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Popular pressure and resistance to reform (1780-1820) - Coggle Diagram
Popular pressure and resistance to reform (1780-1820)
Economical Reform
Prompting by increasing criticism over the way the war was being conducted.
Reformers emboldened by an increasingly active press
Government expenditure and taxes were high, partly due to royal patronage (King giving away government offices in order to influence policy making)
1780 - Royal patronage was reduced by decreasing the number of government ministers and offices.
Furthermore, King would provide military contracts to friends and political allies.
Pitt's Proposal (1785)
32 of the worst rotten boroughs to be disenfranchised and 72 seats redistributed to London and other populated areas.
Failed due to King being opposed and MPs viewing disenfranchisement as an attack on property rights.
French Revolution (1789)
Reinvigorated support for reforms but divisions remained over aims and methods.
Society for Constitutional Information (1780) - founded by John Cartwright. Championed full universal suffrage but limited success in its early years.
LCS (1792) - created to promote skilled workers' rights. Support from northern cities and towns.
Friends of the People (1792) - Whig politicians who wanted modest reform to electoral system in Westminster. Movement crushed after a few electoral defeats due to war with French (1793).
Primary reasons for failure
Support was patchy and inconsistent
Outbreak of French Revolutionary Wars following assassination of King Louis XVI (1793).
Government Supression
Suspension of Habeas Corpus (1794)
Seditious Meetings Act (1795)
Corresponding Societies Act (1799)