DEMOCRATIC REFORM IN BRITAIN Chapter 8 1 FOCUS

DEMOCRATIC REFORM IN BRITAIN Chapter 8. 1

FOCUS QUESTION • How did political reform gradually expand suffrage and make British Parliament more democratic in the 1800’s?

TRADITIONAL GOVERNMENT • Const. monarchy since -1662 A Severely Limited Democracy • In the early 1800 s, vote limited to men with substantial property • Women could not vote at all; upper classes (5%) run the government

DEMOCRATIC PROGRESS • The Enlightenment, industrialization, and political revolutions encouraged political reform in Great Britain • The increase in education during industrialization forced a change in gov’t. • Working class, women, & colonists all wanted a voice in gov’t • British land owners feared rebellion so they decided to share the power

Britain Enacts Reforms The Reform Bill of 1832 • 1832 bill gives middle class suffrage (the right to vote) • gave urban areas representation in Parliament Also gives thriving new industrial cities more representation

REFORMS CHARTIST MOVEMENT • Chartist movement—expands suffrage and reform politics • Suffrage for all men, secret vote, • Parliamentary reforms • no land requirement • salaries for Members of Parliament • Parliament at first rejects, but eventually adopts, Chartist goals

THE VICTORIAN AGE • Queen Victoria—rules for 64 years at height of British power • Loses power to Parliament, especially House of Commons • Government run almost completely by prime minister, cabinet