UNIT 2 POLITICAL TRANSITION IN BRITAIN:

Structure
Objectives
Introduction
Nature of British Polity
Nature of Political Institutions
Notion of Liberty
Demand for Reforms
Response of the State
Reform Act of 1832
The State Towards Modernisation
2.8.1 Constitutional Reforms
2.8.2 Administrative Restructuring
2.8.3 Market Refoms
2.8 4 Towards a Welfare State
Working Class Movement
Chartist Movement
Let Us Sum Up
Keywords
Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

2.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this Unit you should be able to:
understand the nature of British polity and various political institutions,
learn about the concept of liberty and the background for the growing demands for
reforms,
explain the initiative taken by the state to meet the people's demands, and
understand the dynamics of the working class movements and its consequences.

2.1 INTRODUCTION
'The study of modem Britain has been of interest to students of history for a variety of reasons.
You may be aware that roughly between 1780 and 1850, Great Britain--comprised of England,
Wales and Scotland went through a sweeping transformation brought about by the Industrial
Revolution. This momentous change not only revolutionised manufacturing by introducing the
factory system but also had long-lasting effects on the rest of the world.

By taking a lead in this process, Britain emerged as the greatest imperial power as it exploited its
captive markets and resources to stay ahead in the race for industrialisation until the beginning of
the twentieth century. We shall talk more about this in Block-3, Unit-10.

The same years interestingly saw the crystallisation of a 'liberal polity' in Britain which has
served as a model for a number of capitalist states till today. Such a polity guarantees to its
citizens rights to free speech, assembly, religious belief, the right to dissent and to equal
treatment before the law. But it also protects the inequalities based on property and the
wastefulness of the 'free' market associated with artificial demands generated by profit
inaximising entrepreneurs. In this Unit, we shall closely examine the emergence of such a state
in Britain between late eighteenth and mid nineteenth centuries.

But the same period in British history is also memorable for the growth of a new kind of politics
centred on parliamentary elections and electoral competition between organised parties as well
as struggles for a democratic order granting equal say to all in governance. While the rising
middle classes were particularly concerned about the former, the industrial working class played
an inlpoi-tant role in the development of the latter. In the following pages, we shall try to
understand the peculiar way in which these political traditions competed in Britain and their
wider implications for its modem polity.
Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
2.2 NATURE OF BRITISH POLITY Political Transition in
Britain: 1780-1850
It may be usehl to review our understanding of the terms 'politics' and 'state' and the ways in
which they have generally changed in modem times. Politics refers to the struggle for power.
Those who have power try to maintain it while thase who are out of power may resist or try to
capture it. In a sense, this tussle pervades all forms of social relations and institutions. At the
level of the state, however, its intensity is particularly marked whether in the form of factional
clashes within the ruling classes or in wider struggles between rulers and ruled, or rich and poor,
which may erupt overtly from time to time.

Secondly, ideological conflicts also play a significant role in the politics which centres around
the state. The rulers may seek to justify the existing system in terms of religious or secular ideals
while those out of power may look forwardto changes which may be radically new or
reactionary in their aims. In general terms, such:political impulses may be described as centrist,
leftist and rightist respectively. But their content can vary according to context. And, it may be
usehl to view them as relative positions only.

In modem times, however, the notion of the 'left' has been associated more with egalitarian
movements oftfor the working classes while centrist politics has been mostly ascribed to the
bourgeoisie which champions individual rights but not social equality. 'Rightist' politics has
hrther assumed various forms in recent tlmes ranging from different types of revivalist move-
ments to secular dictatorships and fascist states.

Apart from generating new shades of political ideologies, the modem period has also witnessed
s~gnificanttransformations in the methods by which power has been sought and resisted by fac-
tions and classes. The rising middle class has thus favoured the maintenance of 'law and order'
through a representative state which would facilitate maximum productivity and mobilisation of
resources w~thoutgiving up the basic inequality in the distribution of wealth and resources. The
mobilisation of popular consent through organised parties and propaganda and winning electoral
support and parliamentary majorities have been its chief concerns. The leftist movement, on the
other hand, has questioned the validity of parliamentary politics within a highly inegalitarian
social order and not shied away from a violent assertion of proletarian rebellions against
oppresswe states which protect class divisions. While these political impulses have been
common to most societies undergoing modernisation yet their precise shape and character have
obviously varied from country to country.

In this context, the history of modem Britain offers an outstanding case of a stable polity which
underwent liberal democratic transformation without a violent overthrow of its ruling class. This
was in marked contrast to most countries on the Europeon continent which saw frequent
.outbreaks against feudal regimes and their successor bourgeois states as well. On the other hand,
the British isles (apart from Ireland) were transformed in this 'Age of Revolution' more by
industrialisation than by violent political upheavals.

Thls is not to say that radical alternatives to parliamentary politics such as a workers' convention
and an economy dominated by workers' cooperatives were not tried out in Britain. But, as 'left'
alternatives, they either failed to gather substantial support or their aims remained relatively
moderate. As a result, by the middle of the nineteenth century, Britain's rising middle class and
ruling aristocracy managed to amve at a compromise and also to contain the growing working
class movements within the confines of parliamentary politics committed to the protection of
private property. How was this achieved ? And what factors shaped the peculiar transition of
Britain to modem politics deserve to be studied systematically.

But before turning to that account it .may be relevant here to consider briefly the nature of
political institutions inherited by Britain at the beginning of our period.

2.3 NATURE OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

During the early modern period (circa 1500-1800),a number of states in Europe emerged as
sovereign political entities laying claim to the allegiance of all the subjects within their territories
and also rapidly expanding their administrative and economic functions under absolutist
monarchs such as Louis XIV of France and Frederick the Great of Prussia.

In countries like Britain and the Netherlands, however, the rise of a sovereign nation state was
also accompanied by a system of constitutional government based on a rule of law as enshnned
Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
The Origins of Modern in parliamentary statutes and legal conventions rather than the arbitrary will of the monarch. In
polities-1 Britain particularly, this had been achieved after revolutions during the seventeenth century
against the absolutist ambitions of Stuart kings who were replaced by a new dynasty as well as a
new constitution ensuring a division of powers between the monarch, parliament and a more
independent judiciary. Parliament was indeed the distinctive organ of Britain's government. It
consisted of two houses. The upper one, called the House of Lords, represented the higher
clergy and the hereditary nobility and the lower one, called the House of Commons, was elected
on the basis of a limited franchise. After the revolutions of the seventeenth century, the lower
house had managed to introduce some important checks on the monarch's political powers and
acquire a crucial role in governance. For example, the crown's finances including its right to
raise fiesh taxes and spend on all state departments including the army were controlled by the
House of Commons through the mandatory annual budget. Similarly, all new laws had to he
passed by parliament first and only then sent for royal assent. The legislative and budgetary
powers of parliament, moreover, put important checks on the executive authority of the monarch
who was in practice compelled to appoint his ministers largely from those who had a following
in the House of Commons. This significant convention opened the path to the future
development of the modem 'cabinet system' in which the council of ministers is held collectively
responsible to ~arliamentand holds office as long as it can command a majority in the House of
Commons.

