8.1 Democratic Reforms in Britain

Read the following section and answer the questions that follow. 
Democratic Reform in Britain One day a wealthy Englishman named Charles Egremont boasted to strangers that Victoria, the queen of England, “reigns over the greatest nation that ever existed.”
“Which nation?” asks one of the
strangers, “for she reigns over two. . . .
Two nations; between whom there is no
[communication] and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each
other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were . . . inhabitants
of different planets.”
What are these “two nations,” Egremont asks. “THE RICH AND THE
POOR,” the stranger replies.”
—Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil

In the 1800s, Benjamin Disraeli and other political leaders slowly worked to bridge Britain’s “two nations” and extend democratic rights. Unlike some of its neighbors in Europe, Britain generally
achieved change through reform rather than revolution.

Reforming Parliament
In 1815, Britain was a constitutional monarchy with a parliament and two political parties. Still, it was far from democratic. Although members of the House of Commons were elected, less
than five percent of the people had the right to vote. Wealthy nobles and squires, or country landowners, dominated politics and heavily influenced voters. In addition, the House of Lords—made
up of hereditary nobles and high-ranking clergy—could veto any bill passed by the House of Commons.

Reformers Press for Change 
Long-standing laws kept many people from voting. Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants, for example, could not vote or serve in Parliament. In the 1820s, reformers pushed to end religious restrictions. After fierce debate, Parliament finally granted Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants equal political rights.
An even greater battle soon erupted over making Parliament more representative. During the Industrial Revolution, centers of population shifted. Some rural towns lost so many people that they had few or no voters. Yet local landowners in these rotten boroughs still sent members to Parliament. At the same time, populous new industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham had no seats allocated in Parliament because they had not existed as population centers in earlier times.

Reform Act of 1832 
By 1830, Whigs and Tories were battling over a bill to reform Parliament. The Whig Party largely represented middle-class and business interests. The Tory Party spoke for nobles, land owners, and others whose interests and income were rooted in agriculture. In the streets, supporters of reform chanted, “The Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill!” Their shouts seemed to echo the cries of revolutionaries on the continent. Parliament finally passed the Great Reform Act in 1832. It redistributed seats in the House of Commons, giving representation to large towns and cities and eliminating rotten boroughs. It also enlarged the electorate, the body of people allowed to vote, by granting suffrage to more men. The Act did, however, keep a property requirement for voting.
The Reform Act of 1832 did not bring full democracy, but it did give a greater political voice to middle-class men. Landowning nobles, however, remained a powerful force in the government and the economy.

The Chartist Movement 
The reform bill did not help rural or urban workers. Some of them demanded more radical change. In the 1830s, protesters known as Chartists drew up the People’s Charter. This petition demanded universal male suffrage, annual parliamentary elections, and salaries for members of
Parliament. Another key demand was for a secret ballot, which would allow people to cast their votes without announcing them publicly.
Twice the Chartists presented petitions with over a million signatures to
Parliament. Both petitions were ignored. In 1848, as revolutions swept Europe, the Chartists prepared a third petition and organized a march on Parliament. Fearing violence, the government moved to suppress the march. Soon after, the unsuccessful Chartist movement declined. In time, however,
Parliament would pass most of the major reforms proposed by the Chartists.

The Victorian Age
From 1837 to 1901, the great symbol in British life was Queen Victoria. Her reign was the longest in British history. Although she exercised little real political power, she set the tone for what is now called the Victorian age.

Symbol of a Nation’s Values 
As queen, Victoria came to embody the values of her age. These Victorian ideals included duty, thrift, honesty, hard work, and above all respectability. Victoria herself embraced a strict code of morals and manners. As a young woman, she married a German prince, Albert, and they raised a large family.

A Confident Age 
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.
Victoria, the empress of India and ruler of some 300 million subjects around the world became a revered symbol of British might.
During her reign, Victoria witnessed growing agitation for social reform. The queen herself commented that the lower classes “earn their bread and riches so deservedly that they cannot and ought not to be kept back.” As the Victorian era went on, reformers continued the push
toward greater social and economic justice.

A New Era in British Politics

In the 1860s, a new era dawned in British politics. The old political parties regrouped under new leadership. Benjamin Disraeli forged the Tories into the modern Conservative Party. The Whigs, led by William Gladstone, evolved into the Liberal Party. Between 1868 and 1880, as the majority in Parliament swung between the two parties, Gladstone and Disraeli alternated as prime ministers. Both fought for important reforms.

Expanding Suffrage 
Disraeli and the Conservative Party pushed through the Reform Bill of 1867. By giving the vote to many working-class men, the new law almost doubled the size of the electorate. In the 1880s, it was the turn of Gladstone and the Liberal Party to extend suffrage. Their reforms gave the vote to farmworkers and most other men. By the century’s end, almost universal male suffrage, the secret
ballot, and other Chartist ambitions had been achieved. Britain had truly transformed itself from a constitutional monarchy to a parliamentary democracy, a form of government in which the executive leaders (usually a prime minister and cabinet) are chosen by and responsible to the legislature (parliament), and are also members of it.

Limiting the Lords
 In the early 1900s, many bills passed by the House of Commons met defeat in the House of Lords. In 1911, a Liberal government passed measures to restrict the power of the Lords, including their
power to veto tax bills. The Lords resisted. Finally, the government threatened to create enough new lords to approve the law, and the Lords backed down. People hailed the change as a victory for democracy. In time, the House of Lords would become a largely ceremonial body with little power. The elected House of Commons would reign supreme.

(define) rotten borough

(define) electorate

(define) secret ballot

(define) Queen Victoria

(define) Benjamin Disraeli

(define) William Gladstone

(define) parliamentary democracy

(Standards Check) How was the British Parliament reformed during the early 1800s?

(Standards Check) How was Parliament reformed during the late 1800s and early 1900s?

(Assessment) How did the Reform Act of 1832 change Parliament?

(Assessment) What middle-class values are associated with the Victorian age?

(Assessment) What reforms did the Liberal and Conservative parties achieve?

(Assessment) Why do you think the Chartists demanded (a) a secret ballot, (b) salaries for members of
Parliament?

(Standard) Analyze the emergence of capitalism as a dominant economic pattern and the responses to it,
including Utopianism, Social Democracy, Socialism, and Communism.

(Focus Question) How did political reform gradually expand suffrage and make the British Parliament more democratic during the 1800s?