Revolutions- the 1798 rebellion Flashcards
(41 cards)
how was ireland governed in 1790
the irish parliament
at the time king george III ruled ireland there was an irish parliament that met in dublin.in 1782 weakened by the war in america the british gave into the demands that the irish parliament should get more power. they allowed the irish parliament to make its own laws without getting approval from the british government. it became known as Grattan’s parliament.
what is Grattan’s parliament
it is the new parliament that allowed the irish to make their own laws without britain’s approval.
who was the leading figure in Grattans parliament
Henry Grattan
why was the system government unfair
the irish parliament was very unrepresentative. only wealthy members of the church of ireland could be elected members of parliament.parliament was dominated by wealthy landlord families called protestant ascendancy
catholics made up about 75 per cent of teh population. in 1793 catholics were allowed to ite but weren’t allowed to become members of parliament.this was one of the remaining penal laws.it had been passed to stop catholics from gaining to much power
in ulster there was a large number of presbyterians. they also suffered under the penal laws. fro example,they were barred from parliament
only wealthy people could vote during the elections. this was unfair because most of the population was poor
although the irish parliament was independent in theory, this was not the case in reality.the king and his government made sure that the parliament made sure they didn’t pass any laws they disliked
what is a ‘MP’
a member of parliament
name a place that multiple people wanted a reform
Belfast
who were the middle-class
people such as businessmen, lawyers and doctors
what pamphlet did theobald wolfe tone write and when
an argument on behalf of catholics of ireland
1791
who was theobald wolfe tone
he was born in 1763 and attended trinity college. he was a strong critic of british control of ireland and called for a reform of the irish parliament. in 1791 wolfe tome wrote a pamphlet called’ an argument on the behalf of the catholics of ireland. this made tone well known among the people who wanted a change of how ireland was run
what is the society of the united irishmen
all of its members were middle-class protestants who shared with tone an enthusiasm for the ideals of the french revolution.
name the leading figures of the society of the united irishmen
william drennan
henry joy mcCracken
thomas russell
lord edward fitzgerald
who founded the branch for the society of the united irishmen
james napper tandy
what was the impact of war between france and britain
the british government became very suspicious of the society of teh united irishmen
they disliked the fact that it was pro-french and in 1794 it was banned
leading ,members of the organisation decided to continue the secret society whose members who took an oath
how was lord edward fitzgerald
not all members of the protestant ascendancy opposed change. lord edward fitzgerald was from one of the most powerful families in ireland.his father was the duke of leinster and owned the leinster house which is now the dail. lord edward was a supporter of the french revolution. he visited france where he stayed with thoma pain. lord edward wanted a republic ireland free of english rule. he helped organise the military preparations for the revolt in 1798
what was the defenders
they were a secret society formed to protect the irish farmers
what was the orange order
it was set up to defend the protestants and british rule in ireland
what did the orange order do
they attacked and drove hundreds of protestants from ulster
what were tone’s aims after th society of the united irishmen were banned and how do we know this
he wanted ireland to have independence from britain and be a republic like france
he believed that violence would have to be used to achieve this aim
he hoped to unite all irishmen in supporting irish freedom regardless of religion
tone hoped to get help from the french to stage the revolution in ireland
we know this because he wrote it in his diary
why did wolfe tone have to leave for america and what did he do after that
he had to leave for america because the british found out that he was meeting up with a french spy in 1795
after he left america and travelled to france to organise an invasion fleet to ireland.the french were willing to listen and they hoped that a irish rebellion would weaken the british army
who led the expedition, how many soldiers/ships were sent and why was it a disaster and what happened after the disaster
lazare hoche
43 ships and 14,000 soldiers
hoches ship was separated from the main fleet
when the rest of the fleet arrived off bantry bay in co,cork a violent storm prevented the ships from landing
tone was forced to return to france.he urged the france to sent another fleet to ireland but they weren’t interested
what measures were taken to crush the united irishmen
anyone caught giving the oath of the membership for the united irishmen could be executed. a person who took the oath would be transported to the the new penal colony of australia for life
a new army called the yeomanry was formed. its members were protestants and the government encouraged members of the new orange to join
led by general lake,the government started a reign of terror in ulster where the united irishmen were the strongest
what were the punishments for people who were part of the united irishmen during the reign of terror
suspects were flogged
half-hanging
another cruel method of torture was the pitch cap-
what is a pitch cap
a cloth cap filled with tar was placed on a suspect’s head and then set alight
what is half-hanging
it is when you are hung until lost consciousness
