The British political system c1783

Includes:

Key people: William Pitt and George 3rd 

Key events: Glorious revolution and loss of American colonies

Key concepts: Democracy and structure 

William Pitt:

12 years old on a good day

·     He was a prominent British Tory statesman in the late 18^thand early 19^thwho helped secure England during turbulent times

·     He was the youngest PM in 1785 at the age of 24 he re-entered office in 1804, he had excellent administrative and financial skills and great political skills

·     He campaigned for a new ministry to be formed to remove some of the corruption and inequality in politics

·     He identified 36 rotten boroughs (a place that isn’t represented) and tried to have them removed, failed due to HOL having self-interest 

·     His government worked to restore public finances which was strained by the cost of the American War of Independence through a new tax system and the

·     In 1786, he established the sinking fund to pay off the national debt

·     Imposed new taxes including first income tax to help battle the national debt 

·     Simplified customs and excise duties

·     Brought in the Act of Union with Ireland helping to soften the rebellion in Ireland, but he was forced to resign by the fierce royal opposition as he tried to abolish the restrictions on Roman Catholics

·     1784-1786: George 3^rdasked Pitt to return to help tackle the Napoleon Bonaparte. Pitt made the third coalition against France (with Austria, Russia and Sweden), which helped to succeed at the Battle of Trafalgar (however the coalition fell apart placing strain on Pitts health and leaded to his death in 1806)

What a dashing fella

George 3rd: reigned 1760-1820

·      King George 3^rdwas the British monarch during the year the constitutional monarchy was made

·      He was bound by oath to govern according to the statutes agreed in parliament 

·      During the time of the Reform Act 1832 he fought a powerful action against the sovereign’s gradual decline in power. The king’s pervious power was to determine policy and had now been reduced to only influence. The Prime Minister effectively had the past control of the monarch 

·      Many of George 3^rd’s appointed ministers were peers of the realm and sat in HOL

·      He tried to re-establish the monarch’s control over policy decisions 

·      He ignored constitutional priorities by undermining the exiting coalition (Charles fox and Lord North) which forced an election allowing William Pitt to cease the role of the PM

Glorious revolution: 1681  

Fight the power!

·      Stuart King James the 2^ndthought he was above parliament due to his ‘divine right’ to rule and parliament was significantly limiting his rule

·      The revolution forced King James to abdicate the throne in favour of Mary 2^ndand William 3^rd(his daughter and son-in-law) 

·      After the Revolution in 1689 the Bill of Rights was passed saying that the monarch wasn’t above parliament therefore limiting the king’s power

·      The Bill of Rights established Parliamentary supremacy

·      The Bill of Rights aim was to prevent monarchs interfering with the laws 

·      The monarch also had to depend on parliament for financial backing 

The loss of American colonies: 1783

Money money money

Economic effects: (Negatives) short term 

·     Huge amount of money spent on fighting the Revolutionary War

·     Increased debt and created a yearly interest of nearly £10 million 

·     Taxes raised due to new debts 

·     Imports and exports experiencing large drops resulting in the recession and stocks + land prices plummeted

·     Trade affected by naval attacks from Britain’s enemies, thousands of merchant ships were captured

Economic effects: (positives) long term

·     Wartimes industries bombed i.e. naval supplies and textile industries

·     Unemployment feel due to the struggle of finding enough men for the war for the army (forced to hire German soldiers)

·     British ‘privateers’ had success when preying on enemy merchant ships 

·     Negative effects on trade were short term as Britain quickly began to resume trade with the new USA (the same amount of trade as colonial times by 1785)

·     By 1792 Britain’s trade with Europe doubled 

·     Able to live with the larger national debt (no financial motivated rebellions like in France)

·     Able to support several armies during the Napoleonic wars

"the world turned upside down"

Political effects: (negative) short term

·     Made Britain look weak to be defeated by a country that wasn’t developed or official

·     Demands for constitutional reform (bad for the rich and privilege)

·     After the end of the Association Movement the early 1780s produced a government with little inclination for constitutional reform 

Political effects: (positive) short term

·     Constitutional reform would reduce corruption and add some more democracy·     Hard core of the government criticised (allows improvement)

·     Parliament had ceased to represent the views of the public, this was set to change

·     Parliament would no longer just approve everything the government did

The Association Movement (a political effect of the American Revolutionary war) short term

·     They made petitions demanding the pruning of the king’s government + expansion of who can vote: universal manhood suffrage

·     Peaked during the early 1780

·     It achieved widespread support

·     However, the support was ended by June 1780 through the Gordon Riots which paralysed London for almost a week with destruction and murder

