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Many things happened in the next few years that had a great effect on life in England and I decided to cover all of them under this year but with sub-headings to help you.
The Great Reform Act 1832
There had been a long struggle for several years about how parliament worked and elections. It was pretty random which areas sent MPs to London and also who actually voted. In a few places all men could vote, but in the vast majority of locations it depended on whether you owned property or paid certain taxes. Some boroughs, as I said before, such as those in the rapidly growing industrial towns of Birmingham and Manchester, had no MPs to represent them at all. The Act increased the number of people, only men, who could vote from about 350,000 to 650,000 which was less than 20% of all males. However nearly all the working class men and all women were still excluded from voting and there was no secret ballot.
Factory Act 1833
This Act was aimed at improving the conditions for children working in factories. They worked ridiculously long hours in terrible conditions. The Act said that:-
there could be no child workers under nine years of age
employers must have an age certificate for their child workers
children of 9-13 years to work no more than nine hours a day
children of 13-18 years to work no more than 12 hours a day
children are not to work at night
children must have two hours schooling each day
Factory inspectors were appointed to enforce these laws. I think you can see that before this came in, things must have been really bad just by looking at what the changes were.
Poor Law 1834
In a way this act actually may have made things worse for poor people. It said that if people wanted any help then they had to go to their local workhouse to get it. While living there, they would receive 3 basic meals a day, be given clothes to wear, often a uniform, and, of course, a roof over their heads. However, families would be split up, the food was usually bread and watery soup so only people who were really desperate went there.
Tolpuddle Martyrs 1834
At the start of this century, the government, under Pitt the younger, had banned workers from forming what was known as a trade union. Gradually the laws had changed but it still remained illegal to take an oath binding you to a union.
George Loveless and five of his fellow workers in the Dorset village of Tolpuddle were accused of taking such an oath when they formed what they called a friendly society. Their aim was to try to improve their pay of 30p a week. They were arrested, tried and sentenced to be deported to Australia and sent out there almost immediately.
Demonstrations took place, especially in London, and, after 3 years the men returned home with free pardons.
Chartists 1838
The Reform Act hadn't really satisfied most people and, in 1838, a group calling themselves Chartists came up with a new set of demands. The demands were drawn up by the London Working Men's Association and was the first mass protest about parliamentary reform by the working classes. They wanted the following six points to be granted:-
One man, one vote
Equal number in each voting area (called a constituency)
Pay for MP’s
Elections by secret ballot
No need for MP’s to own property
Elections every year
In June 1839, the Chartists' petition was presented to the House of Commons with over 1.25 million signatures. It was rejected by Parliament. This resulted in mass protest which the authorities put down.
A second petition was presented in May 1842, signed by over three million people but again it was rejected and further unrest and arrests followed.
In April 1848 a third and final petition was presented. A mass meeting in London took place but this petition was also rejected. I think by then everyone was fed up because, despite government fears, nothing really happened. The Chartist movement was finished having not really achieved anything. Things would change later but you'll have to wait a while to find out how.
Forward to 1837AD
