Preview

Gladstone's Ministry

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
352 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gladstone's Ministry
To what extent does Gladstone's ministry of 1868-74 deserve its reputation as a great reforming one?
Gladstone’s ministry may deserve the reputation of a reforming one as he extended people’s rights to a certain extent. Gladstone improved the rights of the working classes through the Trade Union Act of 1871. The Act was significant as it meant that Trade Unions could now essentially function as an entity and it settled their future power within British Society. The fact that Gladstone had made improvements specifically for the Trade Unions shows that he was thinking of the lives of the working classes and it could be argued that he did his best to improve them. However peaceful picketing was outlawed by a reinstatement of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1825. This was a less liberal move on Gladstone’s part and limited the effect of the workers strikes. Henceforth limiting the power they possessed to make change therefore the reputation of the ministry could be questioned. Though reform is being made, it is not exactly benefitting the masses hugely. Moreover this Act was more beneficial to the working classes than the Friendly Society Acts, so in this sense Gladstone was trying to improve the statuses of the working classes hence forth making the reputation of the ministry justifiable. Additionally Gladstone passed the 1869 Municipal Franchise Act this gave female householders the vote in Municipal elections. This was the first time they were allowed to vote in any kind of election so the passing of this Act was highly significant. Though the Act wasn’t hugely significant at the time as there weren’t many female householders, the long term impact of it was to be highly significant. As this Act brought women into politics and it was going to lead to campaigns for women being able to vote at a Parliamentary level so the Act had a huge significance and shows that Gladstone was trying to reform the political system. Therefore Gladstone’s ministry did deserve the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Explain How Successful Were The Liberal Government In The Years 1906-1914
    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Explain How Successful Were The Liberal Government In The Years 1906-1914

    The Liberal government of 1906-1914 under Bannerman and Asquith is one often recalled for its extensive reform of the welfare system in the United Kingdom. However, it was their political and constitutional reform which caused the most uproar, as they were arguably the most successful government of the 20th century in regards to changing the way Britain was governed. Their greatest achievement was the 1911 Parliament Act where they managed to get the Lords to sign a bill limiting their own power.…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Far Do You Agree with the Opinion That the Boer Was Acted as a Spur to Much Needed Reform in Britain Essay Example
    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Far Do You Agree with the Opinion That the Boer Was Acted as a Spur to Much Needed Reform in Britain Essay Example

    How far do you agree with the opinion that the Boer war acted as a spur to much needed reform in Britain?…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Successful Was William Pitt's Economic Reforms
    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Successful Was William Pitt's Economic Reforms

    When William Pitt came to be prime minister in 1783, Britain was in a state of serious depression after the American War, and therefore needed reform and change. Pitt recognized the countries requirements and attempted to bring about several different types of reforms to all aspects of British life. His reforms had varied success due to many different factors, such as the public opinion, the desires of members in parliament, and also the king. Some of Pitt’s reforms proved very successful in bringing Britain back in to a prosperous position after the American war, while others lacked popularity and failed. The reasons for these varied successes are vast and there are many different aspects as to why some succeeded while others failed.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Explain why free trade was an issue in the 1906 General Election campaign.
    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Explain why free trade was an issue in the 1906 General Election campaign.

    This was the first time the Liberals were reunited since the Boer war. This aided them in an attempt to reunite there votes aswell. This meant that they were the second biggest party after the conservatives. All they needed to do was show the weaknesses of Balfour. The final nail in the coffin was having a decisive manifesto over free trede and how they refused to do it in case it harmed the working class. It was most important to appease the working class because they were the majority of the vote but they were also the poorest people able to vote with decisiveness.…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    AP European History: “European Workers in the 19th Century DBQ”
    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages

    AP European History: “European Workers in the 19th Century DBQ”

