Liverpool 1812 - 21

1
Liverpool 1812 - 21
2

• How did Liverpool stay in power for so long?

• Personality and leadership
• A strong Cabinet
• Support of the king
• Luck
• Experience

3

• Liverpool and luck

• His election was by a small minority
• Lack of a credible opponent
• Opposition was divided
• Whigs divided
• The political system worked in his favour easy
  to hold onto power

4

• Liverpool and experience

• Very experience politician
• A skilful politician used to hold the cabinet
  together
• Cabinet had a wide range of political views

5

• Liverpool and royal support

• A strong relationship with the King
• King was suspicious of the Whigs
• Developed the principle of collective registration

6

• How did Liverpool deal with the radical threat
  1815 21?

• The Six Acts
• Suspension of Habeas Corpus
• Seditious Meetings Act

7

• What were the Six Acts

• (1) Training Prevention Act A measure which made
  any person attending a gathering for the purpose
  of training or drilling liable to arrest. People
  found guilty of this offence could be
  transportated for seven years. (2) Seizure of
  Arms Act A measure that gave power to local
  magistrates to search any property or person for
  arms.(3) Seditious Meetings Prevention Act A
  measure which prohibited the holding of public
  meetings of more than fifty people without the
  consent of a sheriff or magistrate. (4) The
  Misdemeanours Act A measure that attempted to
  reduce the delay in the administration of
  justice. (5) The Basphemous and Seditious
  Libels Act A measure which provided much stronger
  punishments, including banishment for
  publications judged to be blaspemous or sedtious.
  (6) Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act A measure
  which subjected certain radical publications
  which had previously avoided stamp duty by
  publishing opinion and not news, to such duty.

8

• What were the key radical protests 1815 - 21

• Spa Fields Meeting
• The Spenceans and Hunt
• March of the Blanketeers
• The Pentrich Rebellion
• The Peterloo Massacre
• The Cato Street Conspiracy

9

• What was Spa Fields

• A mass meeting
• On of the first held
• Held on 15 Nov 1816
• Organised by the Spencean
• Henry Hunt was the main speaker

10

• Who were the Spenceans and who was Henry Hunt?

• Spenceans supported revolution
• Not sure it revolution should be organised or
  spontaneous.
• Henry Hunt radical speaker who wanted reform
  not revolution.

11

• The march of the Blanketeers

• March 1817 William Benbow organised a hunger
  march from St Peters field Manchester to London
• Wanted to present a petition to the Prince Regent
  asking him to relieve distress in the textile
  industry
• 4500 marched, local magistrates declared it
  seditious and it was dispersed.
• 300 set out on the march one person was killed

12

• The Pentrich Rebellion

• An attempt by the northern working class to take
  over the north and then march on London.
• A government spy Oliver the spy exposed them
• Only two attempts at uprisings one in
  Huddersfield one in Nottingham.

13

• The Peterloo Massacre

• St Peters Field Manchester Jan 1819
• Henry Hunt due to speak magistrates tried to
  prevent him
• Yeomanry could not arrest Hunt
• Army called in panic and stampede- 11
  protestors die 400 injured.

14

• The Cato Street Conspiracy

• Organised by Spenceans
• Most extreme and radical group of the time
• Plan to assassinate Liverpool and is cabinet on
  22 Feb 1820
• Plan was to paralyse the capital and spread
  unrest across the country
• Discovered by George the Spy
• 4 tried and executed 5 others transported for
  life.

15

• What debates is there about Radicalism between
  1815 1821?

1. Britain was close to revolution due to the mass
   unrest and protest seen in the country
2. The threat was exaggerated and point to the fact
   that the radical groups were not linked or
   organised.

16

• Was Liverpool's government repressive 1815 -21?

• Repressive and reactionary
• Use of spies
• Use of force
• Six Acts
• Not repressive
• Six Acts time limited and not enforced
• Habeas Corpus suspended for only 10 months
• Seditious Meetings Act lapsed in 1818

17
Liverpool 1822 - 27
18

• Who were the Liberal Tories?

• Sir Robert Peel Home Secretary
• WJ Robinson Chancellor of the Exchequer
• William Huskisson President of the Board of
  Trade
• George Canning Foreign Secretary

19

• Liberal Tories Key Themes

• The emergence of younger and more energetic
  ministers gave the government a more liberal
  image.
• The new ministers were more open to the idea of
  reform
• Growing prosperity and a decline in social unrest
• Did the social and economic policies represent a
  departure from the ideas of the previous
  ministers?

20

• What reforms did Liverpool and the Liberal Tories
  introduce 1822 30?

• Legal Reforms
• Economic Reforms
• Trade Union Reform
• Catholic Emancipation

21

• Legal Reforms

• Capital Offences Act abolished the death
  penalty for 180 offences. Peel did it as many
  magistrates were not enforcing the law as it
  stood.
• Prison Reforms Gaols Act 1823 Gaols set up in
  every county, officers were to be paid, female
  prisons had female guards.
• Metropolitan Police Act

22

• Was Peel a reformer?