The mixed constitution of Britain had few parallels in the rest of the world until late eighteenth
century. Yet, its celebrated division of powers as well as its checks and balances were not
without serious limitations and problems. The powers of the House of Commons were clearly
circumscribed by those of the monarch and the Lords. Moreover, within the House of Commons,
factions and influence dominated the proceedings rather than well organised political paties
with defined programmes and ideologies. Thus, the Whigs and the Tories, which were the
principal political groupings in British parliament since the Glorious Revolution of 1688,
represented'by and large the same aristocratic interest with minor differences on questions of
religious and political dissent. The Tories were political conservatives and firmly geared towards
the ruling Anglican aristocracy while the wGgs supported the organised body of religious
dissent in England as well as Scotland and were more open to middle class demands for greater
political equality and freedom. On the whole, party discipline and organisation in parliament
were, however, still weak. This further opened the path for undue influence of the crown in
parliament through patronage.

Thirdly, the electoralbase of the Commons itself was extremely llrnited and the landed interest
dominated the lower house as well as the House of Lords. Thus, at the close of the eighteenth
century, a mere 2% of the population of England had the right to vote. In the rural counties the
franchise was restricted to those men who held freehold property worth 40 shillings while
amongst the urban boroughs there existed wide disparities be&een constituencies. Some large
centres like Westminster had several thousand voters whlle a few ghost towns like Old Sarurn
had as few as seven. The restricted character of the franchise was further vitiated by widespread
use of influence and bribery in the electoral process.

While such 'corruption' in the political process was noted and criticised by a number of
contemporaries it is equally interesting to note that the narrow social base of parliament was
actually defended by most ideologues of the eighteenth century. The leading parliamentarians of
the times in fact claimed that only landowners had a stake in the country and hence their right to
be represented in parliament. Even reformers such as Edmund Burke, as we shall note below,
had considerable contempt for the poor and feared any mass action instead of viewing it as a re-
source for reform efforts.

No account of the British state would be complete without a discussion of the natur- of local
government in those times. At a time when daily papers did not carry the news of central govern-
ment's decisions to every household, the actual government with which most citizens were
familiar was that of the vestry or the village council, the municipal bodies and the lower courts.
It was the mayor and the alderman in the towns and the Lords Leiutenants and the magistrates
(also called the Justices of Peace) maintaining law and order in the counties who personified the
state to an average British citizen. The Justices of Peace in fact carried out a number of functions
at the local level including those of a revenue official and the organiser of welfare or relief for
the poor. It is notable that until the late nineteenth century there was in fact no regular police in
Britain to assist these unpaid local officials apart from the small army garrisons which could be
called for help during times of unrest. Another key official who played an important role during
the period was the Improvement Commissioner. These were generally appointed through acts of
parliament to supervise the development of roads, bridges, canals etc. in the counties.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU

 While it is apparent that representative institutions played a unique role in Britain both at the Political Transition In
central and local levels in fxing taxes and regulating state expenditure as well as poor relief, it is Britain: 1780-1850
also worth remembering that the dominance of the landed aristcracy at all levels was actually
unassailable until the beginning of the twentieth century. The British aristocracy indeed had
some important characteristics which may be briefly noted at this stage.

At the top, there was a powerful group of some 350 families who owned huge landed estates,
usually with,titles of nobility. A seat in the House of Lords was their special privilege besides a
hold on other influential offices of the state.'Below this exclusive group of peers or nobles in
Britain's ruling elite, came the 4000 odd families constituting the gentry . They were again
owners of substantial landed estates. A few amongst them had wealth comparable to those of the
lords but their title was that of a knight or a baron and the off~cesthey generally aspired to were
those of the unpaid Justices of Peace or a seat in the House of Commons.

Another peculiar feature of the British aristocracy was its fairly compact character. While in
most European nahons the ruling elite was supposed to include all scions of noble families, in
Britain on the other hand, owing to the practice of primogeniture and the regular outflow of
younger children of the btleholders into the armed forces, the diplomatic corps, the church and
hlgh finance, the number of titleholders remained fairly restricted. Even successful members
from the trades and the professions could always purchase substantial estates and aspire to titles
over tlme. Lastly, it may be noted that the cessation of feuds and intra class violence within the
Bntish aristocracy, specially during the eighteenth century, was accompanied by the
development of the gentlemanly ideal and increasing attention being pald to improvement of
estates and to learning rather than to martial display.

NOTION OF LIBERTY
Another characteristic of the British polity which needs to be noted at this stage is its claim of
promoting 'liberty' for its subjects. Apart from numerous British commentators, a number of
foreign observers (including thlnkers such as Montesquieu and Voltaire) also stressed during the
eighteenth century that the British polity was disthctive not only due to its powerful parliament
but also by virtue of the freedom of expression and the security of person and possessions
enjoyed by its citizens in general. Some modem thinkers have also noted that by the beginning
of nineteenth century Britain was being increasingly governed through the rule of law in place of
direct use of force to extract surplus out of the labouring classes.

It is certainly true that parliamentary checks on the executive's right to impose new taxes, the
sanctity of ljrivate property, the independent tradition of the English common law and the force
of legal provisions such as Habeus Corpus along with a relatively free press guaranteed some
important rights to the upper and middle classes in Britain at a time when similar liberties were
unknown elsewhere. At the same time it is important to remember that these freedoms could be
enjoyed in practice only by the wealthy who could take recourse to the lengthy procedures of
law. Indeed the British courts as well as political thinkers from Hobbes and Locke to Bentham
and Bagehot went out of their way to champion the sanctity of private property whlle the laws
remained extremely harsh against the poor.

It is well known that in all inegalitarian societies laws, customs and dominant values are biased
m favour of the ruling classes. While the owners of land and capital thus derive supernormal
profits and rents with little effort, the labouring classes--the real creators of wealth--often survive
on low wages. Women are often confined to unpaid domestic work. Political and legal
discrimination against the lower orders further worsen their economic deprivation.

British society was no different on this count. Indeed, the law makers as well as executors in
Britain were almost entirely drawn from the landed aristocracy. It is hardly surprising that the
government was also biased towards this class. Apart from withholding political and voting
rights from women, workers and religious minorities, the eighteenth century British state also
put numerous restrictions on the free movement of workers and sought to regulate pnces and
wages in favour of the landed elite. Some of these restrictions were later seen as standing in the
path of industrial capitalism and hence progressively removed in the nineteenth century as we

iI shall see below.