·     Caused by religious, landowners and moderates being frightened away by the Association Movement 

not such a diplomatic chap

Diplomatic and Imperial Effects: (negatives) short term

·     Lost 13 colonies in America

Diplomatic and Imperial Effects: (positives) long term

·     Retained Canada and land in the Caribbean, Africa and India

·     Expanding remaining regions and created a ‘second British empire’ which would become the largest domain in the worlds history 

·     Diplomatic power would soon be restored through playing a key role in the French revolution and Napoleonic War

Democracy and structure

Constitutional monarchy

·      By 1783 Britain had a constitutional monarchy

·      Political power was shared between Kings, lords and commons: “supreme authority”

·      The king wasn’t in complete power are it was shared between lords and commons too. This was so that no single person had utter control

·      The king could choose his ministers but they had to be chosen form inside parliament

·      It was the kings prerogative whether or not he accepts the advice of his ministers until the constitutional monarchy was established 

Parliament at this time was not for the people it was there to keep then king in line. There were no set parties the MPs belonged to the house of commons

The role of the prime minister and cabinet:

·      Previously the Privy council acted as the bridge between the king and parliament as advisors on policy decisions

dancing queen

·      Privy council members were appointed for life which made the council too large and lead them gaining too much executive power

·      The cabinet acted as a reform in the 18^thcentury in place of the Privy Council

·      The cabinet had more executive power and held weekly meetings advising the monarch

·      The First Lord of the Treasurywas usually the monarchs PM or chief, their role was to represent the monarch in parliament 

·      Many of George 3^rd’s appointed ministers were peers of the realm and sat in HOL

·      The PM must enjoy the confidence of the HOC therefore the monarch often picked the prominent member of one of the two main parties Whigs or Tories, which ever had the majority in the Commons

·      The PM then used bribery through handing out honours, positions and pensions to solidify parliamentary support

National representative- benefit of the nation

Local representative- corrupt but should be caring about the locals

Pocket boroughs: places entirely controlled by the landowner

Rotten boroughs: places with unequal representation 

DUH-NUH-NUH-NUH-
NUH-NUH-NUH-NUH, BATMAN

The Franchise: the right to vote in public elections

·     Depending on where you lived the qualifications to vote varied. For example, in some boroughs you could qualify be being a pot-walloper (meaning you have a fireplace big enough to cook a pot in

Ø In some boroughs only freemen could vote, in other boroughs the right to vote was based on payment of a local tax the ‘scot and lot’

Ø In corporation boroughs only, the mayor and members of the corporation could vote

Ø In Preston you could vote if you stayed there the night before 

·     Engaging the population wasn’t necessary as we had free press, religious tolerance and the Rule of Law. Europe admired us and thought of us as liberal and democratic

·     The population was increasing but the percentage of people able to vote was falling 

·     It was only freehold men over 21 how held freehold land of a minimum rate

of 40 shillings a year (40-shilling freeholders) who could nominate a MP or vote. But they were often swayed by the dominant landowner who had nominated his own candidate

·     Scotland was extremely under-represented, 4500 electorates out of the 1.6 million population. Only large landowners hand a political say and they had little interest in social and economic issues

Democratic vs corrupt:

Labour vs Tories,
we all know which the devil is

·     Contemporaries saw the defence of freedom and ‘democracy’ as based of the judiciary, religious toleration and free establishment in the 1689 Bill of rights 

·     The British constitution was generally considered liberal and democratic and admired by European neighbours

·     The reality is that very few people had the opportunity for their voice to be heard on a matter or local or national importance

·     Popular support of government policy wasn’t seen as necessary

·     The ruling elite believed that authority was more important than society support, and would preserve a stable and well governed society (this applied to local and national level)

National level:

·     During elections not, all seats were contested 

·     In pocket boroughs the nominated MP returned unopposed

·     Voting carried out in public, allowing widespread bribery and corruption

·     The electorate often didn’t get the opportunity to use their vote

·     The landed aristocracy and gentry dominated admin arrangements for the countries and towns

·     The Lord Lieutenant sat in the HOL and was responsible for maintaining order and local defence

·     Lord Lieutenant appointed JPs from the local gentry and clergy they symbolised authority they were tasked with the administration of the country and parishes

·     They also served administrative justice and were often serving harsh punishments for petty crimes 

Local level:

·     In towns power was shared by the gentry and the merchant class

·     Some towns run a mayor and corporation which comprised the local elite with the alderman as justice of the peace

·     Closed corporations were self-electing therefore self-perpetuating, there were calls for reform among the lower orders even the propertied class wanted some of the power