The most famous protests were the So why did they not give the and the Peterloo Massacre Radical radicals the vote to defuse the War in Scotland. protests? At Peterloo a huge crowd of Probably because vested interests in the form of the landed gentry 60,000 attended a meeting and the new industrial wealthy demanding radical change class were afraid to give any (reform of Parliament) at St power away to the lower classes Peter’s Field, Manchester. The in case they demanded more eg – authorities had been told by better wages and conditions. the Government to stop such However, the upper classes were protests and they ordered local losing the argument and within ten cavalry units to clear the years they had been forced to protesters. This resulted in bring in a degree of reform disaster, with 11 people killed (1832). and 400 wounded. The press called it the Why did demands for reform “Peterloo Massacre”, likening it to the come to a head in 1830? For all the above reasons, recent Battle of Waterloo. plus…. Following this the Government the new middle class of passed the Acts” “Six factory owners and severely limiting further protest. professions (eg engineer) The Radical War. Around were demanding more say 60,000 workers, again, joined in how their taxes were the strike. On the 15th April spent. 1820 one group of Radicals The voting system was (mainly weavers and other outdated. This was made workers) led by Andrew Hardie worse by the changes and John Baird decided to brought about by the march from Glasgow Green to industrial revolution eg Falkirk in order to seize the Fast - growing industrial Carron Iron Works. It ended cities had far too few MPs when they were mown down Declining rural areas had by the 10th Hussars and the too many MPs. This meant Stirlingshire Yeomanry after the South had too many the authorities were tipped- off MPs and the growing North by who had been ‘agents’ (and Scotland) had far too involved in the plan. few. Why did the authorities react so Some declining areas had harshly to these protests? rotten boroughs ie villages They were afraid that a where no-one lived any revolution would break out longer but they still had two here. The French Revolution had MPs! resulted in attacks on property and Voting was done openly so the exiling of the wealthy classes. bribery and corruption were Then it had turned into the bloodbath of the guillotine and commonplace. many years of Napoleon’s wars.
The most famous protests were the Peterloo Massacre and the Radical War in Scotland. At Peterloo a huge crowd of 60,000 attended a meeting demanding radical change (reform of Parliament) at St Peter’s Field, Manchester. The authorities had been told by the Government to stop such protests and they ordered local cavalry units to clear the protesters. This resulted in disaster, with 11 people killed and 400 wounded. The press called it the “Peterloo Massacre”, likening it to the recent Battle of Waterloo. Following this the Government passed the “Six Acts” severely limiting further protest. The Radical War. Around 60,000 workers, again, joined the strike. On the 15th April 1820 one group of Radicals (mainly weavers and other workers) led by Andrew Hardie and John Baird decided to march from Glasgow Green to Falkirk in order to seize the Carron Iron Works. It ended when they were mown down by the 10th Hussars and the Stirlingshire Yeomanry after the authorities were tipped- off by ‘agents’ who had been involved in the plan. Why did the authorities react so harshly to these protests? They were afraid that a revolution would break out here. The French Revolution had resulted in attacks on property and the exiling of the wealthy classes. Then it had turned into the bloodbath of the guillotine and many years of Napoleon’s wars. So why did they not give the radicals the vote to defuse the protests? Probably because vested interests in the form of the landed gentry and the new industrial wealthy class were afraid to give any power away to the lower classes in case they demanded more – eg better wages and conditions. However, the upper classes were losing the argument and within ten years they had been forced to bring in a degree of reform (1832). Why did demands for reform come to a head in 1830? For all the above reasons, plus…. the new middle class of factory owners and professions (eg engineer) were demanding more say in how their taxes were spent. The voting system was outdated. This was made worse by the changes brought about by the industrial revolution eg Fast - growing industrial cities had far too few MPs Declining rural areas had too many MPs. This meant the South had too many MPs and the growing North (and Scotland) had far too few. Some declining areas had rotten boroughs ie villages where no-one lived any longer but they still had two MPs! Voting was done openly so bribery and corruption were commonplace.
N5-History-prelim-revision-notes-2016.docx