Throughout the eighteenth century, however, maximum focus of the British state was on
strengthening the agrarian gentry at the cost of independent farmers and labourers. The enclosure
1 movement under which large estates were created by the rich for commercial fanning out of the
Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
t
The Origins of Modern common land of the rural communities and by ousting the poor farmers was well supported by
Politics-1 parliamentary legislation. On the other hand, the same parliament went to the extent of passing
death penalties for petty offences such as hunting in the common lands or 'theft' from forests etc.
In order to firmly instill the awe of the propertied classes in the minds of the poor public
hangings of such offenders was also prescribed. And those found guilty of the death penalty in
eighteenth century Britain could well include children stealing goods above forty shillings or
starving labourers trying to hunt rabbits in the forests. The claims of 'liberty' obviously had little
value for the ordinary folk of Britain.

'The case of John Wilkes' aptly reflects the extent and nature of 'liberty' acceptable to the
ruling classes in Britain as also the middle class aspirations to widen its scope at the
close of the eighteenth century. While going through the following summary, try to list
some important contrasts between the political cultures of eighteenth century Britain and
MughallManchu courts about which you may have studied earlier.

Wilkes was the son of a country distiller who had married well enough to set up as a
country gentleman. In 1757 he entered Parliament and gradually emerged as a strong
critic of George 111's authoritarian attempts. His paper, North Briton, also acted as a major
forum for attacks on the king's favourite ministers. In 1763, when Britain signed the
Treaty of Paris, Wilkes went to the extent of criticising the king himself for some
unpopular provisions of this settlement.

At this point, a general warrant was issued by the Secretary of State, Halifax, to arrest 'all
connected with the publication of the North Briton'. But Wilkes went to court claiming
parliamentary privilege and also challenging the validity of a general warrant of arrest.
On both these counts he won the battle and also filed a suit claiming damages against the
Secretary of State. Subsequently, Wilkes' enemies succeeded in expelling him from
Parliament on charges of libel. Wilkes then took asylum in France. But not before
receiving a hero's status in London and making the government look foolish in people's
eyes.

In 1768 Wilkes returned from France and stood as a candidate in the Middlesex election
for parliament and won the seat amidst much excitement and shouts of 'Wilkes and
liberty' all over London. The parliament was outraged at the prospect of an outlaw sitting
amongst them and twice dismissed hlm only to find him reelected by the electors of
Middlesex. At this juncture, the radical, Home Tooke, founded the 'Society for the
~ e f e n c eof Bill of Rights' and leaders like Lord Chatham also admitted that a serious
constitutional issue was at stake and Wilkes had to be ultimately readrmtted to
parliament.

The third episode of the 'Wilkes Case' began in 1771 when the owner of a Middlesex
newspaper who had published the proceedings of the Parliament was sought to be
arrested by the authorities. But Wilkes, who was now a magistrate, actually arrested the
messenger sent by the Parliament and refused to heed its summons. Ultimately, the
Commons were forced to adrmt the right of newspapers to cover their debates.

Check Your Progress 1

1) Do you think that political transformation in Britain was different from those of other
European countries? Answer in 5 sentences.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU

2 ) Explain the composition and nature of the British parliament. Answer in 100 words. Political Transition in
Britain: 1780-1850

3) What was the role of aristocracy in the British polity? Answer in five sentences.

4) 'British law was beyond the reach of the poor.' Explain in 50 words.

2.5 DEMAND FOR REFORMS

Throughout the eighteenth century, Britain saw a considerable expansion of population as well
as agricultural production and trade and commerce. Such sustained economic growth in turn
unleashed new social and political forces in the country by the close of the century. England,
Scotland as well as Wales were getting rapidly urbanised and witnessing the rise of a new social
order dominated by the middle and working classes in place of the old clergy, landowners and
agricultural workers. Moreover, the relations between the new social groups were qualitatively
different from those of the old. A much greater degree of competition and conflict informed the
relations between these classes as deference or acceptance of hierarchical differences were now
on the decline.

An important dimension of the ferment now visible on the political scene was the growth of
informed public opinion, the growing numbers of newspapers and the rise of numerous associa-
tions and pressure groups dedicated to various public causes including electoral reform, fiscal
discipline, the abolition of slavery and free trade etc. The arrogance of George 111, who ruled
Britain from 1760 to 1820, the fight for liberal rights led during his rein by leaders such as Fox
and Wilkes, and the issues raised by the liberation of British colonies in America after 1776
further stoked the embers of such discontent. Not surprisingly, the last decades of the eighteenth
century were marked by major protests against undue monarchical influence in the working of
the parliament and also against the violation of individual liberty by the government.

Britain had a tradition of liberal thought going back to the revolutionary decades when
philosophers such as John Locke had espoused a new theory of state bound to safeguard persons
and property. The new controversies generated by the Wilkes' case centreing on the freedom of
press and protection agains5arbitrary arrest during 1760s and 1770s further brought the issues of
civic rights to the fore in British politics. The formation of the Society for the Defence of Bill of
Rights in 1769 and the Society for Collstitutional Information in 1780 gave organised shape to
such struggles.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU

Tile i ) r i g ~ n , ... -ioritrrl However, most middle class leaders of the times thought of liberty from the perspective of the
IV;Iitics-I propertied classes alone. Some pioneering feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft and early
socialists such as Robert Owen tried to question the sanctity of private property and the
subordination of women under patriarchy. But, more generally, the interests of the workers, the
religious minorities and women continued to be ignored in the liberal ideology which held sway
in Britain during this period.

The most important concern of the liberal agenda during these years was of high taxation and
waste in public expenditure. The parliament as well as the press were important fora through
which the demand for the 'economical reforms' against these ills was raised. In 1779, influential
sections of the gentry led by Wywill gave further support to such demands. Consequently,
Conservative leaders such as Edmund Burke as well as liberals such as Pitt the Younger
embarked upon a series of reforms which led to the abolition of crown patronage and the
introduction of modem budgeting in Britain.

Apart from economy in state expenditure, the rising middle classes were also interested in
market reforms at a broader level. This demand was particularly raised by the bankers and
traders of London and the manufacturers of growing industrial centres such as Birmingham and
Manchester. They became ardent champions of free market principles and campaigned for the
abolition of high tariffs as well as state supported monopolies in trade and manufacturing. Adam
Smith's famous treatise, The Wealth of Nations, which gave the theoretical justification for
freedom of economic enterprise and minimum state interference in the market became an
influential text in support of their views.

While the rising bourgeoisie (consisting of capitalist manufacturers and traders as well as
educated professionals) demanded minimum state interference in the market at the same time
they put new demands for a lean but efficient state machinery which would run on rational
principles and ensure the smooth functioning of private enterprise in the country. The doctrine of
'~irilitarianism',coined by another influential thlnker of the age viz. Jeremy Bentharn, offered a
philosophical justification for such demands. According to this doctrine all laws and institutions
of society were to be judged on the basis of their utility to the maximum number and not by their
traditional sanctity or textual authority.

