gvt
leaving 11 dead and 500+
injured.
Extent  The fact that the 1820s was mostly a period of domestic peace indicates that the radicals had not
of achieved significant success as they were unable to challenge the government long-term.
success  The government used local magistrates, local regiments and volunteer yeomanry to command order,
by although pre-railways it was difficult to move large numbers with speed. They also used spy networks to
1819 gauge revolutionary behaviour and prevent themselves being blindsided
 The government sought to promote national unity during the Napoleonic war; groups pertaining to this
idea often gained far more members than radical groups as it was seen as unpatriotic to counter the
government during the war
 With this opposition support and nationalist propaganda, the aims of radical protest were made greatly
difficult to achieve. However, whilst no specific aims had been achieved, the movement saw
developments in the organisation and political education of the working class.
 Growing literacy (due to the development of day and Sunday schools) allowed more working-class people
to access written political materials – annual newspaper prints rose 14x from 1690 to 1785. The
government fear of this can be demonstrated through them raising the duties on newspapers from 1789-
1815.
 Many post-war reform groups were populated by the skilled-working and middle classes but held little
attraction for the working and agricultural classes, due to their moderate nature.
 Many unskilled working-classes began to organise themselves into trade unions until they were
suppressed by the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800.
 Whilst 1790s radicalism had been concentrated in London, post-war radicalism was heavily Northern
 Radicalism struggled because: it had no recognised leader; it was divided between those who sought
change through moral force and persuasion and those who sought violence; the government was strong
and determined
 Post-1810, the reform movement was better organised and supported by people from all social classes.
Most aimed for parliamentary reform but some (Spenceans) sought the revolutionary seizure of the
state.

,  Government responses: the trial of the leaders of the London Corresponding Society and
suspension of Habeas Corpus, 1794, the Treason Act and Seditious Meetings Act 1795, the
Gagging Acts 1817 and the Six Acts 1819.
Governmen Description Impact
t Response
Trial of In 1793, the LCS and revived SCI sent delegates to  Showed how seriously the gvt took
leaders of Edinburgh, who were arrested. In 1794, leaders were the threat of domestic unrest and
LCS and arrested, as divisive reformers gained little sympathy during opposition.
suspension the war, and charged with high treason. Parliament  Caused most of the LCS leadership
of Habeas suspended habeas corpus, allowing the gvt time to to withdraw from radical politics.
Corpus interview and prepare a case against the accused. They  Pitt was prepared to change
were unable to prepare a convincing case, however, and all existing laws to prevent the
the defendants were acquitted. progress of the radical movement.
Treason Act The French war had dislocated British trade, leading to  Maintained order and suppressed
and rapidly rising unemployment in industrial towns, an issue revolutionaries
Seditious complicated by poor harvests and the inevitable rise in food  Demonstrates powerlessness of the
Meetings prices. Ministers were persuaded to amend the treason law movement against the government
Act 1795 in order to strengthen their powers against radicalism. The  Radical activity rapidly diminished
Treason Act 1795 made it an offence to kill or harm the king and was replaced by patriotic post-
and treason was defined as any intention to ‘intimidate, war feelings
overawe either House of Parliament’, meaning that anyone  Radicalism was received with little
outside Parliament who called for Parliamentary reform favour and seen as unpatriotic
could be charged with treason. The Seditious Meetings Act  Thomas Paine’s works found little
restricted the size of public meetings to 50 people unless support in Britain, France or USA
they were approved in advance by the magistrates.
Gagging The end of the war saw issues such as poor harvests,  Demonstrated gvt fear of
Acts 1817 unemployment exacerbated by the demobilisation of troops Spenceans
and an economic depression. The laissez-faire gvt did little  Gave ministers time to build a case
to ease this. The gvt feared that there was a broad, against reformers and took them
interlinked movement of revolutionary conspiracy and out of circulation for months at a
decided to pass measures to combat radical activity. The time, even when they were
Treason Act 1795 was made permanent and habeas corpus released without charge
was suspended for all those suspected of treasonable  Quelled unrest in the short term,
activities. Justices of the Peace were given the power to especially in London
attend any public meeting and disperse it if they deemed it  When most of their terms lapsed in
an unlawful assembly. Groups requiring members to swear a 1818, radical activity returned
secret oath were banned entirely, as were Spencean clubs.
Six Acts Government aimed to prevent organised protests similar to  Measures were seen as curtailing
1819 Peterloo. Implemented ‘Six Acts’, which included the freedom and were strongly
Unlawful Drilling Act, which prevented protestors from opposed by the Whig opposition.
practising marching (which they did pre-Peterloo); the  SMP Act was repealed in 1824.
Seizure of Arms Act, which empowered magistrates to enter  Restored calm
any property where they suspected arms were being stored;  Condemned by many
the Misdemeanours Act, which reduced the ability of any contemporaries who saw them as
arrested person from being granted bail; the Seditious repressive, whilst others see them
Meetings Prevention Act, which revived the terms of the as the only weapons at the
1795 and 1817 Acts and limited public meetings to 50 government’s disposal.
people; the Criminal Libel Act, which ineffectively sought to
penalise libellous writers; and the Newspapers and Stamp

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller zoehunter. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for £3.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

65630 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 15 years now

Start selling
£3.49
  • (0)
Add to cart
Added