Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780-1928 | Edexcel A-Level History (9HI0)

Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780-1928

184 questions
19 subtopics
Paper 3: themes in breadth with aspects in depth, one option of sixteen
Paper 3

A Paper 3 option combining aspects in breadth on the widening franchise, redistribution and the changing party system with aspects in depth on radical protest and Chartism, the campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts, the suffragettes, and the trade union agitation that ended in the General Strike..

It covers changes in the franchise, c1780–1928, reform and redistribution, c1780–1928, the influence of the crown and aristocracy, changes in political parties, c1780–1928, aims, tactics and impact of extra-parliamentary protest, government responses to radical protest, paine, Cartwright, Cobbett and Hunt, chartism’s aims and actions, fluctuations in support for Chartism, government responses to Chartism, reasons why the Contagious Diseases Acts were introduced, the Acts’ impact on prostitutes and ordinary women, josephine Butler and the Contagious Diseases Acts, wSPU organisation and tactics, emily Davison and the Pankhursts, government attitudes to female suffrage, shinwell, Maxton, Bevin and the Glasgow strikes, union revival after the First World War and the General Strike, 1926.

Sample questions from Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780-1928

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Changes in the franchise, c1780–1928

What did the 1918 Representation of the People Act do?

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It gave the vote to all men over 21 and to women over 30 who met a property qualification, tripling the electorate to about 21 million; women voted for the first time.
The influence of the crown and aristocracy

What triggered the Parliament Act 1911?

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The Lords' rejection of Lloyd George's 1909 'People's Budget'.
Aims, tactics and impact of extra-parliamentary protest

What were the Six Acts of 1819?

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Repressive laws passed after Peterloo that restricted public meetings, taxed the cheap radical press, banned drilling, and speeded up trials.
Paine, Cartwright, Cobbett and Hunt

What was Henry Hunt's role as a radical orator?

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'Orator' Hunt was a mass-platform speaker who advocated peaceful pressure for universal suffrage and spoke at Peterloo.
Fluctuations in support for Chartism

What was the relationship between Chartism and the Anti-Poor Law movement?

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Chartism absorbed the northern anti-Poor Law agitation after 1838, taking its leaders, meetings and much of its support.
Reasons why the Contagious Diseases Acts were introduced

How widespread was venereal infection among soldiers and sailors?

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By the 1860s around one in three sick cases in the army was venereal, which the 1862 committee identified as a serious impairment of military efficiency.
Josephine Butler and the Contagious Diseases Acts

How did repealers use the Colchester by-election of 1870?

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Butler and her allies campaigned against the Liberal candidate Sir Henry Storks, a supporter of the Acts, who lost the seat, and the government then appointed a Royal Commission.
Emily Davison and the Pankhursts

Who was Emmeline Pankhurst?

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The founder and autocratic leader of the WSPU, whose speeches and repeated imprisonments made her the public face of militant suffragism.

The 19 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Changes in the franchise, c1780–1928	Recall questions on who could vote in 1780, the Acts of 1832, 1867, 1884 and 1918, why women over thirty came first, and the size of the electorate by 1928.	10
Reform and redistribution, c1780–1928	Recall questions on rotten and pocket boroughs, the inequality of representation, why 1832 passed when earlier attempts failed, and how much redistribution mattered.	10
The influence of the crown and aristocracy	Recall questions on crown patronage, Dunning's motion, aristocratic control in the counties, why that influence declined, and the Parliament Act of 1911.	10
Changes in political parties, c1780–1928	Recall questions on the loose connections of 1780, registration after 1832, the Birmingham caucus, the Primrose League, the rise of Labour, and party discipline.	10
Aims, tactics and impact of extra-parliamentary protest	Recall questions on the London Corresponding Society, Spa Fields, the Pentrich Rising, Peterloo, the role of spies, and the Cato Street Conspiracy.	9
Government responses to radical protest	Recall questions on the treason trials of 1794, suspension of Habeas Corpus, the Two Acts and the Six Acts, the taxes on knowledge, and the use of the yeomanry.	9
Paine, Cartwright, Cobbett and Hunt	Recall questions on Rights of Man and its circulation, the Hampden Clubs, Cartwright's programme, the Political Register, and Hunt as a platform orator.	10
Chartism’s aims and actions	Recall questions on the six points, moral and physical force, the National Convention, the three petitions, the Newport Rising, and Kennington Common.	10
Fluctuations in support for Chartism	Recall questions on which groups supported it, the link with trade depressions, middle-class attitudes, regional variation, the Land Plan, and women's participation.	10
Government responses to Chartism	Recall questions on arrests and prosecutions, Napier's approach, the treatment of the Newport leaders, and how railways and the telegraph changed the response.	10
Reasons why the Contagious Diseases Acts were introduced	Recall questions on venereal disease in the forces, the 1862 committee, the three Acts, how they were enforced, and the double standard they embodied.	10
The Acts’ impact on prostitutes and ordinary women	Recall questions on compulsory examination and detention, why it was called instrumental rape, the effect on all working-class women, and the case of Mrs Percy.	10
Josephine Butler and the Contagious Diseases Acts	Recall questions on Butler's leadership and the cost of it, the Ladies' National Association, its arguments, Wolstenholme, and the Pontefract by-election.	10
WSPU organisation and tactics	Recall questions on how the WSPU differed from the NUWSS, deeds not words, hunger strikes and forcible feeding, Black Friday, and whether militancy helped.	10
Emily Davison and the Pankhursts	Recall questions on Emmeline and Christabel, how Sylvia differed from them, Davison at the Derby, the suspension of militancy in 1914, and how much credit the WSPU deserves.	10
Government attitudes to female suffrage	Recall questions on Asquith's hostility, the failure of the 1909 bill, the Conciliation Bills, the Speaker's ruling of 1913, and the Cat and Mouse Act.	9
Shinwell, Maxton, Bevin and the Glasgow strikes	Recall questions on the Glasgow rent strike and Mary Barbour, the Rent Restriction Act, the 40-hour strike, and the meaning of Red Clydeside.	9
Union revival after the First World War	Recall questions on wartime membership growth, the Triple Alliance, Black Friday, Bevin and the TGWU, J. H. Thomas, and the Council of Action.	8
The General Strike, 1926	Recall questions on what caused it, Red Friday and the government's preparations, how solid it was, the role of the media, why the TUC called it off, and the 1927 Act.	10

Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780-1928 is 184 of the 6,832 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £9

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.