Other causes of public concern during this period were: the issues of public health and
education, crime and morality, the treatment of prisoners, condition of the poor in sprawling
industrial slums and the rights of dissenting religious groups. Apart from the Liberals,
Utilitarians and the Utopian Socialists, the religious movements of the Evangelicals and the
Methodists also played an important role in raising these issues in contemporary British politics.

The demand for electoral and parliamentary reforms was, meanwhile, gaining momentum
amongst sections of the middle class as well as artisans and working classes. The writings of
radicals like Tom Paine and Major Cartwright acted as p o w e h l catalysts in this respect. The
outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 also had a positive impact on the radical movement in
Britain as it revived the interest in democratic reforms which had been marginalised after the
infamous Gordon riots against Catholics in London in 1780. The Society for Constitutional
Information was'now revived along with the opening of a number of Republican Clubs in the
provinces. One of the most radical of these was the London Corresponding Society which, under
the guidance of the London shoe maker, Thomas Hardy, sought to organise a nation-wide protest
for parliamentary reform as well as workers' rights and also established contacts with the
Revolutionary Convention in France.
'b.

Even though the demands and aspirations of the British radicals were moderate yet, the example
of revolutionary violence in France greatly alarmed the British authorities. Between 1793 and
1815, Britain, in alliance with other monarchies of Europe, was at continuous war with
Revolutionary France. During this period, the British state not only used nationalist sentiment to
buttress its authority but also unleashed unprecedented repression against the radicals as well as
the nascent working class movement. This included the suspension of the Habeus Corpus in
1794, the introduction of anti-combination laws in 1799 as also a series of treason trials and
bloody suppression of all radical organisations.

Yet, repression failed to suppress the radical movement in Britain. Under the guidance of old
stalwarts such as Cartwright as well as new leaders such as Cobbet, the famous Hampden Clubs
were formed in a number of towns to press for parliamentary reforms and the extention of
franchise specially after 1809.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU

Meanwhile the working class movement was also maturing in Britain. The initial phase of Political Transition in
industrialisationwas full of misery for the proletariat which worked and lived in extremely Britain: 1780-1850
hostile conditions for long hours on meagre wages and with few rights or social security. It is
hardly surprising that in the face of these brutal conditions, in several places, the workers
responded by systematically breaking the machines which symbolised the new order to them.
These early machine breakers have been nicknamed Luddites after their mythical leader Nedd
Ludd.

But the working class movement in Britain actually cpnsisted of a variety of strands ranging
from self help credit societies and workers' cooperatives to the more radical democrats and so-
cialists. The democrats reposed faith in universal franchise and parliamentary reforms besides
workers' rights to form unions and to strike for better conditions. Socialists such as Robert
Owe11(1 77 1 - 1 858) further argued that all wealth is created through labour and therefore the
labouring classes should claim the full fruit of their work. In the capitalist system, however,
maximum share of the wealth produced is appropriated by a miniscule minority of the owners of
capital.

tiow to change this unjust order? This was the major issue before socialists everywhere. Owen
himself emphasised workers' cooperatives and self help rather than a direct confrontation with
the state. To realise these ideas, he first founded the New Lanark Spinning Mill at Glasgow and
later the New Ilarmony Society in Indiana, USA in the initial decades of nineteenth century. We
shall learn more about the labour movement in Britain in the following pages.

2.6 RESPONSE OF THE STATE

The British state, meanwhile, responded to these different demands in diverse ways. Some
economic and administrative reforms were accepted to accommodate the aspirations of the rising
middle classes. Indeed such 'reformist conservatism' of the British oligarchy distinguished it
clearly from the 'rightist' forces in most Continental regimes of the period and helped in forging
an early alliance between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie there. But the demands of the
workers were viewed with general suspicion and suppressed unequivocally in the initial years of
industrialisation.

Thus, the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 had been celebrated all over Britain. However,
for the workers of Manchester and Birmingham who were awaiting reforms, the end of the war
actually brought more unemployment and economic difficulties. Yet, the Tory government of
Lord Liverpool (1812-27) continued its repressive policies. The 'March of the Blanketeers'
which was led towards London by the weavers of Manchester to protest against their sufferings
in 1816 was beaten back. The revo1.t of the Spenceans who asked for redistribution of land, was
of course seen as treason and crushed.

But the most brutal state action was visible in 1819 at Peterloo park, in Manchester, where a
crowd of 60,-000had gathered to listen to Orator Hunt on democratic reforms. It was
indiscriminately fired at. Eleven persons lost their lives and more than four hundred were injured
in this bloodbath. Peterloo has been remembered as the domestic Waterloo of the old guard
which became panicky and passed the infamous Six Acts putting fresh restrictions on the press
and political assemblies etc.

After 1820, however, some shift in the attitudes of the Liverpool ministry, especially towards the
middle class demands for economic and administrative reforms, was evident. A band of new
ministers, including Canning, Huskisson and Robert Peel, now started a series of reforms in state
finances, tariffs, police and courts etc. The Whig governments of Lord Grey and Lord Russell
brought further constitutional and administrative changes during the 1830s. These reforms
played an important role in orienting Britain towards a modem economy and administration. It
is important to note that the readiness to introduce such reforms went a long way toward forging
a tie between the landed and capitalist classes in the country.

Yet, the period was not entirely free of conflicts. Two striking events which convey the depth of
tens~onsbetween different social classes in Britain were the struggle over parliamentary reform
in 1831-2 and the Chartist movement which surfaced between 1839 and 1848.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU

The Origins of Modern
Politics-1
2.7 REFORM ACT OF 1832
The passage of the Parliamentary Reform Act of 1832 was indeed one of the most crucial events
in Britain's transition to modem politics as it ensured a prominent place to the rising middle
classes in British polity and a stake in its stability.

Demands for reform in Britain's parliamentary system had been growing with industrialisation
since the late eighteenth century. A number of bills had been introduced in Parliament,
especially since the 1780s, to enhance the representation of the new industrial centres. But none
gathered sufficient support. While radicals under the leadership of Burdett and some Whig
leaders such as Brougham and Russell were committed to reform, the ruling Tories were still
against any constitutional innovation. Both the major parliamentary factions were, moreover,
united in dismissing democracy or a radical extension of the franchise as dangerous for the
country.

The accession of the liberal monarch William IV, in 1830, brought the Whigs to power after a
long gap. This was under the leadership of Lord Grey. T3is brightened the chances of limited
parliamentary reform. The same year revolutions broke out in a number of counmes in Europe
and gave a further filip to reform efforts in Britain. Under such pressures, the House of
Commons passed two successive reform bills. But both were thrown out by the House of Lords
Meanwhile, pro-reform associations were formed in several cities of Britain and leaders like
Thomas Attwood in Birmingham and Francis Place in London tried to inobilise shopkeepers,
artisans as well as workers in support of parIiamentary reform. In the elections of 1831 wh~ch
were called to end the deadlock in parliament, the reformist Whigs were again returned in
majority. Ultimately, the House of Lords also bowed before the king's warning of creating new
reformist peers and the first Reform Act thus came into force in 1832.

