The Reform Act Of 1832 Dbq Analysis

In 1830, Britain witnessed another revolution in France, because of this the Whigs, an important fraction of Parliament decided that reform would be necessary in order to ensure that the rising industrial middle class would not revolt. This would eventually lead to the Reform Act of 1832, which gave many new industrial communities a voice in government and allowed the industrial middle class to vote. Thomas Babington Macaulay, a Whig, would argue that this bill would need to pass in order to accommodate the industrial middle class which in turn would prevent “the confusion of ranks, the spoliation of property, and the dissolution of social order”(pg 653). One of the arguments against passing the act was that it would lead to the destruction …show more content…
Macaulay’s writing was very direct, while it referred to his discussion with honorable friend it seemed to be targeted at anyone who would potentially oppose the bill. The main change that he really wanted to see was to include the industrial middle class in Parliament, and he felt that it was best to do this through reform rather than revolution, which could very well lead to the destruction of the aristocracy and monarchy. This reflects Great Britain’s feeling that they should not have any more civil war as well as imply that they felt that their country was above (more civilized) than those of the Continent, so they should go with a more civilized way of change through reform. Not only this, but Parliament clearly foreshadowed possible revolution from the attempts and successes in France, Poland, Belgium, and Italy; so they would have felt that it was necessary to do something to prevent revolution from occurring. Since Great Britain’s industrial middle class was the strongest in Europe because of its role in the Industrial Revolution, Parliament would have realized that they could not follow how the Austrians, Prussians, and Russians dealt with their revolts (with excessive force) because it would likely be unsuccessful and even if it was successful it would have been devastating to Great Britain’s economy. Through his writing one can also see that Britain’s policies kept the common people under control with the feeling that they were being represented even though only about one in thirty people could vote. Schurz’s writing was a recollection of past events that gave the details of the day and day after news of the French Revolution of 1848 reached his university, it gives his feelings and the effect it had on the students and their social area, but also the lack of exciting changes occurring days after. Schurz’s