BRITAIN Radical Reformers Flashcards

1
Q

When was the French Revolution?

A

1789-99

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2
Q

When were the Napoleonic Wars?

A

1793-1815

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3
Q

When were the September Massacres?

A

1792

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4
Q

When was Louis XVI executed?

A

1793

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5
Q

What had contributed to a growing interest in political affairs among working people, especially the skilled working class?

A

Success of the American Revolution; early events of the French Revolution

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6
Q

Society for Constitutional Information (SCI)

A

An organisation that promoted social and political reform; mostly middle-class industrialist members who weren’t prepared to get involved in radical activity

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7
Q

When was SCI formed?

A

1780

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8
Q

Who formed SCI?

A

Major John Cartwright

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9
Q

When did support for the SCI begin to fall?

A

1783

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10
Q

Why did support for the SCI fall?

A

Its members joined other organisations

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11
Q

When did the SCI cease to exist?

A

After 1795

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12
Q

When were a number of corresponding societies established in London and provincial towns?

A

Early 1790s

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13
Q

Who did the new corresponding societies draw their membership from?

A

Growing ranks of skilled working classes

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14
Q

When was the LCS founded?

A

1792

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15
Q

Who founded the LCS?

A

Thomas Hardy

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16
Q

London Corresponding Society (LCS)

A

Promoted twin causes of universal suffrage and annual parliaments; worked to promote political education of its members by publishing pamphlets

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17
Q

Who was the LCS supported by?

A

Skilled craftsmen in London

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18
Q

Why did the organisation of the LCS mark a new departure for radical groups?

A

Never tried to limit its membership to any particular class and charged a very low subscription fee; kept its local associations deliberately small

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19
Q

When was the activity in France at its most extreme?

A

1791-93

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20
Q

What was established in response to the LCS and other radical organisations?

A

Loyalist societies

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21
Q

Where was association membership drawn from?

A

Almost exclusively from the middle classes

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22
Q

How did the government support the Association movement?

A

Used loyalist press to promote patriotic propaganda; gave secret help to associations; took action against reformers

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23
Q

When was the Spa Fields meeting?

A

1816

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24
Q

What had effectively silenced British radicalism in the early years of the 19th century?

A

Government’s determination; growth of national feeling during the Napoleonic War

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25
Q

From when did Lord Liverpool’s government face a number of challenges to its authority?

A

1815

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26
Q

When did reform meetings in London prove uncontroversial?

A

Early months of 1816

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27
Q

Who was unhappy with the moderate stance being taken in the early months of 1816?

A

Followers of Thomas Spence

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28
Q

What did the followers of Thomas Spence plan in 1816?

A

Mass meeting in East London, which they hoped would lead to violent rioting and disorder

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29
Q

Who was invited to address a meeting in Spa Fields in November?

A

Henry Hunt

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30
Q

How many people gathered at the Spa Field meeting in November?

A

10,000- largest gathering seen in London since the anti-Catholic Gordon riots of 1780

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31
Q

What was the aim of the Spa Fields meeting in November?

A

Hunt was asked to present a petition to the Prince Regent, urging him to reform Parliament

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32
Q

What did Hunt champion in his November Spa Fields speech?

A

Moral force behind the petition, but came dangerously close to suggesting the use of physical force if the petitioners’ demands were not met

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33
Q

Why was a second Spa Fields meeting called in December?

A

Hunt was not received by the Prince Regent

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34
Q

When was the second Spa Fields meeting called?

A

2 December 1816

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35
Q

Who was Hunt pre-empted by at the second Spa Fields meeting?

A

Spenceans, who stirred up sections of the crowd and urged them to take a course of direct action

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36
Q

What happened at Spa Fields as a result of the Spenceans’ actions?

A

Number of people left the meeting; looted a number of gunsmiths; set off to seize the Tower of London/Royal Exchange

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37
Q

Why weren’t the Spa Fields rioters successful?

A

Quick action of Lord Mayor of London and his force of constables dispersed them and arrested their leader

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38
Q

When was the trial of the ringleaders of the Spa Fields affair?

A

1817

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39
Q

What did the trial of the Spa Fields ringleaders reveal?

A

Role of government informers and spies in the affair

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40
Q

What was the government informer who encouraged the Spa Fields riots called?

A

Castle

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41
Q

What happened to those who had been put on trial as a result of the Spa Fields affair?