The aim of the Act, however, was to preserve the existing Constitution of Britain; not to change
it. For this it tried to introduce some reforms in the election of the House of Commons. While
providing for a redistribution of 143 seats of the lower House to accord with the new
demographic pattern of industrial Britain, the Act also abolished a number of 'rotten' boroughs
(parliamentary constituencies with few members) and extended the franchise marginally both in
the counties and the boroughs. In the counties, all men who were f 10 copyholders and f 50
'tenants at will', in addition to the 40 shilling freeholders, now had the right to vote. In the
boroughs, on the other hand, all householders occupying residences worth f 10 per annum, or
more, were enfranchised. The new electorate still consisted of less than six lakh men or a mere
3% of the total population of Britain then.

Thus, the Act ensured that the rule of property would continue in Britain. But, alongside the
established aristocracy, it granted representation to the rising middle classes in the country's
parliamentary govenunent. This went a long way towards forging a compromise between the
bourgeoisie and the landed elite, thus enabling a peaceful transition to a modem liberal polity in
Britain.

Apart from redefining the class character of the state, the Act had some other long term
implications which are important to note at this stage. First, the very manner of its passage
enhanced the significance of the House of Commons in relation to the upper House and also set
an important precedent of extra parliamentary pressures on legislators. Second, the reformist
agenda within parliament became extremely strong after 1832 as more radicals entered
parliament from the industrial centres which had gained representation and the Whigs and the
Tories were also forced to develop new programmes to broaden their appeal amongst the middle
classes.

The emergence of modem political parties geared for electoral competition and the mobilisation
of public opinion also had an important bearing on politics now. Until 1832, the Whigs and the
Tories had finctioned more or less as factions lobbying for influence in the king's government
but with little organisation or discipline in or outside parliament. After the Reform Act, they
were forced to transform themselves into modem parties and compete for power in the
parliament on the basis of declared programmes and an organisational network extending to each
locality in the country. Party discipline would operate within parliament through whips and in
the constituencies through provincial associations operating under the direction of central clubs
and committees.

Thus the Tories founded the Carlton Club and, with the Tamworth manifesto of 1835, adopted
Content House
the policy of reformist conservatism. In the same year, the Lichfield Digitizedagreement
by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
between
Whigs, radicals and the Irish representatives laid the foundations of the Liberal Party of the Political Transition in
nineteenth century. The new members of parliament were also exposed to greater pressure both Britain: 1780-1850
from the constituencies as well as the parties. By 1841, it was common practice for newspapers
to classify election results in terms of Liberal and Conservative gains. This was an outward
manifestation of a revolution in politics which had been in the making for almost two centuries.

The maturing of parliamentary politics in Britain also depended on the growth of political
conventions regarding the conduct of pariiamentary proceedings, the role of a responsible
opposition, the collective responsibility of the cabinet and the dependence of governments on a
clear parliamentary majority with which the smooth functioning of the liberal polity is
associated. In the absence of a written Constitution their general observance and
acknowledgement by all political players stand out as a unique feature of Britain's polity.
Although such conventions and procedures took a number of years to evolve and are difficult to
identify with any single event in its history yet, the middle decades of the nineteenth century
may be regarded as a critical period in their evolution when leaders like Robert Peel and William
Gladstone brought greater emphasis on their observance both in power an3 in opposition.

One important evidence of the maturing of a liberal polity in Britain during this period was the
resolution of the Corn Law controversy within the ambit of parliamentary politics in the first half
of the nineteenth century. The Corn Laws had been passed in 1815 to ensure good returns to the
landed classes of Britain on their staple produce with the help of high tariffs on cheaper grain
coming from overseas. They obviously hurt the interests of all who had to purchase grain from
the market including the workprs and the middle classes. The industrialists also viewed them as a
serious burden since they compelled them to pay higher subsistence wages to workers. In an era
of progressive liberalisation of the market, these laws indeed stood out as an anomaly and were
widely regarded as a symbol of rapacious exploitation by the state on behalf of the 'bread taxing
oligarchy'.

Protests against the Corn Laws grew during the second quarter of the century. In 1839, the
middle classes, led by Richard Cobden, founded the Anti-Corn Law League and launched a
nation-wide campaign for the abolition of the hated laws. The campaign was a remarkable
illustration of a political movement employing modem means of propaganda for a well defined
objective to be achieved through parliamentary legislation. Even though the League enlisted the
support of the workers in several areas yet it confined itself to the single objective of the
abolif on of the Corn Laws and refrained from throwing a wider challenge to the wealth and
priv~legesof the aristocracy. At the same time, it is interesting to note that the abolition of the
laws was actually canied out, not by a liberal, but by a pro-landlord Tory government of Robert
Peel in 1846. This again established the spirit of accommodation between the landed and
capitalist elites in Britain now committed to operate within the framework of parliamentary
politics.

Check Your Progress 2

1) List some major demands of reform.

2) What were the major landmarks of the Reforms Act of 1832? Answer in 100 words.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU

 The Origins of Modern 3) What was the Corn Law? Answer in 50 words.
Politics-1

2.8 THE STATE TOWARDS MODERNISATION

The liberal state has been taken as a model by a number of capitalist countries. Britain was one
of the first to undergo such a development. One reason for its leading position in this regard was
its success in early industrialisation. Secondly, the eighteenth-century British state was already
marked by certain distinct features which served as a strong foundation for the emergence of a
modem liberal polity there.

For example, Britain was among the first countries to emerge as a nation-state in the early
modem period. Under the Tudors and again under the Hanoverian dynasty,-itacquired political
stability (cessation of wars amongst feudal factions, a strong defence against external invasions
and pride regarding its 'mixed costitution'). The relative decline of widespread political violence,
whether in the form of factional wars within the ruling classes, large scale popular disturbances,
or brutal state suppression (or even organised crime) in the century after the Glorious Revolution
of 1688, was a significant feature of the British polity. This was accompanied by the growth of
the sovereign authority of the 'King in Parliament' and the subjugation of church, lords and
autonomous communities withm Britain. The growth of a nationalist identity amongst its
citizens (outside Ireland) was of great significance.

As noted above, the British polity, meanwhile, was also evolving checks on the arbitrary
authority of monarchs, which distinguished it from the absolutist states of Europe. These
included, among other, division of powers and parliamentary control over legislation, the
Common Law tradition and a fairly independent judiciary, and the promise of liberal 'rights', at
least for the propertied classes.

