Development of Democracy in Britain: The Vote

Learning Objective: To analyse the voting system of Britain in the 19th century.

Starter:
1. The elections in Britain was unfair since from huge cities like Yorkshire came
only two MPs ; from countrysides like Rutland also came two MPs. From microscopic
villages
Like Old Sarum with 3 houses ALSO came two MPs, but somehow some cities like
Manchester weren't admitted to send MPs at all.

2. I agree with Tom Paine since from all the cities, countrysides and villages come
only two MPs but they have a large difference in population. Which makes it
unequal.

Task 1:
A, B, C, D

Mid-Plenary:
1. Pocket Boroughs = The landowner controlled all the votes.
2. Rotten Boroughs = These were constituencies with tiny numbers of voters that
could often send two MPs to Parliament.
3. Members of Parliament = In order to stand for election as an MP you had to own a
lot of land as you didn't get paid and needed to support yourself.
4. The voting system = Less than 2% of people could vote for an MP, this was
because in order to vote you needed to be male and over 21. And in many places you
needed
To own properties, voting was not secret (Candidates could bribe or
blackmail/threat voters).

Task 2: Certain problems in the Democracy were:

- Bribery - Treating
- Threats - Public Voting

~ Threats = voters could be threatened with violence, loss of jobs or houses if

they didn't vote as told to.
~ Bribery = Voters could be given money as a bribe to vote for a particular
candidate.
~ Treating = candidates bought voters drinks and meals in return for their vote.
~ Public Voting =