The British Reform Movement8.39

The Atlantic or Democratic Revolution(aka The Bourgeois Revolution)

American Independence

French RevolutionEnglish ReformRevolutions up to 1848

Parliament and Reform

Moderate Key issue is disenfranchisement

Reform led Parliament to shift from a select, closed body to a representative, open body.

Edmund BurkePhilosophical conservatism

◦House should be mathematically representative

◦Landowning interests should govern◦Members of Parliament should follow

their own best judgment◦Promoted reform within the system◦Reform in England is delayed by

reaction to American and French Revolutions

ScotlandScottish highlands had moved

against England during Seven Years War

Troops are quartered in ScotlandMen are forbidden to wear kilts

IrelandAnti-British, pro-French

sentimentsInspired by American RevolutionBritish suppress Irish RebellionAct of Union (1801) creates

United Kingdom