A

Acquitted

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42
Q

What condemned the Spa Fields riot without reservation?

A

‘Leeds Mercury’, a strong supporter of the radicals

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43
Q

When was the Pentridge Rising?

A

1817

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44
Q

What had Liverpool’s government established to combat radical activity?

A

Committee of Secrecy

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45
Q

When was the significance of the use of spies by the government highlighted?

A

Pentridge Rising

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46
Q

Who joined the Pentridge meetings?

A

A Londoner who called himself Oliver

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47
Q

When did a government informant join the Pentridge meetings?

A

May 1817

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48
Q

When did the government informant persuade the Pentridge radicals that there would be nationwide uprisings?

A

9 June

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49
Q

Who led the Pentridge radicals towards Nottingham?

A

Jeremiah Brandreth

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50
Q

How many Pentridge radicals marched towards Nottingham?

A

300

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51
Q

What happened to the Pentridge radicals as they tried to march?

A

Rebels were intercepted by a regiment of soldiers before they could reach the city; many fled but 80 were arrested

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52
Q

Who published a detailed investigation that exposed the government informant’s role in the Pentridge rising?

A

‘Leeds Mercury’

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53
Q

How were the Pentridge radicals punished?

A

14 men were transported and Brandreth, along with 2 others, was hanged and beheaded in public

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54
Q

When was Peterloo?

A

16 August 1819

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55
Q

Why were radical activities dampened down in 1818?

A

Actions taken by the government in 1816-7; some improvements in economy

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56
Q

When did Henry Hunt stand for election to parliament?

A

1818

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57
Q

Why was Henry Hunt defeated when he stood for parliament?

A

His advocacy of parliamentary reform was unpopular with electorate

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58
Q

When did the Political Register cease publication?

A

1817, after Cobbett fled to the USA

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59
Q

Where did Peterloo take place?

A

Saint Peter’s Fields in Manchester

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60
Q

Why did significant protest take place in Manchester in 1819?

A

City and its surrounding mill towns provided fertile ground for working-class radicalism to flourish; long tradition of trade unionism in the region

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61
Q

What exemplified the working-class activity in Manchester?

A

March of the Blanketeers in 1817- badly organised attempt by Manchester textile workers to publicise their grievances

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62
Q

What did the radical activity in Manchester fluctuate with?

A

Economic conditions

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63
Q

What gave rise to a sustained campaign of mass meetings and demands for parliamentary reform in Manchester?

A

Downturns in the textile industry in 1818

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64
Q

Who was invited to address the gathering at Peterloo?

A

Henry Hunt

65
Q

How many people turned up for Peterloo?

A

80,000

66
Q

What did several groups carry to Peterloo?

A

Banners calling for universal suffrage and annual parliaments

67
Q

How many people were killed at Peterloo?

A

11

68
Q

How many people were injured at Peterloo?

A

Over 500

69
Q

Who had been called in to arrest Hunt at Peterloo?

A

Salford Yeomanry

70
Q

What did Peterloo provoke?

A

Widespread national revulsion, leading to several outbreaks of sporadic rioting and further growth of political unions

71
Q

When was the Battle of Waterloo?

A

1815

72
Q

When were there isolated outbreaks of violence in Britain?

A

1820-21

73
Q

Who relied on local magistrates to maintain order in towns and cities?

A

Pitt in the 1790s; Liverpool in the post-war years

74
Q

What had been achieved in the first 30 years of radical activity and progress?

A

Much in terms of organisation and political education of the working class as a whole

75
Q

When had popular radicalism been virtually stamped out?

A

1800

76
Q

What were the two serious problems post-war radicalism faced?

A

Leadership; moral vs physical force

77
Q

When was radicalism largely the preserve of the middle classes?

A

1790-99

78
Q

Why did the reform climate change in 1810?

A

Radicals were better organised than before; ideas of reform were supported by people drawn from all social classes

79
Q

Why did political agitation die down until 1830?

A

Economic difficulties of the post-war years were overcome

80
Q

When did the role of the magistrates increase in importance?

A

From 1793, when Britain went to war against revolutionary France

81
Q

When was there a royal proclamation against seditious writings?

A

1792

82
Q

When did the LCS and SCI send delegates to a meeting in Edinburgh to agree on the calling of a national reform convention?

A

1793

83
Q

When did the reform societies regroup and announce the calling of a national reform convention?

