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Forgot password? You could not be signed in, please check and try again. On 6 February , celebrations were held across Britain to commemorate the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, which gave some women the right to vote for the first time.
Prior to the Act, property qualifications had been used to control the electorate, excluding most working-class men from voting. Despite attempts to satisfy concerns of democratic inequality, the Reform Acts of the 19th century continued to avoid universal manhood suffrage. The fourth and final Reform Act of was the first time male suffrage was achieved.
The British electoral system of the early 19th century was viewed as extremely unfair and in need of reform. In , only 4, men could vote in parliamentary elections, out of a population of more than 2. There were also concerns about parliamentary representation, as there were rotten boroughs, such as Dunwich in Suffolk, who could elect two MPs when they only had a population of 32 in In contrast, large cities, which had expanded over the previous century, including Manchester and Birmingham, had no MP.
With increased pressure for electoral reform, parliament inevitably had to make changes. The Great Reform Act of was a response to increasing criticism of the electoral system. Government began to fear that, if reform did not take place, then a revolution would ensue, as it had in France in July For example, a petition from the people of South Shields requested reform as they felt they deserved a right to vote and wanted more parliamentary representation.
Despite what its title may suggest, the Act did not signify great change to the electoral system. Most working men still could not vote, with the franchise being restricted by property qualifications. The continuing discrimination against working class men within politics merely angered many and led to the formation of groups for universal manhood suffrage.
The Chartist Movement developed after the Reform Act failed to extend the vote beyond those owning property. The petition had six demands:. Chartist movement poster for Carlisle, Despite numerous attempts to present the petition to the House of Commons, the Charter continued to be rejected, which only encouraged unrest and violent behaviour.
In the short term, the Chartists were unsuccessful as their radical actions did not immediately drive electoral reform. Nevertheless, militancy in both cases successfully publicised the movements and both groups eventually had success. The Chartist movement declined after their third and final petition was rejected in , but new groups continued to fight for manhood suffrage.
Various other groups were established, including the National Parliamentary and Financial Reform Association in and the National Reform Union in , but these were short-lived and not as prominent as the Chartists. However, one group that made a big impact on political reform was the Reform League, which was founded in Ex-Chartists joined the League along with urban artisans.
The League dissolved within two years after the Second Reform Act of , evidently satisfied by the increase in enfranchisement. In suffragists compared President Woodrow Wilson to the German Kaiser and point out the hypocrisy of his pro-democracy rhetoric when American women could not vote.
Skip to main content. A Free Press? A New Aristocracy? I Voted, Did You? How Diverse Should the Citizenry Be? What are the Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens?
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