Despite these special characteristics, the British state in the eighteenth century could still not be
described as modem. It lacked a professional bureaucracy, police, fiscal and monetary systems,
and it needed further development of a 'free market', electoral reforms and extention of civil
rights to minority groups such as the Catholics, workers and women. The optimum mobilisation
of resources and capital under a modem liberal polity depended not only on the growth of a
professional administration but also the evolution of parliamentary government to accommodate
the rising middle classes and the containment of the working class. It also required a careful
balancing of bureaucratisation with democratisation; centralisation with reform of local
government and extension of civil liberties; the growth of the free market with social services
and welfare schemes. And above all, new and more subtle ways of maintaining the state's
ideological hegemony.

2.8.1 Constitutional Reforms

The development of representative institutions and a democratic order was a basic feature of the
emerging modem state in Britain. The gradual and evolutionary nature of this process 1s
particularly noteworthy. Britain has been remembered as the mother of parliamentary
governmeptq and the development of the powers of the British parliament can be traced far back
into the feudal era. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that the country still retains the
monarch as its formal head and hereditary lords in the powerless upper house of legislature.
Similarly, civil liberties are supposed to have a long history in Britain, but the British state does
not claim to be secular and the Church of England symbolises the official religion t2i today.
However, the substance of political power was changed radically even as the outer form of
tradition was retained.

It has been noted how the development of the cabinet system, the abolition of crown patronage
and the influencing of parliamentary proceedings, electoral reforms, and the evolution of
political parties, all underwent a crucial transition between 1780 and 1850. In most of these
Content Digitized
respects again the gradual approach to change was maintained. Democratic by eGyanKosh,
reforms were IGNOU
introduced in instalments through parliamentary reform acts in 1832, 1867, 1870, 1884, 191 1 Political Transition in
and 1918. Britain: 1780-1850

2.8.2 Administrative Restructuring

Along with constitutional reforms, the overhauling of the administrative structure was another
major aspect of the modernisation of the state during our period. The leitmotif of the new
administrative approach was centralisation and regulation through Commissions of enquiry and
inspectorates attached to each department under the central government.

Demands for fiscal and tariff reforms also ranked high on the agenda of the rising middle
classes. All major political groups including the liberals, radicals and utilitarians, as well as the
conservatives, supported this process in different ways. The government of William Pitt
(1783-1801) took some important steps in this regard. Again, in the 1820s, Huskisson and
Gladstone, who were ministers in the cabinet of Lord Liveipool, speeded up tariff reduction and
introduced greater fiscal discipline.

The same period saw the introduction of reforms in penal laws and prisons, the creation of a
regular police force, and reforms in the armed forces. But the most significant change was the
development of a professional bureaucracy working on the basis of 'rational' procedures and
appointed and promoted on the basis of conlpetitive examinations and merit rather than
patronage or factional loyalties. Its continuous expansion was, however, noted with concern in
nineteenth century Britain.

2.8.3 Market Reforms

Another significant concern of the emerging modem state was the creation of a 'free market' for
rapid industrial development. The state now adopted the aim of facilitating growth in the
eco~~omy as a whole by providing a general climate of order and legal protection to contracts,
property and private enterprise rather than support particular companies or business groups
directly. At the same time, laws and the coercive apparatus of the state were used to subjugate
labour to the needs of capital. Various measures were required to establish such a 'free market'
beg~nningwith a series of abolitions from the closing years of eighteenth century, of price and
wage controls. of state-supported monopolies, and of subsidies and reshictions on business. It
also demanded the unification of the internal market and the tariff reforms of 1786 and 1820s
culminating in the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846.

The New Poor Law of 1834 played a critical role in establishing a free labour market by making
conditions for local welfare (or relief) for the poor very strict. Other significant aspects of
econonlic refoims were the Currency and Banking reforms of 1797 and 1844, the Company law
of 1844, and the abolition of the Navigation laws in 1849. A free trade regime in international
trade was largely accomplished with the Cobdcn-Chevaliar treaty of 1860.

2.8.4 Towards a Welfare State

The removal of traditional support systems after the establishment of a free market regime had to
be counterbalanced with new welfare measures promoted by the central and local governments.
Miserable conditions in the new industrial cities and the growing demands of the working
classes compelled the modem state to move in this direction. The beginnings of a public
education system were made with the Act of 1833 when grants-in-aid and school inspection
were also started. But disputes between religious groups slowed the pace of change on this major
Issue.

Similarly, a public health policy evolved after Chadwick's energetic but controversial efforts at
enforcing sanitation schemes through the Public Health Board established in 1848. The
development of public utilities were assigned to local bodies by the municipal reform act of 1835
but it gathered momentum only from the late nineteenth century when 'gas and water socialism'
was championed by leaders like Chamberlain.

Apart from general welfare schemes, the modem liberal polity faced the challenge of hlfilling
specific demands of different social groups. The problems of labour were particularly acute in
chi5 context. But the early industrial state was slow to grant even basic workers' rights to form
tinions or to strike peacefully. The anti-combination act against unionisahon was passed in 1799
and early labour movements were suppressed violently. The existing system of poor rellef \\.a>
Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
d 1 C ~ O lJ~ic(i
~ wasteful and scaled down by the New Poor Law of 1834 The g i o i:ip ~ nlisery of
The Origins of Modern the proletariat and pressures from humanitarian groups and the labour movement itself forced the
Politics-1 state to take limited ameliorative measures subsequently. The anti-combination laws were
repealed in 1824. The first factory act was passed in 1833 only to provide some protection to
children under the pressure of the Evangelicals (one of the reforming religious groups). Further
reforms came in small doses, e.g. Mines Act (1842), Ten hours warking day (1847), legalisation
of unions (1871) and of peaceful picketing (1876).

Apart from labour, other social groups which demanded reforms were religious minorities and
women. Despite the advocacy of women's rights by Mary Wollstonecraft and some liberals like
John Stuart Mill, female franchise was conceded only after the First World War.
We have stated that the British state is formally not secular even today though it practises
cultural pluralism. Before our period, however, negative discriminations against minorities, in
particular Catholics, were frequent. The Test and Corporation Act of 1828 and the Catholic
Relief Act of 1829 brought a greater measure of civil equality. Civil registration of births,
marriages and deaths was also begun in 1836.

Check Your Progress 3

1) What are the major characteristics of the British state in the 18th Century'? Answer in 100
words.

2) Discuss the measures taken by the British state towards the welfare of its subjects. Answer
in 10 sentences.