A

1794

84
Q

What were the LCS and SCI members who were arrested charged with?

A

High treason

85
Q

How many members did the LCS have in its height?

A

No more than 5,000

86
Q

When did the trials of the LCS and SCI members take place?

A

End of 1794

87
Q

What did the prosecution claim that the LCS was planning to support the charge of high treason?

A

Assassination of George III

88
Q

What happened to the defendants who had been charged with high treason?

A

Acquitted

89
Q

What had Pitt proposed in 1785?

A

Some limited measures of parliamentary reform

90
Q

What had convinced Pitt to abandon all his proposals of reform?

A

Revolution; the French war

91
Q

What did the events of 1794 show?

A

Just how seriously the government/Pitt took the threat of domestic unrest and opposition

92
Q

What did William Cobbett write many pamphlets about?

A

Against the French wars

93
Q

What did Cobbett establish?

A

‘Political Register’

94
Q

When did Cobbett become increasingly radical in outlook?

A

1806

95
Q

Why was Cobbett sentenced to two years imprisonment?

A

Seditious libel against the armed forces in 1810

96
Q

When did Cobbett decide to reach a much wider audience?

A

1816

97
Q

How did Cobbett make the ‘Political Register’ available to a much wider audience?

A

Issued a single sheet of the ‘Register’ for just two pence, which meant that the newspaper wouldn’t have to pay the high newspaper duty set by the government

98
Q

How many copies of Cobbett’s two-penny register had been printed and circulated by 1817?

A

200,000

99
Q

When was Cobbett the most influential radical journalist in Britain?

A

1800-20

100
Q

When did Hunt begin to gain a reputation for his brilliant oratory skills?

A

1810

101
Q

How had Hunt managed to establish himself as one of the most important leaders of British radicalism by 1815?

A

His many speeches opposing property taxes and the Corn Law of 1815

102
Q

What made Hunt different to Cartwright and Cobbett?

A

Proposed universal suffrage at a mass meeting for the first time

103
Q

What was Hunt charged with after Peterloo?

A

Promoting a seditious conspiracy; jailed for 2 1/2 years in 1820

104
Q

What made Cobbett believe more strongly that the British electoral system was corrupt?

A

Stood for parliament in Honiton in 1806 and was not elected

105
Q

When did Cobbett move to the USA?

A

1792

106
Q

When did Cobbett return to England after his time in America?

A

1800

107
Q

What was the circulation of the ‘Register’ by 1805?

A

4,000

108
Q

Up until 1800, what did Hunt support?

A

Political and social outlook of men of his class- gave unqualified support to Pitt’s domestic and foreign policies

109
Q

What changed Hunt’s political outlook?

A

Imprisoned 1799-1800 for defying the orders of the commander of his local militia; came into contact with radicals in prison

110
Q

What had the French war done to Britain’s overseas trade?

A

Dislocated it, leading to rapidly rising unemployment in industrial towns

111
Q

Why was 1795 a difficult year for the country?

A

Rapidly rising unemployment in industrial towns; poor harvests; inevitable rise in food prices

112
Q

What did the government use as a pretext to take strong action in 1795?

A

Stones thrown at George III’s coach

113
Q

What had persuaded ministers to amend the treason law in order to strengthen their powers against radicalism?

A

Failure of 1794 treason trials

114
Q

Treason Act 1795

A

Made it an offence to kill, or even to harm, the king; anybody outside parliament who called for parliamentary reform could be charged with treason

115
Q

What was the Treason Act 1795 accompanied by?

A

Seditious Meetings Act 1795

116
Q

Seditious Meetings Act 1795

A

Restricted size of public meetings to 50 people, unless they were approved in advance by the magistrates

117
Q

What do some historians see the 1790s as?

A

Decade of repression imposed by Pitt’s government, in alliance with the magistrates

118
Q

What damaged radical activity throughout the years of the Napoleonic wars?

A

Development of patriotic feeling

119
Q

When were the Gagging Acts?

A

1817

120
Q

In the post-war years, up until when did Lord Liverpool’s government face a number of serious challenges to its authority?

A

1819

121
Q

Why did the return of peace post-France not lead to immediate improvement in the country’s economy?

A

Poor harvests; after a brief post-war boom, economy fell into depression; rising unemployment

122
Q

How many troops were demobilised after the wars in France?

A

300,000

123
Q

Why did the government do little to alleviate the stress of the post-war years?

