La crise du Reform Bill, 1830-1832

Abstract

In only two years, from 1830 to 1832, the House of Commons passed a substantial reform of parliamentary representation which had been unsuccessfully demanded by radicals since the 1760s. For Whig historians, the adoption of the 1832 Reform Act was a triumph for gradual reform orchestrated by the MPs themselves. On the contrary, “History from below” emphasises the external pressure exerted by the people on the ruling elite. Since the late 1990s, social history has moved away from Whig or Marxist narratives articulated around moments of rupture. It has stressed continuities while paying attention to changes in social identities and practices in all classes of society, in the cities and in the countryside. This article traces the unfolding of intra- and extra-parliamentary events to examine the significance of this seminal moment in British political history.

Keywords

• historiography
• Britain
• parliamentary reform
• 1832
• political radicalism
• suffrage