Second Reform Act | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Second Reform Act

Great Britain 1867

Synopsis

The Second Reform Act was part of a process of British electoral reform that dated back to the First Reform Act of 1832 and continued into the later part of the nineteenth century. Before 1867 eligibility to vote in the general elections for Members of Parliament (MPs) was based largely upon the value of housing, which prevented low-income people from voting in most areas. Radical groups campaigned throughout the 1860s to extend the franchise to the working class. However, it was rivalry between the main British political parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals, that eventually resulted in reform. With the passing of the Second Reform Act, the male urban working class became a significant part of the political nation for the first time.

Timeline

• 1851: China's T'ai P'ing ("Great Peace") Rebellion begins under the leadership of schoolmaster Hong Xiuquan, who believes himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ. He mobilizes the peasantry against the Manchu emperors in a civil war that will take 20 to 30 million lives over the next 14 years.
• 1857: Start of the Sepoy Mutiny, an unsuccessful revolt by Indian troops against the British East India Company. As a result of the rebellion, which lasts into 1858, England places India under direct crown rule.
• 1863:

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