A

Laissez-faire belief that economy would revive in time, without need for government intervention

124
Q

What did the radical activities of 1815-7 lead ministers to believe?

A

Existence of a broad national revolutionary conspiracy

125
Q

What were the three measures Liverpool’s government passed designed to combat radical activity during 1817?

A

Treason Act 1795 made a permanent measure; habeas corpus suspended for all those suspected of treasonable activities; Seditious Meetings Act 1817

126
Q

When was the Treason Act 1795 due to lapse?

A

On the death of George III

127
Q

Seditious Meetings Act 1817

A

Justices of the Peace were given the power to attend any public meeting and disperse it if they considered it unlawful; societies with a secret oath were banned outright; all Spencean clubs were suppressed by name

128
Q

How successful were the Gagging Acts 1817?

A

Succeeded in their aim of quelling unrest in the short term, especially in London

129
Q

When did most of the terms of the Gagging Acts lapse?

A

1818

130
Q

When did the government meet to consider Lord Sidmouth’s proposals to prevent similar events to Peterloo?

A

End of 1819

131
Q

What was Lord Sidmouth’s role in 1919?

A

Home Secretary

132
Q

When were the Six Acts?

A

1819

133
Q

Six Acts 1819

A

Unlawful Drilling Act; Seizure of Arms Act; Misdemeanours Act; Seditious Meetings Prevention Act; Criminal Libel Act; Stamp Duties Act

134
Q

Which element of the Six Acts was most strongly opposed by Whig opposition?

A

Seditious Meetings Prevention Act

135
Q

When was the Seditious Meetings Prevention Act repealed?

A

1824

136
Q

How effective were the Six Acts?

A

Had desired effect- calm was soon restored and there would not be another Peterloo; the crisis years of 1815-19 would not be repeated

137
Q

Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

A

‘Declaration of the Rights of Man’ 1791-92- applauded changes taking place in France; rallied against unearned privilege and wealth; advocated sweeping reforms and universal manhood suffrage

138
Q

Edmund Burke (1729-97)

A

‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’ 1790; not opposed to reform but appalled by violence in France; celebrated rule by monarchy and aristocracy

139
Q

Why was Paine’s ‘Rights of Man’ part two so popular?

A

Written in an accessible style; sold cheaply

140
Q

How many copies of ‘Rights of Man’ part two were sold in a year?

A

200,000

141
Q

Why was Paine’s writing so important?

A

Political debate was no longer limited to the landed classes

142
Q

Who did many people see the Seditious Writings Act 1792 as an attack on?

A

Thomas Paine

143
Q

Who published ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Man’ 1790 in response to Edmund Burke?

A

Mary Wollstonecraft

144
Q

When was the Hampden Club formed in London?

A

1812

145
Q

Who were the Hampden Clubs named after?

A

John Hampden, one of the leading opponents of Charles I in the English Civil War

146
Q

Why was the London Hampden Club so exclusive?

A

High annual subscription of 2 guineas

147
Q

When did Cartwright tour the industrial districts of the north and the Midlands?

A

After 1812

148
Q

When did Cartwright encourage the creation of regional Hampden Clubs?

A

1816

149
Q

Who founded the Hampden Clubs?

A

Major John Cartwright

150
Q

How were the regional Hampden clubs different from the London one?

A

Membership was open to all who could pay a weekly subscription of one penny; frequent meetings took place

151
Q

What did the Hampden Clubs effectively replace?

A

LCS

152
Q

When was LCS disbanded?

A

1794

153
Q

When was LCS formally outlawed by the government?

A

1799

154
Q

Why did Cartwright encourage the creation of regional Hampden Clubs?

A

Saw firsthand the widespread poverty and poor living conditions that existed in the cotton towns

155
Q

What did the rapid growth in the popularity of the regional Hampden Clubs persuade Cartwright and the others to do?

A

Invite local delegates to a plenary meeting in London in 1817 to settle matters of policy

156
Q

What did delegates at the Hampden Club plenary meeting decide on?

A

Universal suffrage; annual parliaments; approved a broad policy of petitioning parliament

157
Q

From when were the Hampden Clubs unable to act effectively?

A

1817

158
Q

Why were the Hampden Clubs no longer able to act effectively?

A

Magistrates arrested club members, charging them with attending seditious meetings- local leaders were arrested in 1817 and sent to prison in London, only to be released without charge a few months later