• Yes
• Removed laws not needed
• Reorganised the criminal code
• Goals act reduced the number of executions
• No
• Simple completed a process started before him
• Simplified criminal code not get more arrests
  was not more lenient.
• 1805 12 67 executions per year
• 1822 28 63 executions per year

23

• Economic Reforms

• Move towards Free Trade idea started by Wallace
  vice president of board of trade 1821 - 23
• Huskisson and Robinson in charge
• Reduction of duties
• Navigation Act
• Corn Laws relaxed

24

• Reduction of duties

• Taxes on Rum, Silk, wool, glass, books and paper
  were reduced
• 50 tax on manufacture goods reduced to 20

25

• Navigation Act

• Navigation Acts were a restriction on free trade
• The repeal in 1823 allowed for non British ships
  to trade directly with British colonies
• Resulted in freer flow of trade and lower prices

26

• Corn Laws relaxed

• Huskisson introduced a sliding scale of duty on
  imported corn. This replaced the fixed 80
  shilling rate in 1828
• Aim was to make bread etc more affordable whilst
  retaining traditional supporters.

27

• Were the economic reforms liberal?

• None of the reforms were new ideas the work of
  Wallace
• The reforms were in place before 1822 but they
  were still introduced there may not have been a
  decisive break with pre 1822 but it was the start
  of a free trade economy built on by Peel in 1840s

28

• What were the Trade Union reforms?

• Repeal of the Combinations Act 1824
• Combination Acts had made strikes illegal
• Repeal now meant Unions and strikers not liable
  to prosecution
• Amending Act 1825
• A wave of unrest and strikes followed the
  relaxing of the Combination Acts. This amendment
  tightened the law any act of force by a trade
  union was illegal.

29

• Can the Trade Union reforms be seen as liberal?

• At first glance yes workers could now join
  unions and campaign for better wages etc
• No the Amending Act placed great restrictions
  on Unions and prevented them from being truly
  effective.

30

• The impact of the reforms

• There was no major ideological shift
• Liberal Toryism did reflect a more tolerant and
  imaginative approach to problems.
• Some reforms were of great significance
• The Metropolitan Police Act
• The Test and Corporations Act
• Catholic Emancipation
• Other reforms though less significant set a
  precedence that marked the beginning of a reform
  process that would continue for the next 50
  years.

31

• How important were the reforms

• The improvement in the economy was due more to
  the period of peace than to reforms
• Trade did not become Free until the 1840s
• The Corn Laws, amended but stayed in place
• The Liberal Tories were as committed to the
  landed interest as their predecessors?

32

• How important were the Liberal Tories or How
  liberal were they?

• Perhaps the most significant element of Liberal
  Toryism was its attempt to embrace the
  manufacturing interest.
• Peel and Huskisson both sought to introduce
  reforms that would appeal to the new
  manufacturing interest and its growing political
  influence.
• The significance of the reforms may have been
  limited but the importance of Liberal Toryism
  should not be overlooked.
• For some they represented a betrayal of Toryism
• For others they represented a new attitude and a
  new generation of Tory Politicians

33
The end of the Tories 1828 - 32
34

• What were the reasons for political unrest 1828
  30.
• The collapse of the Tories

• Pressure form the emerging middle class
• Working class discontent
• Political Unions
• The Economy
• Trade Unions
• International events
• Catholic Emancipation
• Instability in Government.

35

• Pressure form the emerging middle class

• New M/C wanted political reform
• Wanted government to move faster towards free
  trade
• M/C were the backbone of the new industrial
  economy
• M/C wanted political power

36

• Working class discontent

• Growth of the new industrial cities lead to w/c
  becoming radicalised
• Seemed to be working with the m/c for political
  change
• Effectively majority of w/c wanted better pay etc
  not the vote
• Govt saw a threat from the w/c

37

• Political Unions

• Organised protest and had a political agenda. BPU
  put pressure on govt.
• M/c seemed to be representing the w/c
• Did put pressure on govt but lacked a national
  organisation.

38

• The Economy

• Bad harvest and an economic depression 1828 30
• Wave of rural unrest - swing riots in south and
  east of England
• Contributed to a growing fear of insecurity

39

• Trade Unions

• Wave of strikes and demonstrations combined with
  rural unrest to make govt think a radical threat
  was real.
• Govt perceived a threat from the Unions and the
  m/c

40

• International events

• July 1830 Revolution in France overthrow of
  Charles X.
• Other revolutions in Belgium and the Hapsburgs
  Empire (Austria)
• This helped to create an atmosphere what would
  happen in Britain if there was no reform?

41

• Catholic Emancipation

• Irish Catholics lead by Daniel OConnell right
  to sit at Westminster
• Campaign came to a head in 1829 fear of open
  revolt in Ireland led the Govt to grant the
  Catholic Emancipation Act. Wellington and Peel
  led on this. Split the Tory Party. Let in the
  Whigs

42

• Instability in Government

• 15 years of stability under Liverpool.
• 1827 30 3 PMs Canning, Goodrich and Wellington
• Liberal side of Party alienated by refusal of a
  moderate redistribution of seats.
• Reactionary (Ultra) Tories alienated by Catholic
  Emancipation
• Tory Party spilt into 3
• Ultras
• Canningites
• Wellingtons supporters

43
The Great Reform Act
44

• How great was the Great Reform Act 1832

• Key issues
• What were the main features of the old system?
• Why had this system survived so long?
• How and why did the Tories and the Whig parties
  differ over the issue of reform?

