Was the 1832 Reform Act passed purely due to public pressure
The Great Reform Act was finally passed in 1832 after years of unrest and widespread popular demand for some reformation of the corrupt existing political system. ... The passing of the reform bill through the Houses of Parliament was accompanied by widespread rioting and agitation throughout Britain, leading 20th century historian E. ... In evaluating the extent of the agitation and its influence, if any, on the actual passing of the Reform Bill many other factors must be considered. ... After previously fearing reform unequivocally some Whigs now advocated reform as a means of gaining power in Britain, despite its obvious threat to the status quo and the powerful landed interest. The Whigs obviously felt that they could control the extent of reform, yet by 1832 many leading Whigs and many members of the upper classes generally were extremely worried about the rioting occurring around Britain. The Bishop of Exeter wrote to the Duke of Wellington in November ‘ my own person, and the security of the public peace (is in) the greatest danger’ (Document 6). ... The Bishop was writing in November 1832, at a period when concerns over the threat of the working classes was high. ... Thomas Macaulay and Earl Grey had both taken it upon themselves to advocate reform personally, fearing a revolution may take place – in 1830 France had experienced another revolution, and the situation in Britain was similar to that following the 1789 French Revolution – the aristocracy feared the same would happen in Britain. ... However, taken at face value, the source suggests that agitation was a significant factor at the time in the passing of reform, despite the Whigs never actually admitting that public pressure caused the passing of the Reform Bill, as it would signal to the Tories and to the people of Britain that they were open to unconstitutional pressure. This would invoke chaos, and rioting to pass any measure the public desired. ... ’ The Whigs in power differed from Peel and his Tories in that they were highly dependent on the support of ‘respectable’ public opinion – the new middle classes. ... ‘The Whigs realised that by allying with the manufacturing classes the political establishment would be more able to withstand challenges from the lower classes’ (Collier, Pedley ‘Britain 1815-1851, Protest and Reform’. ... Collier and Pedley’s book is a modern A Level text, and provides an overview of the whole reform crisis. Their opinion is therefore well researched, and will provide a considered evaluation of the causes of reform. ... A limitation is that neither of them were Whigs in 1832, so they can never know definitely that the Whigs aimed to separate the middle and lower classes. ... Eric Evans, a modern historian has argued that the Whigs generally regarded reform as a ‘necessary nuisance’, and regarded with ‘Olympian distaste’ the prospect of sharing the Commons with ‘shopkeepers and attorneys, persons of narrow minds and bigoted views’. ... Evans is a respected professor of history at the University of Lancaster, and is regarded as a specialist on the reform crises of the 19th century. ... Again, the only limitation of his source is the fact that he was not around during the reform crisis, and must rely on other peoples accounts to write on the subject. ... Even Grey was careful to ensure the new bill was ‘large enough to satisfy public opinion and afford sure ground of resistance to further innovation’. ... There was widespread economic unrest caused by poor harvests and unemployment, deep divisions between the Whig and Tories and within the Tory party themselves, widespread rioting ( Document 5 shows chaos in Nottingham 1831 following the rejection of the first Reform Bill), there were also well supported, armed and organised radical movements, who called for a run on the banks. ... They did not use repression to stop the riots, partly because they did not have the resources, but partly because they were focussed on the major reform. ... ’ The role of public pressure should not be understated.