Download the search for democracy in the western world

THE SEARCH FOR
DEMOCRACY IN THE
WESTERN WORLD
DEMOCRACY IN 19TH BRITAIN
EUROPEAN REVOLUTION OF 1848
UNIVERSAL MANHOOD SUFFRAGE AND WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE
THE AMERICAN STRUGGLE WITHIN
THE STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY
BRITAIN
• IN EARLY 19TH CENTURY BRITAIN VERY FEW PEOPLE HAD THE
RIGHT TO VOTE. MEANING THAT THE PEOPLE HAD VIRTUALLY NO
VOICE.
• DURING THE LATE 18TH CENTURY & EARLY 19TH CENTURY,
PRESSURE FOR PARLIAMENTARY REFORM GREW RAPIDLY.
• THE ISSUE OF PARLIMENTARY REFORM WOULD REACH A WIDER
AUDIENCE, PARTICULARLY AFTER THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
• INFLUENCED BY WORKS OF
THOMAS PAINE’S RIGHTS OF MAN,
RADICAL REFORMERS DEMANDED
THAT ALL MEN BE GIVEN THE
RIGHT TO VOTE.
• REFORM GROUPS-SHEFFIELD
CORRESPONDING SOCIETY &
LONDON CORRESPONDING
SOCIETY WERE COMMITTED TO
UNIVERSAL MANHOOD
SUFFRAGE.
THE REFORM ACTS
• THREE PARLIAMENTARY REFORM
ACTS WERE INTRODUCED IN 19TH
CENTURY BRITAIN (1832, 1867 &
1884).
• PRIME MINISTER LORD GREY
SUPPORTED REFORM TO PREVENT
THE NECESSITY OF A REVOLUTION
AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
FIRST ACT IN 1832.
• THIS ACT GAVE THE VOTE IN TOWNS
ONLY TO MEN WHO OWNED
PROPERTY WITH AN ANNUAL VALUE
OF 10 POUNDS, WHICH EXCLUDED 6
OUT OF 7 MEN FROM THE VOTING
PROCESS.
• TORY POLITICIAN LORD DERBY SAID
THE SECOND REFORM ACT (1867) AS
A “LEAP IN THE DARK”, GIVING TWO
OUT OF FIVE ENGLISHMEN THE RIGHT
TO VOTE IN 1870.
• THE SECOND REFORM ACT GAVE THE
RIGHT TO VOTE TO ALL MALE HOUSE
OWNERS IN URBAN & RURAL AREAS
& ADDED 6 MILLION PEOPLE TO THE
VOTING REGISTERS BUT STILL FELL
SHORT OF INTRODUCING UNIVERSAL
MANHOOD SUFFRAGE.
• RADICAL REFORMERS WOULD
CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR EXTENSIVE
PARLIAMENTARY REFORM
THROUGHOUT THE 19TH CENTURY.
UNIVERSAL MANHOOD
SUFFRAGE & WOMEN’S
SUFFRAGE
• FOR MANY PEOPLE, 19TH CENTURY
REFORM WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT
BECAUSE POLITICAL POWER
REMAINED IN THE HANDS OF THE
ARISTOCRACY.
• UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE, WITH VOTING
RIGHTS FOR WOMEN (NOT THOSE
UNDER 30), DID NOT ARRIVE IN
BRITAIN UNTIL FEBRUARY 1918.
• BY THE TIME OF THE THIRD REFORM
ACT IN 1884, BRITAIN WAS LESS
DEMOCRATIC THAN MANY OTHER
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
• THE CHANGES IN BRITAIN BETWEEN
1832 & 1884 WERE IMPORTANT.
• ELECTORATE INCREASED
SUBSTANTIALLY.
• PARLIAMENTARY SEATS WERE
REDISTRIBUTED GIVING GREATER
WEIGHT TO LARGER CITIES.
• THE BALLOT ACT OF 1872 THAT
INTRODUCED SECRET BALLOTS &
MADE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR
VOTERS TO BE BRIBED OR
INTIMIDATED.
• BRITAIN, UNLIKE MUCH OF
CONTINENTAL EUROPE IN THE
19TH CENTURY MANAGED TO
INTRODUCE REFORM WITHOUT
REVOLUTION.
SECRET BALLOT VOTING
THE EUROPEAN REVOLUTION OF 1848
• IN 1846, EUROPE WAS ENDURING A SEVERE FAMINE.
• LACK OF GRAIN DROVE UP FOOD AND OTHER PRICES, WHILE
WAGES REMAINED STAGNANT, THUS REDUCING CONSUMER
DEMAND.
• CONSUMERS BOUGHT LESS-PROFITS FELL-INDUSTRIAL JOBS WERE
LOST.