45

• What were the main features of the old system?

• Who could vote?
• County seats men who owned land worth 40
  shillings (approx 100)
• Boroughs varied enormously
• In 1831 12-13 of males could vote out of a total
  population of 24,132,294.
• Elections only held if the seat was contested.
• Many boroughs were controlled by large
  landowners.
• Many different types of Borough

46

• Why had this system survived so long?

• The Landowners
• Very important they represented law an order and
  providers of welfare
• The idea of deference
• It was the expectation that man of rank would
  represent ordinary people.
• Why does it need to change?

47

• Arguments against Reform

• The French Revolution
• Democracy mob rule
• Democracy was seen as a threat to the rights of a
  freeborn Englishman not an ideal.
• System was not unrepresentative it represented
  all major economic interests
• A man may not have the vote but is represented by
  the landlord.

48

• Arguments for Reform

• Need to reduce the influence of the King and his
  ministers.
• The allocation of MPs to boroughs depended on
  its status in the Middle Ages
• Example Dunwich in 1831 32 electors and 2 MPs.
  Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds no representation
  in Parliament.
• The Rights of Man legitimate Government must
  had a mandate from the people in governed.
• The impact of Catholic Emancipation was huge it
  paved the way for further reform
• the battering ram that broke down the old
  system
• This measure showed that you could change a
  system.

49

• The Consequences of the Reform Act

• To what extent did the Reform Act change British
  politics?
• What were the continuities pre and post 1832?
• How significant was the Great Reform Act?

50

• To what extent did the Reform Act change British
  politics?

• Limited Change
• The Act only tinkered with the edges of reform
  and too many continuities remained.
• There was little change of fundamental
  importance.
• Significant change
• Few historians contend that there were major
  continuities between the pre and post reform
  period. However
• The Act must be viewed in context and it can then
  be seen to represent a significant turning point

51

• What were the continuities pre and post 1832?

• Few recent historians believed the Act deserves
  to be called Great.
• There are continuities pre and post 1832. The Act
  did little to change the degree of power
  exercised by the aristocracy.
• The Middle Class remained under represented
• The working class remained excluded form the
  franchise.

52

• How significant was the Great Reform Act?

• The development of working class political
  consciousness
• The evolution of the British party system
• This first act made it more difficult to resist
  further reforms (1867, 1884, 1919)
• The Act created a precedent it represented the
  first occasion the aristocracy were forced into
  political concessions.
• The terms of the Act were not as important as the
  simple fact that it was passed.

53
Sir Robert Peel
54

• Peel as a Party leader 1832 - 41

• Key Themes
• Peels aims as a party leader
• Attitude to Parliamentary reform
• The Tamworth Manifesto
• The reconstruction of the Tory Party
• Taking advantage of the failures of the Whigs
• The 1841 election.

55

• Peel as Prime Minister 1841 46
• (refer to big 37 powerpoint on Peel for help here)

• Key themes
• The Budgets of 1842 and 1845
• Income Tax
• Financial Reform
• The Bank Charter Act
• The Companies Act
• Peel and Ireland
• The Irish Famine, Maynooth, Daniel O'Connell etc.
• Peel and the Corn Laws
• Influence of the Anti Corn Law League
• Repeal of the Corn Laws
• The collapse of the Conservative Party.

56

• An analysis of Peel

• Was Peel a successful Prime Minister?
• Did Peel betray his Party?
• Did Peel put the nation above party politics?

57

• Was Peel a successful Prime Minister?

• Yes
• His policies led to an age of prosperity
  financial stability, trade revived,
• He restored confidence in politics out
  manoeuvred the Chartists and OConnell
• He was a progressive reformer? Accepted things he
  had previously opposed
• He was a man of principle
• No
• a one trick pony all his faith in free trade
• None of the ideas were his in fact he often
  started by opposing many things he later
  accepted.

58

• Did Peel betray his Party?

• No
• The new party under his leadership adapted to the
  demands of the 1840s
• He didnt destroy he created gave the party a
  sense of purpose
• Peelite supporters remained within the party even
  after 1846.
• Yes
• Peel sacrificed his party on many occasions
• 1829, 1834, 1842, 1845
• Ignored traditional party values landed
  interest
• Ireland
• The Corn Laws

59

• Did Peel put the nation above party politics?

• Yes
• Peel was more concerned with good government that
  catered for all the people even at the risk of
  being unpopular in his own Party. His policies
  were designed to draw moderates away from
  extremes.
• Peel gave the Party a national appeal and
  national leadership, he was a hero of the new
  enfranchised classes
• No
• No real evidence to suggest otherwise he new his
  actions would mean the collapse of the Party but
  he still went ahead.

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