    Being that England was a traditionally more liberal and reform-minded country, it had some of the best success in creating a substantial shift in government policies to become more caring (specifically within Parliament). Those of the London Workingmen’s Association petitioned the English Parliament in 1838 for increased male suffrage (Doc 4) among other electoral reforms. They did, in fact, find success with the passage of the “Great Reform Act,” which was a law that guaranteed male suffrage, a more fair distribution of the electorate, and the requirement that members of Parliament needed to own property. Of course, the chartists of Doc. 4 were very one-sided in their petition and failed to see that the passage of the Charter would practically allow those exact workers to obtain high seats in government. Nevertheless, the reforms did improve the overall livelihood of the British masses enough to allow John Stuart Mill to assert that “the general tendency [of…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Pankhurst And The War Dbq Analysis
    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Pankhurst And The War Dbq Analysis

    Atkinson's view can be seen as objective as she did not definitively state that the vote was granted solely because of the war. She includes in her arguments that "The Coalition Government, which took office in 1915, were more 'pro suffrage' than Asquith's party. In (lines 5-8), Atkinson even mentions that Lloyd George(1863-1945), who succeeded the former Prime Minister in 1917, after Asquith's resignation, was more "sympathetic" towards women's cause. George had become Minister of munitions by 1915, and realising the drastic reduction in the country's work force by 1915, collaborated with Emmeline Pankhurst and the WSPU to support the war effort. On July 17, 1915, they staged a mass rally known as "The Great Procession of Women" or "The…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explain Why Did The Republicans Win The 1906 Election
    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Explain Why Did The Republicans Win The 1906 Election

    In the1870s, the Conservative Party won three out of four elections and formed the government for 17 years out of a total of 20 years. It reflected the Conservative Party was the most powerful party in England at that time; they even had an overpowering majority of seats in the House of Lords. They had support from everywhere. However, the situation changed dramatically when the Liberal party won the general election in 1906 with an overwhelming majority of 400 seats as against 157 seats for the Conservatives party. This event was marked as the well-known ‘Liberal landslide’. There are several reasons why the Conservative lost such a large amount of seats; national efficiency, the imposition of Education Act and Licensing Act, tariff campaign and Neglect of social reform.…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How far did the Liberals improve the lives of the British people?
    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How far did the Liberals improve the lives of the British people?

    The Liberals made many social reforms which were not necessarily directly helpful to the individual issues at hand but they did create grounds for the welfare estate to be built upon and highlighted the areas which needed attention for a better minimum quality of life. Areas focused on were free meals and health checks at schools, pensions and insurances. For example, the 1906 School Meals Act allowed children to have a free daily meal. This was effective in 1914 as by then, 14 million were receiving the free meals which duly led to a better economy however the negatives outweighed the positives as the issue with having the act voluntary until 1912 meant that over half of the authorities didn’t provide meals. Furthermore, proving eligibility was very difficult so there were many errors which occurred with the system. Rather similarly, Old Aged Pensioners couldn’t receive their money due to identity proofing issues. Household issues were ignored which was one of the Liberal’s negatives however, this is without taking into account that only so many areas could have been focused on. Although the Liberals never catered for the needs of all people, their reforms managed to always bring some improvement into areas of health, education and the future of citizens, no matter how poor in places they were. The Liberal Social Reforms did improve the lives of the British citizens to some extent, the main achievement being that the existence of the reforms themselves allowed to building of the welfare estate which is a factor that makes Britain as strong as it is today.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Was Attlee a truly revolutionary MP?
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Was Attlee a truly revolutionary MP?

    Perhaps, the most ‘revolutionary’ reform that Labour introduced was the NHS. Although there was liberal influence and consensus between the parties over welfare, the clear historical fact remains that Atlee’s Labour party introduced this. The public were in dire need of better healthcare – especially those who couldn’t afford it. Unfortunately, the majority of the population after the war were still living on a very small income and not many people in society could afford health services.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How Did Gladstone Transform As The Leader Of The Liberal Party?
    • 156 Words
    • 1 Page

    How Did Gladstone Transform As The Leader Of The Liberal Party?