• ALL OF THESE FACTORS WOULD LEAD TO THE EVENTS OF
FEBRUARY 1848 IN FRANCE-THE EUROPEAN REVOLUTION.
UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE
• MODERATE LIBERALS (LAWYERS,
DOCTORS,MERCHANTS) BEGAN
PUSHING FOR EXTENSION OF
SUFFRAGE THROUGH THEIR BANQUET
CAMPAIGN.
• ON FEBRUARY 22, 1848 PARIS
OFFICIALS CANCELLED THE BANQUET,
FEARING PROTESTS.
• CITIZENS BEGAN DEMONSTRATING
AGAINST THE REPRESSION.
• THE NATIONAL GUARD, A CITIZEN
MILITIA OF BOURGEOIS PARISIANS
DEFECTED FROM KING LOUISPHILIPPE & THE ARMY GARRISON IN
PARIS JOINED THE REVOLUTIONARY
PROTESTORS AS WELL.
• KING LOUIS-PHILIPPE ATTEMPTED
REFORM BUT WORKERS REJECTED.
• THE KING FLED & DEMONSTRATORS
PROCLAIMED THE SECOND REPUBLIC
ON FEBRUARY 24TH.
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM OR
COMPLETE GOVERNMENT CHANGE
• THE OVERTHROW LED TO A WAVE OF
PROTESTS THROUGHOUT EAST &
CENTRAL EUROPE.
• IN MARCH, PROTESTS IN GERMANY LED
TO SWIFT REFORMS.
• IN AUSTRIA, PEOPLE REVOLTED SETTING
UP A CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY.
• REVOLTS WERE HAPPENING
THROUGHOUT EUROPE.
A TURNING POINT IN MODERN HISTORY
• THE REVOLUTIONS WHICH
WERE DEMOCRATIC IN NATURE,
WERE NOT WHAT YOU WOULD
CALL SUCCESSFUL.
• THEIR AIM WAS TO REMOVE
THE OLD FEUDAL SYSTEM &
CREATE INDEPENDENT
NATIONAL STATES.
• THE LACK OF UNITY AMONG THE REVOLUTIONARIES ON THE
QUESTION OF FUTURE GOVERNMENTS LED TO THE COLLAPSE
IN MOST ALL COUNTRIES; HOWEVER THEY DID ACCOMPLISH
SOMETHING:
1. SPREAD OF PARLIMENTARY GOVERNMENTS
2. THE EXTENSION OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE
3. THE ABOLITION OF MANORIALISM IN CENTRAL EUROPE
4. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE GERMAN & ITALIAN UNIFICATION
MOVEMENTS.
5. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HUNGARY AS AN EQUAL PARTNER
WITH AUSTRIA
THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848,
THOUGH NOT COMPLETELY
TRIUMPHANT IN ESTABLISHING
DEMOCRACY IN THE EUROPEAN
COUNTRIES DID SERVE AS
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR FUTURE
GOVERNMENTS.
AMERICA’S STRUGGLE WITHIN
• BY THE 1830s, A FLOURISHING
DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM HAD
EMERGED BASED ON POPULAR
CONTROL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
AND DISTRUSTFUL OF THE FARAWAY
NATIONAL STATE.
• THE RIGHT TO VOTE BECAME AN
ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF AMERICAN
FREEDOM.
SUFFRAGE
WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE
• SUFFRAGE EXPANDED FOR WHITE
MEN, IT RETREATED FOR OTHERS.
• IT LARGELY EXCLUDED WOMEN.
• IN SOME STATES WOMEN WHO MET
THE PROPERTY QUALIFICATION
ENJOYED THE SUFFRAGE IN NEW
JERSEY BEGINNING IN 1776, BUT IT
WAS TAKEN AWAY IN 1807.
LEADERS OF THE MOVEMENT FOR WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE, SUCH
AS SUSAN B. ANTHONY AND ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, AROSE
OUT OF THE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT.
“THE BEST PROTECTION ANY WOMAN CAN HAVE IS
COURAGE.” ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
THE ABOLITIONISTS MOVEMENT
• THE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT ALSO
INSPIRED OTHER GROUPS, ESPECIALLY
WOMEN, TO STAKE THEIR OWN
CLAIMS TO GREATER FREEDOM IN
THE YOUNG REPUBLIC.
• THE LONG CONTEST OVER SLAVERY
GAVE NEW MEANING TO PERSONAL
LIBERTY, POLITICAL COMMUNITY &
THE RIGHTS ATTACHED TO AMERICAN
CITIZENSHIP.