2.9 WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT

The state failed to meet the demands of the working class. Indeed, the labouring classes were
quick to realise that a parliament which rests on limited franchise linked to the ownership of
property will never be sympathetic to their sufferings. As a result, many turned towards the
creation of non-parliamentary institutions such as an independent workers' convention,
cooperatives or to radical demands for universal franchise, secret ballot and stipends for all
members of parliament. A few even propagated the redistribution of land, workers control on
Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
factories and a socialist order more generally which would rest on the collective ideals of Political Transition in
equality rather than economic competition between individuals. Britain: 1780-1850

The upper classes, however, were determined to thwart all such demands in order to extract a
heavy price from labour for the rapid development of capital in the initial phase of
industrialisation. There were radical movements led jointly by artisans and some middle class
activists at the turn of the nineteenth century. The British state adopted repressive measures
against them which culminated in the Peterloo massacre of 18 19.

During the same period, an independent working class movement with 1's own cooperatives,
friendly societies, newspapers and stores as well as striking unions was also coming into being.
It was distinct from the earlier radical tradition by virtue of its own proletarian leadership, an
independent agenda of economic demands and more sustained organisation.

The first attempts to link all labouring men together in general trade union and also to forge
unity for a General Strlke aquired momentum during the 1820s and 30s. In 1834, the Grand
National Confederation of Trade Unions or the GNCTU was formed to give concrete shape to a
broad working class movement to demand better wages and working conditions including a ten
hour working day. Some of the members also looked forward to an Owenite millenium in which
workers would enjoy the full product of their labour by organising industries under their own
cooperatives. Owen's own ideas also changed over time. After his return from the New World in
1829, he was accepted as a major spokesman of the budding trade union movement in Britain.
However, differences soon cropped up between him and the younger generation of leaders as we
shall note below.

At the same time, the state also swung into action and widespread arrests were ordered against
all unions. In Dorsetshire, for example, the Friendly Society of Agricultural Workers was
disbanded and six of its organisers convicted for seven years transportation simply on the ground
of 'taking secret oaths'. These became famous as the Tolpuddle martyrs and only after a
prolonged agitation by workers they were repatriated in 1839.

Meanwhile economic depression had set in leading to further lowering of wages and large scale
unemployment. As there was little provision for social security from the employers or the state,
the workers were badly hit all over Britain. Even the governing classes were now forced to admit
that industrial Britain was beginning to look like 'two nations', divided between the rich and the
poor inhabiting two different worlds between which there was little intercourse, similarity or
sympathy.

While the rulers thus debated the 'Condition of England' question in the disturbed thirties, some
working class leaders were beginning to question the Owenite stress on self help and
cooperatives and demanding political rights for workers instead. In 1836, the London Working
Men's Association was founded by men like Lovett to demand universal suffrage. Radicals like
William Morris and Smith 0' Brien also called for a new awakening amongst workers for
building a society iri which they would be 'at the top of society instead of the bottom or, one in
which there would be no top or bottom'.

2.1 0 CHARTIST MOVEMENT

The Chartist Movement was the most significant outcome of the growing focus on political
power which the British workers evinced in 1830s and 40s. It derives its name from the six point
Charter it presented before the parliament demanding universal manhood suffrage, secret ballot,
annual parliaments, equal electoral districts, abolition of property qualification for the members
of House of Commons and payment of regular salaries to them. In 1839, the first-Chartist
Convention met in London but despite the collection of a million signatures for its petition it was
rejected outright by the parliament.

Such a rebuff shook the faith of a number of Chartists in the method of petition and some like
Feargus 0' Connor and Smith 0' Brien now wanted to spread the agitation to the countryside or
to call-for a general strike and also use force if necessary. In November 1839, thousands of
Welsh colliers led an armed march on the town of Newport. However, unity could not be
sustained on these radical options and though another Chartist petition was presented to thz
parliament in 1842 yet, the economic recovery of the mid forties again turned the attention of
most workers away from radical politics and towards wage improvements through trade union
activity.
Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
The Origins of Modern The last flicker of Chartism glew again in 1848--which was the year of revolutions all over
Politics-1 Europe. A demonstration of five lakh Chartists was called at Kennington Commons in the heart
of London to present a mammoth petition of six million signatures to the parliament. But poor
organisation, combined with untimely rain, helped the government in diffusing the crisis and
finally rejecting the demands of the Chartists. The economic prosperity of the ensuing period
further tumed the attention of British workers from political demands to economic self help of
which the growth of the Rochdale store, founded in 1844, was an important symbol. The
indifferent response to Karl Marx's efforts to lead the International Working Men's Association
from London was another.

The Six Points

OF THE
PEOPLE'S
CHARTER
1. A VOTE for very man twenty-one years of age, of
sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for
crime.

2. THE BALLOT - To protect the elector in the exercise

of his vote.

3. NO PROPERTY QUALIFICATION for Members of

Parliament - thus enabling the constituencies to return
the man of their choice, be he rich or poor.

4. PAYMENT OF MEMBERS, thus enabling an honest

tradesman, working man, or other person, to serve a
constituency, when taken from his business to attend
to the interests of the country.

5. EQUAL CONSTITUENCIES, securing the same

amount of representation for the same number of
electors, instead of allowing small constituencies to
swamp the voters of large ones.

6. ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS, thus presenting the most

effectual check to bribery and intimidation, since
though a constituency might be bought once in seven
years (even with the ballot), no purse could buy a
constituency (under a system of universal suffrage) in
each ensuing twelvemonth; and since members, when
elected for a year only, would not be able to defy and
betray their constituents as now.

Fig: Charter

As a matter of fact, Marx and his famous associate--Frederich Engels-- published the
Communist Manifesto at the first convention of the IWMA in London in 1848. It imparted
scientific basis to socialist thinking and gave a call to workers of the world to unite in the
struggle for a new egalitarian society which would transcend the exploitative capitalist order.
The Manifesto also upheld the vision of a classless society based on the abolition of private
property.

You will learn more about the historic struggles which this revolutionary manifesto inspired
amongst the workers in several countries of the world. In the context of Britain, however, it is
important to remember that liberal rather than revolutionary politics remained the preponderant
concern of workers there. The growth of the Labour Party committed to parliamentary politics at
the tum of the present century further ensured this pattern.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU

One major factor which led the working class of 'the first industrial nation' towards such politics Political Transition in
was the rise of the 'labour aristocracy' there. These were men whose specialised skills in the Britain: 1780-1850
expanding industnal economy coupled with the growing benefits of Britain's large empire
enabled them to maintain a comfortable standard of living. As a result, the 'labour aristocracy'
put faith in 'improvement' within the Capitalist order rather than its overthrow. They also aspired
for voting rights on the same grounds that appealed to the middle classes i.e. as a 'respectable'
class playing its due role in preserving the Constitution. These skilled workers of Victorian
Britain, moreover, emphasised self help and developed their own friendly societies and
cooperatives as well as 'New Unions' to improve their conditions and abjured the path of
revolution.

