Year 9 - History
Calls for reform and the 1832 Great Reform Act
The Industrial Revolution: did industrialisation revolutionise people's lives?
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils learn about the changes to life brought about by the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. They learn about calls for political reform and how this led to the 1832 Great Reform Act. Pupils end the unit by considering how much the Industrial Revolution changed people's lives.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain why the Great Reform Act was introduced in 1832 and assess its impact on representation for industrial workers.
Key Notes
- Britain's unreformed parliament represented industrial workers poorly.
- The Whig government of Earl Grey and the Birmingham Political Union (BPU) helped bring about the 1832 Great Reform Act.
- The Great Reform Act expanded the franchise and gave representation to industrial towns.
- Despite the Great Reform Act, only one in five men could vote after 1832.
- Rules around being an MP were not changed by the Reform Act and remained a barrier to industrial workers representation.
Vocabulary To Learn
- franchise: the franchise refers to the group of people who can vote in a country's elections
- constituencies: the individual areas of a country that elect someone to represent them in Parliament are called constituencies
- disproportionate: something may be described as disproportionate if it is too large or small in comparison to something else
- rotten borough: a rotten borough was a constituency which elected an MP despite having very few voters
- representation: representation is the act of speaking or doing something officially for another person
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Most campaigners for reform like the BPU wanted all adults in Britain to be enfranchised.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Summarise this historical learning in two key ideas.
Britain's unreformed parliament represented industrial workers poorly. The Whig government of Earl Grey and the Birmingham Political Union (BPU) helped bring about the 1832 Great Reform Act.
2. Define this history term and explain why it matters in this topic. 'franchise'
the franchise refers to the group of people who can vote in a country's elections.
3. Correct this common history misconception using evidence language.
Mistake: Most campaigners for reform like the BPU wanted all adults in Britain to be enfranchised. Correction: The BPU campaigned for tax-paying males to be enfranchised, which would have continued to exclude many poor workers as well as women.
More Lessons In This Unit
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