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Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform

  • 16 subtopics
  • 46 things to know
  • Paper 1
  • Paper 1 breadth option, chosen from eight

What Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform covers

A Paper 1 breadth study of Britain from the eve of the French Revolution to the second Reform Act, covering the growth of parliamentary democracy, the industrial economy and the protest it produced, trade unionism and cooperation, and the reform of the Poor Law. The historical interpretations section asks why the slave trade and slavery were abolished.

Where it is assessed

Paper 1

Breadth study with interpretations, one option of eight.

Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗

The 16 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What was the geographical problem with the unreformed system?

Who and when

Why did industrial towns grow so fast?

Key term

In the struggle over early trade unionism, what was 'the Document'?

Evaluation

Why did the 1848 Chartist demonstration mark a decline of the movement?

Key term

Why were the growing industrial towns under-represented before 1832?

Numbers

What was the London Trades Council and why did it matter?

Numbers

How did enslaved resistance influence abolition?

Key term

What was a 'rotten borough' in the unreformed electoral system?

Numbers

What economic distress fuelled pressure for reform after 1815?

Key term

Which Conservative politician steered the 1867 Reform Act through Parliament?

Numbers

Why did reform revive in the 1850s and 1860s?

Who and when

What dangers did factory work involve?

Key term

What were living conditions like in the industrial towns?

Key term

What were the Swing Riots of 1830?

Key term

Who supported factory reform, and why was the coalition unusual?

Numbers

Who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

Key term

Who were the Junta?

Numbers

Who were the Rochdale Pioneers?

Who and when

What ideas did Robert Owen promote?

Key term

What was the Speenhamland system of 1795?

Numbers

Who was Edwin Chadwick and how was he linked to the Poor Law?

Key term

What was the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834?

Key term

What was the principle of 'less eligibility'?

Key term

What was the Andover workhouse scandal of 1845–46?

Who and when

What role did charity and self-help play alongside the Poor Law?

Numbers

Which society was founded in 1787 to campaign against the slave trade?

Who and when

What role did religious groups play in the movement?

Key term

What is the Williams thesis?

Key term

What evidence is used against the Williams thesis?

Numbers

What was William Wilberforce's role in abolition?

Numbers

How did formerly enslaved people contribute to the campaign?

Key term

What was the Demerara rebellion of 1823?

Who and when

How did the roles of political parties evolve across this period?

Numbers

What was the Reform League?

Numbers

How did banking develop with industrialisation?

Numbers

What were the health consequences of urban conditions?

Numbers

What was the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union?

Numbers

What was the Sheffield Outrages?

Numbers

What was the Cooperative Wholesale Society?

Key term

What was the case against Speenhamland?

Key term

What was the workhouse 'test'?

Numbers

Why did the Andover scandal matter politically?

Who and when

What campaigning methods did the abolitionists pioneer?

Key term

How had the West Indian interest weakened by the 1820s?

Numbers

Who was Granville Sharp?

Numbers

How did the reformed parliament change the politics of emancipation?

Take Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • A 'rotten borough' in the unreformed electoral system vs A 'pocket borough'

    A 'rotten borough' in the unreformed electoral system: a constituency with very few voters that still returned MPs. A 'pocket borough': A constituency where a single patron controlled the choice of member, usually because the electorate was tiny and dependent on him for land or employment.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was a 'rotten borough' in the unreformed electoral system?

    Model answer

    A constituency with very few voters that still returned MPs, such as Old Sarum, often controlled by a single patron.

  2. 2

    How did the roles of political parties evolve across this period?

    Model answer

    The older Whig and Tory groupings developed into more organised Liberal and Conservative parties competing for a widening electorate.

  3. 3

    Who could vote before 1832?

    Model answer

    In counties, men holding freehold worth forty shillings a year; in boroughs, a chaotic variety of qualifications. Perhaps one adult man in ten had the vote in England and Wales.

  4. 4

    What was a pocket borough?

    Model answer

    A constituency where a single patron controlled the choice of member, usually because the electorate was tiny and dependent on him for land or employment.

  5. 5

    How were elections conducted before 1872?

    Model answer

    By open voting at the hustings, so votes were public and voters could be bribed, treated or intimidated by landlords and employers.

  6. 6

    What was the geographical problem with the unreformed system?

    Model answer

    Seats reflected medieval wealth, so Cornwall returned more members than the whole industrial north, and Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds returned none at all.

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Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform revision questions

What does Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform cover in Edexcel A-Level History?
16 subtopics: the unreformed parliament and its critics, c1785–1820, pressure for change and reform, 1820–52, further parliamentary reform, 1852–70, the impact of industrialisation, working conditions in factories, mines and foundries, industrialisation, protest and reform, unions and their opponents, c1785–1834, new model unionism 1835–70, the growth of cooperative activities, the old poor law and pressure for change, the poor law amendment act 1834 and its effects, changing attitudes towards the poor, 1834-70, humanitarian campaigns and the influence of religion, economic and financial factors in abolition, clarkson, wilberforce and equiano and the changing political climate. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and Reform organised?
By the Edexcel 9HI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

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