Source two is also a secondary source which summarises the views of four historians who say there is no uniform view. As this source has been crafted using four other historians’ point of view, it is a reliable source. It does however have a flaw with its provenance as the author has chosen to name all but one historian he has used. This source supports the point that other political factors were to blame for the extension of the franchise, not public pressure. The Chartists were, according to this source ‘ever fluctuating numbers of men driven desperate by the trade-cycle.’ Furthermore, ‘the Chartists stood no chance against the military.’
Source six is again a secondary source which is relevant for the 1884 Reform Act. ‘In 1883 the radicals held meetings to arouse popular support… Nevertheless there was far less public clamour for change than in 1832 or even in 1866. The initiative remained firmly with the politicians.’ Chamberlain recognised that ‘votes in the counties could further his aim of transforming the party.’ Gladstone used this to ‘retain radical support and regain popularity in the country.’
Source one is a primary source regarding the 1832 Act. It sums up what Hetherington thought working-class frustration ought to be at the new act which ‘excluded working people.’ Another factor which adds to its usefulness is the mention of middle class and how he feels the government tried to split the two classes. As an editor of an unstamped paper, Hetherington obviously favours the plight of the working class and wanted the rich to loose power therefore making his article full of bias. It does however show us what working people would feel at the time and also what they would be reading which would influence them greatly.
Sources four and three (least reliable) are both primary sources regarding the 1867 Act. Both speeches were made with a fundamental purpose or ulterior motive and are extremely bias making them very unreliable. Source four shows Disraeli fighting for survival with self-serving praise, as he wanted to be Conservative leader. He says ‘I had to prepare the mind of the country, and to educate…our Party.’ He is justifying his reasoning and fighting back to the cynics and criticism like that from Lowe in source three. He does make reference to perhaps the Hyde Park Riots when he says ‘inevitable change.’ This shows evidence of politicians taking note of public pressure and realising the influence it could have, although Disraeli may just be using this as an excuse.
In source three Lowe is talking to a minority Conservative government with a chance of it resigning. It is for this reason that this source’s reliability is slightly less than that of source four. He is rather cynical and mocks Disraeli saying he ‘has adopted a course which is definitely credible to his dexterity as a tactician.’ He uses jokes throughout his speech to mock Disraeli further using a ‘shy horse’ as a metaphor for his party. This source also shows no evidence of public pressure at all making it have limited usefulness. Lowe is making this speech to influence others into thinking the way he does and go against Disraeli making it the most unreliable source.
In conclusion, the most reliable sources turned out to be secondary ones rather than the primary ones from the time which are hard to trust due to social factors which influenced people at the time. Some sources are good on content (e.g. source one) but lack the fundamental factor of reliable provenance which makes them biased. Overall, the sources tend to support the opinion that other political factors like party political advantage were to blame for the extension of the franchise rather than from public pressure.
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