    Gladstone was a liberal politician and Disraeli was a conservative politician. Disraeli made is speech in 1872 at the Crystal Palace, at that time he was at the head of Gladstone’s government. During its presidency, there were no colonial expansion. Afterward this year the Liberal were seriously damaged which led to the resignation of Gladstone as the leader of the Liberal Party. He made in speech in front of the House of the Common, where he remained as a member, in 1877 when Disraeli was the one at the head of the government. A year before in 1876, the Queen of England was named Impress of India, reviving again the debate about the rentability of the colonies.…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1867 reform act
    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    1867 reform act

    Public pressure had a large part to do with the passing of the 1867 reform bill in many ways. Most working class men at this time felt they were ready for the vote, this lead to the creation of pressure groups these would campaign for enfranchisement. In 1864 the national reform union was set up, this was mainly aimed at bringing the interests of the working and middle class men together in politics. Also created in 1864 was the reform league, although similar to the national reform union this was much more radical, it mainly aimed towards having universal male suffrage and a secret ballot. These groups would hold rallies of over 100,000 to try and put pressure on the government and get the bill passed, these groups doing this is significant evidence that public pressure could have been a large contributor to the passing of the act.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Was The Reform Act Passed In 1867
    • 985 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why Was The Reform Act Passed In 1867

    In 1886 Gladstone had proposed a moderate reform bill, it would’ve enfranchised an additional 400,000 men. However it was fiercely opposed by the government. Disraeli in particular feared that extending the franchise challenged the authority of his aristocracy. However, when the conservatives returned to office later in the year, Disraeli decided to press for reform. In fact the reform was even more radical than the first. There are a few reasons to why Disraeli might have done this. Pressure for reform was growing and the liberal bill had heightened expectations even further. If some reform was a possible, it would be better if the conservatives could claim responsibility, therefore possibly winning electoral support of the workers. According to this view Disraeli’s main motive was to “dish the Whigs”. This meant that he opportunistically opposed the 1886 Bill but then introduced a similar measure. This factor was a significant contribution to why the reform bill was passed. As the Tory view explains, reform occurred mainly as a result of competition between the parties; both wanted to determine the terms of any reform, and both wanted to secure the future support of the workers. As much as many mainstream liberals wanted further economic and social reforms, they assumed that once they had enfranchised workers, urban workers in particular, they would probably vote liberal.…

    • 985 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Whose foreign policy was more beneficial to Britain’s interests, Gladstone or Disraeli?
    • 2621 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Whose foreign policy was more beneficial to Britain’s interests, Gladstone or Disraeli?

    Between 1868 and 1894 both Gladstone and Disraeli dominated British politics; Gladstone being Prime Minister three times and Disraeli twice. In order to compare the two it is necessary to examine how their individual policies benefitted Britain on a whole, in terms of; trade, peace, diplomacy, balance of power and strategic advantage.…

    • 2621 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Gladstone & Disraeli
    • 2247 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Gladstone & Disraeli

    Disraeli became Prime Minister. He was 70 years old,in frail health and desolated by his wife's death, but he made the most of his opportunity at the top—after a quarter-century rebuilding the Tory party. Disraeli pushed through Factory Acts in 1874 and 1878, increasing government regulation of business. Disraeli's Trade Union Act essentially put labor union bosses above the law. With the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, Disraeli's government assumed responsibility for the health of people. The Artisan's Dwelling Act authorized local governments to take private property for housing projects.…

    • 2247 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Chamberlain
    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Chamberlain

    During his early adulthood he was a radical Liberal Party member and a campaigner for educational reform. As a self-made businessman who never attended university, he had contempt for the aristocracy. He entered the House of Commons aged almost forty, relatively late in life for a front-rank politician. Rising to power through his influence with the Liberal grassroots organisation, he served as President of the Board of Trade in Gladstone's Second Government (1880–85). At the time, Chamberlain was notable for his attacks on the Conservative leader Lord Salisbury, and in the 1885 general election he proposed the "Unauthorised Programme" of benefits for newly enfranchised agricultural labourers. Chamberlain resigned from Gladstone's Third Government in 1886 in opposition to Irish Home Rule, and after the Liberal Party split he became a Liberal Unionist, a party which included a bloc of MPs based in and around Birmingham.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics