Module HTH-2160:
The Age of Reform 1770-1835

Module Facts

Run by School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences

20 Credits or 10 ECTS Credits

Semester 1

Organiser: Dr Lowri Ann Rees

Overall aims and purpose

This module explores the history of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century Britain through the lens of reform. This was an era of great change politically, economically and socially. Between 1770 and 1835 Britain witnessed key reforms to parliament, social policy, the church, law, local government and administration. Revolutions overseas in America and France impacted upon British political thought and ideas of liberty. Radicalism and popular protest swept across the nation, with instances of rioting sparked by economic downturns, and politically charged demonstrations e.g. the Chartists, Swing Riots, Luddites, Blanketeers, and Rebecca Riots.

The abolition of the slave trade (1807) was a key event during this period, and followed around twenty years of campaigning to end the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The effect of war, notably conflict overseas, and its aftermath on Britain's society and economy was visible, with the loss of the American colonies (1783), which led to the creation of the United States of America, and the war with France (1793-1815), having an impact on Britain's imperial outlook. The Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions led to an age of prosperity and wealth, which laid the foundations for the Victorian age, when Britain became the workshop of the world.

The year 1832 was a landmark, with the passage of the Great Reform Act. This was the first significant reform of the British political system, and can be seen as a turning point in British political history, setting in motion a series of further reforms which repealed voting restrictions and expanded the electoral franchise. During the course of this module, students will engage with current debates relating to the extent and effectiveness of the reforms of 1770-1846, and consider to what extent can we see a shift away from ‘Old Corruption’ to a new era of representation.

Course content

Topics by weeks: (1) Introduction to the module: chronology 1770-1835, the unreformed political system and the concept of reform (2) Impact of the American War of Independence on Britain, and Thomas Paine Common Sense (1776) (3) The trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Abolition movement and William Wilberforce (4) Impact of the French Revolution on Britain, the subsequent war with France and Thomas Paine Rights of Man (1791) (5) Crime, punishment and penal reform: prisons, hulks and transportation (6) Constitutional Reform: The 1789 Regency Crisis and Act of Union (1800) (7) Popular protests and government responses: Luddites, Peterloo, Blanketeers and Captain Swing (8) Catholic Emancipation (1829) (9) Great Reform Act (1832) and Municipal Corporations Act (1835): creating a democratic Britain? (10) The Factory Act (1833): working conditions and child employment (11) The Corn Law (1815) and Poor Law Amendment Act (1834): punishing the poor?

Assessment Criteria





C- to C+




Learning outcomes

  1. Analyse individual pieces of historical evidence very closely – particularly setting them in context, judging their qualities as evidence, and explaining their significance

  2. Demonstrate a wide-ranging knowledge concerning Britain and reform during the period 1770-1835.



  5. Judge between the competing interpretations of the historiography (including current positions in historical and other academic writing)

Assessment Methods

Type Name Description Weight
EXAM Exam 50
ESSAY Essay 40

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Private study 178
Lecture 11
Seminar 10
Workshop 1

Transferable skills

  • Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives

Subject specific skills

  • producing logical and structured arguments supported by relevant evidence
  • making effective and appropriate forms of visual presentation
  • making effective and appropriate use of relevant information technology
  • critical evaluation of one's own and others' opinions


Resource implications for students

No need for students to purchase books - encouraged to use the books and articles available in the library and electronically

Reading list

Arthur Burns and Joanna Innes (ed.), Rethinking the age of reform : Britain, 1780-1850 (2003) Linda Colley, Britons : forging the nation, 1707-1837 (2009 edn) Michael T. Davis and Paul A. Pickering (eds), Unrespectable radicals? : popular politics in the age of reform (2007) J. R. Dinwiddy, Radicalism and Reform in Britain, 1780-1850 (1992) Ian Haywood, Bloody Romanticism: spectacular violence and the politics of representation, 1776-1832 (2006) Jennifer Mori, Britain in the age of the French Revolution, 1785-1820 (2000) N. Rogers, Crowds, Culture and Politics in Georgian England (1998) Edward Royle, Revolutionary Britannia? Reflections on the threat of revolution in Britain, 1789-1848 (2000) J. Turner, The Age of Unease: Government and Reform in Britain, 1782-1832 (2000) Michael J. Turner, British politics in an age of reform (1999) Chris Williams (ed.), A companion to nineteenth-century Britain (2004)

Courses including this module

Optional in courses: