Two conservative and prominent political parties were present at the this time, the Tories and the Whigs:
Tories:
- Land-owning
aristocrats
- The more conservative
of the two
- Extremely fearful of
radical movements at home or abroad
- Supported suppression of any popular movement:
- Corn Laws (1815)
- Regulated foreign grain trade, an essential societal
commodity
- Laws had existed previous to this time, but were not
necessary because England could not import grain from Eastern Europe
while at war with France.
- Grain production became a prominently domestic task,
controlled entirely by the land-owning aristocracy (Tories).
- The demand for grain exceeded the supply, forcing
prices to rise.
- When war ended, cheaper importation of grain was
possible, benefiting all but the aristocracy (selfish tools).
- Therefore, they regulated the Corn Laws to prohibit
the "importation of foreign grain unless the price at home rose to
improbable levels"(really selfish tools, probably dull too).
- For example, according to Maria, possibly, a
million dollars per stalk of grain.
See, no one
looks happy
·
The regulation of the Corn Laws caused unemployment and,
subsequently, protests.
o The Tories attempted to
curb this mild disruption by
§ Suspending habeas corpus
and right of peaceable assembly
§ Passing the Six Acts, which
placed controls on a taxed press and eliminated mass meetings.
§ A relatively peaceful
protest, referred to as the Battle of Peterloo, was broken up by cavalry.
§ Expressed government’s
ability and desire to repress their revolts.
·
Newly wealthy manufacturing groups, who sought political
power, called for liberal reform of the town government, police force, rights
for Catholics, and of Poor Laws.
·
The Tories began to turn over a new leaf, or cob of corn, if
you will, and incited some liberal changes in terms of urban administration,
economic liberalism (yay), and equality for Catholics.
o They replaced the
prohibition of grain trade with a higher, yet more manageable, tariff. So the
cob was turned maybe 90 degrees, as opposed to 180, but change was happening.
·
Corn Laws were repealed in 1846 by the Tory Prime Minister,
Robert Peel (a sharper, corn-loving tool?).
“Thanks, Peel”
o England avoided famine, and
economic liberalism became engrained in English society.
·
The Ten Hours Act of 1847 limited working hours for women
and children in factories to ten hours (how generous).
·
The Tories had officially turned over their cob of corn in
order to gain support from the middle and low classes.
Whigs
- · Aristocratic and conservative
- · More in tuned to manufacturing and commerce than the Tories
· Unlike the Tories, they were supportive of liberal reform (wow):
o Proposed “an act to amend
the representation of England and Wales”
§ Passed by the House of
Commons, rejected by the House of Lords
§ When the Whigs gained
enough public support to back the movement, it was passed by the House of
Lords, representing the increasing importance of popular protest.
o Reform Bill of 1832
§ House of Commons became an
independent legislative body
§ Industrial areas gained
representation in the Commons (woah)
§ “Rotten boroughs”, or
electoral districts controlled by certain aristocrats, were eliminated (places
probably controlled by the tools).
§ 12% of the male population
in England and Ireland could now vote (wow).
§ Middle-class urban men and
some substantial farmers who leased their land could vote
§ Reform Bill showed that
reform could be made peacefully (wow, finally).
Whigs for the reformation
win
o People’s Charter of 1838
(the Charterists) called for:
§ Universal male suffrage
(but not women of course)
§ Complete democracy
§ Parliament rejected three
suffrage petitions
People often misunderstand the Tories and Whigs. This will be an important post to return to in reviewing for the exam.
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