• THE STRUGGLE BY THE
ABOLITIONISTS, THE SLAVES, &
FREE BLACKS THEMSELVES—
REINVIGORATED THE NOTION OF
FREEDOM AS A UNIVERSAL
BIRTHRIGHT, A TRULY HUMAN
IDEAL.
• THE ANTISLAVERY CRUSADE
INSISTED ON THE “AMERICANESS"
OF BOTH ENSLAVED & FREE BLACKS
& REPUDIATED NOT ONLY SLAVERY
BUT THE RACIAL BOUNDARIES
THAT CONFINED FREE BLACKS TO
SECOND-CLASS STATUS.
THE ABOLITIONISTS PRINCLIPLES OF BIRTHRIGHT, CITIZENSHIP &
EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW WITHOUT REGARD TO RACE WERE
WRITTEN INTO THE CONSTITUTION—AN ATTEMPT TO STRIP
AMERICAN FREEDOM OF ITS IDENTIFICATION WITH WHITENESS.
GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND
FOR THE PEOPLE (ABRAHAM LINCOLN)
• WHO CONSTITUES THE PEOPLE IN THIS QUOTE?
• THE REVOLUTION HAD GIVEN BIRTH TO A REPUBLIC RHETORICALLY
FOUNDED ON LIBERTY BUT RESTING ECONOMICALLY IN LARGE
MEASURE ON SLAVERY.
• SLAVERY HAD BEEN CENTRAL TO COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT, AND
SLAVERY HELPED TO DEFINE AMERICAN UNDERSTANDING OF
FREEDOM IN THE COLONIAL ERA AND THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
SUFFRAGE
AFRICAN-AMERICANS
•
IN PENNSYLVANIA, AFRICAN AMERICAN
MEN SAW THEMSELVES STRIPPED OF
THE RIGHT TO VOTE WHEN A NEW STATE
CONSTITUTION WAS ADOPTED IN 1838.
• IN NEW YORK STATE, THE SAME
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF
1821 THAT ELIMINATED PROPERTY
QUALIFICATIONS FOR WHITE MEN
IMPOSED SO HIGH A QUALIFICATION
FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN THAT
ALMOST ALL WERE STRIPPED OF THE
FRANCHISE.
OVERALL, FOR AMERICAN MEN, RACE REPLACED CLASS AS THE
DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN THOSE WHO COULD VOTE AND THOSE
WHO COULD NOT. THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT, PASSED IN 1869
WOULD ABOLISH THIS PREJUDICE.
POST- CIVIL WAR
• AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, CONGRESS (INCLUDING RADICAL
REPUBLICANS) WHO HAD SUPPORTED WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE)
MOVED TO ENFRANCHISE AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN, BUT NOT
WOMEN, WHITE OR AFRICAN-AMERICAN, MANY WOMEN’S
SUFFRAGISTS CONCLUDED THAT WOMEN COULD NOT PLACE
THEIR TRUST IN MALE-DOMINATED POLITICAL MOVEMENTS.
• THE WOMEN, STANTON & ANTHONY NOW INSISTED, MUST FORM
THEIR OWN ORGANIZATIONS TO PRESS THE CASE FOR EQUAL
RIGHTS.
• IT WOULD TAKE ANOTHER HALF CENTURY OF STRUGGLE FOR
WOMEN TO WIN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT
• THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT TO THE
CONSTITUTION DECLAFRED THAT “NEITHER
SLAVERY OR INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE,
EXCEPT AS A PUNISHMENT FOR CRIME
WHEREOF THE PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN DULY
CONVICTED, SHALL EXIST WITHIN THE UNITED
STATES, OR ANY PLACE SUBJECT TO THEIR
JURISDICTION." FORMALLY ABOLISHING
SLAVERY IN THE U.S., THE 13TH AMENDMENT
WAS PASSED BY THE CONGRESS ON JANUARY
31, 1865, & RATIFIED BY THE STATES ON
DECEMBER 6, 1865.
THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT
THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT
MADE THE CONSTITUTION WHAT IT
HAD NEVER BEEN BEFORE—A
VEHICLE THROUGH WHICH
AGGRIEVED GROUPS CAN TAKE
THEIR CLAIMS THAT THEY LACK
EQUALITY & FREEDOM TO COURT.
RECONSTRUCTION FAILED TO
SECURE AFRICAN-AMERICAN
FREEDOM & WAS FOLLOWED BY A
LONG PERIOD OF INEQUALITY FOR
AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT
The 15th Amendment to the Constitution
granted African American men the right
to vote by declaring that the "right of
citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any state on account of race,
color, or previous condition of
servitude." Although ratified on February
3, 1870, the promise of the 15th
Amendment would not be fully realized
for almost a century.