Such an attitude also resulted in the formation of the Reform League in 1865 by the labour
aristocracy jointly with middle class leaders to demand further parliamentary reforms. Its efforts
bore fruit two years later when the urban workers finally got their voting rights. It is important to
remember, however, that the Reform Act of 1867 which granted this right was a product not of a
radical mass movement but of party politics in which the Conservatives led by Disraeli took the
lead to outmanouvre Gladstonian Liberals in the mobilisation of votes. Such politics was indeed
becoming the mainstay of the evolving capitalist order in general.

During the decade or so, following the passage of the Second Reform Act, the urban working
class was thus accommodated within the liberal polity with further enactments to recognise their
right to form trade unions (1871), to go on strikes (1876) and some steps towards educational
and health reforms (1870 & 1875) respectively. None of these measures, however, mitigated the
growing inequalities in the economy as the sanctity of private or even inherited property was
never brought under question. Even democracy and welfare were still a distant dream for the
lower classes in Britain. And fresh bouts of agitation would be necessary in the present century
before the liberal polity would really fulfil these fundamental aspirations of workers and of the
'second sex'.

While these developments were still in the future, a crucial benchmark had, however, been
crossed by mid-nineteenth century in Britain with the largely peaceful resolution of the class
question thrown up by the Chartist movement. The acceptance of parliament and electoral
politics as the central mechanism for the resolution of such conflicts was significant in shaping
this compromise.

The principal factors which led to such a political resolution in the first industrial nation were:
the unity displayed by its upper classes vis-a-vis workers, the economic benefits of the
expanding British Empire, the relative weakness of revolutionary politics in nineteenth century
Britain and the subsequent growth of welfare legislation in the country.

However, several other institutional changes besides the extension of franchise had to be
introduced in the Constifuion of Britain in order to effect this transition on a sustained basis. In
what ways this was achieved and what shape the British state finally acquired in the process
would be the subject of our next enquiry.

Check Your Progress 4

1) Discuss the major grievances of the working class in 10 sentences.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU

The Origins of Modern 2) Write a brief note on the Chartist Movement.
Politics-1

2.11 LET US SUM UP

In the 1750s, Britian's political, social and economic life was dominated by the landed
aristocracy and agriculture was the basis of the economy. Government had little active role in
the lives of the people. But by the 1760s Britain became the first nation which brought about
significant changes in her polity, society and economy, thus beginning the process of
industrialisation. We have discussed in this Unit, how new shades of political ideologies
developed in Britain and how Britain became modem through a liberal and democratic
transformation. We have d s o explained how Britain's rising middle class and ruling aristocracy
through reforms managed to restrict the working class movements within the broader framework

2.12 KEY WORDS

Industrial Capitalism : Industrial capitalism is that phase of capitalism which was
marked by generation of new wealth, a new class of big
industries, greater mechanisation,, search for new markets.

Oligarchy : A form of government in which a small group of people hold

all the power.

Patriarchy : Society or country governed by men.

Proletarian Rebellion : Rebellion by workers who earn their living by working for
wages.

Universal franchise : Right to vote by all members without any pre-qualification.

Chronological Tables

Domestic Politics:

1760 Accession of George 111.

P
1763
1768
1769 Society for the Defence of the Bill of Rights
1770-82 Ministry of Lord North
1780 Dunning's Motion; Society for Constitutional Information;
Gordon Riots;
1783 Fox-North Coalition;
1785 Parliamentry Reform Bill introduced
- 1788 Regency Crisis
1791 Abolition of Slavery Bill
1794 Habeas Corpus suspended
1795 Seditious Meetings Act
Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
 1 1790s
I
I Robert Owen's Coo~erativesMovement; First Unions
I Political Transition in
1 1797 I Cash uavments susuended Britain: 1780-1850

1 -Anti-Combination
..... - -...- .
..-. .Laws
.- . -- . -

k
g01 Union of British and Irish Parliaments; Catholic Relief defeated
1802 Apprentices Morals Act;
1806 ~e-pitt
-1806-
.. 12
- - Ministrv of 'All the Talents'
- - - --

1807
1809 Perceval Prime Minister; Hampden Clubs formed by- Maior " -
Cartwright
1 1 Luddite Uprisings
I

1811
1 1812-27 1 Livemool Prime Minister:
1 Corn Laws introduced
I

1815
I 1816 I March of the Blanketeers
1 1819 1 Peterloo Massacre iI
-1820
- ,
Death of George 111; Accession of George IV; Cato Street Conspiracy;
1823 Peel begins his reform of the Penal Code; Huskisson initiates reforms at
Board i f ~ r a d e
1824 Anti-Combination Acts repealed
1827 Huskisson's Sliding Scale; Wellington Prime Minister
1828 Corporation and Test Acts repealed
-1829 - Metropolitan Polise Force set up; Catholic Emancipation Act
1830 Death of George IV; Accession of William IV; Agrarian disorders; Grey
forms Whig " rninistrv:
2 ,

1831 Struggle for Reform Bill

1832 First Reform Act passed
1833 Factory Act; Abolition of Slavery throughout British Empire; Education
Grant introduced

Tamworth manifesto
1835 Municipal Corporations Act; Irish Tithe Act
1836 Registration of births, deaths and mamages
1837 Death of William IV: Accession of.Victoria:
m ~ i r s Chartist
t petition; Bedchamber Crisis; Anti-corn law League founded;
11840 1 Penny Post introduced
11841-46I peel's Second Ministry;
1842 Second Chartist petition; Peel reduces tariffs further; 1 n c o m e ~ I
Mines Act
- 1844
- Bank Charter Act; Companies Act; Factory Act
1855 Maynooth Grant; Irish famine
1846 Peel amends Corn laws; Russell Prime Minister
1847 ~cilden'sFactory Act
1848 Third Chartist Petition; Rebellion in Ireland; Central Board of Health under
Chadwick;
1849 Repeal of Navigation Acts
1850 I
Death of Peel I
/ 1851 I Great Exhibition
- - - ~~

1852 Derby-Diserali Ministry;

1853 Palrnerston's first ministry;
-Gladstone's Free Trade policy at Exchequer;
1860
1866
1867 - Second Reform Act passed

~FANSWERS
TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
EXERCISES

Check Your Progress 1

1) Compared to other European countries political transformation in Britain took place without
violence. Establishment of parliamentary control over the ruling dynasty. Read Sec. 2.2.
2) SeeSec.2.3. Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU
The Origins of Modern 3) See Sec. 2.3.
Politics-1 4) Law makers and executors in Britain belonged to the upper strata of the society.
Government was also biased in favour of this class. Read Sec. 2.4.

Check Your Progress 2

1) See Sec. 2.5.
2) See Sec. 2.7.
3) See Sec. 2.7.

Check Your Progress 3

1) See Sec. 2.8.
2) See Sub-sec. 2.8.4.

Check Your Progress 4

1) Limited franchise, non-reprsentation of workers in parliament, low wages, unemployment.

etc. Read Sec. 2.9.
2) See Sec. 2.10.

Content Digitized by eGyanKosh, IGNOU