Reforms in the 19th Century

World History

Reforms in the 19th Century

The 19th century dealt with much change when discussing forms of government. Both countries , England and France, moved away from being a monarchy towards the formation of a democracy. A monarchy is a type of government that has one person as the permanent head of state. The position of a monarch is usually hereditary and has absolute authority. On the other hand a democracy, another form of government, distributes political power in the hands of the public. This allows citizens to participate equally. Democracy was on the rise since democratic representation gave citizens more rights. As both England and France separated from being a monarchy, they faced some similarities and differences in their tremendous reforms.

One of England’s reforms was known as the People’s Charter while France’s Reform was named The Revolution of 1848. In 1839 a group called the Chartists demanded voting right for all men, voting ballots, annual elections, and pay for representatives in parliament by sending a petition to parliament. The Revolution of 1848 was when France’s monarchy came to an end and a new government was established. This was caused by the people of France revolting and protesting due to the French government banning a banquet . French men were now able to vote. In addition the Revolution developed support for republican government. Both reforms are similar since England and France wanted voting rights for men. However they differ since the People’s Charter didn’t see immediate results while the citizens of France did.

The Sadler and the Factory Act was another change for England, and The Third Republic was another change for France. The Factory Act was passed in 1833 due to Sadler’s report on a former child worker. The act limited the working hours of children in factories and made it illegal for teenagers to work more than 12 hours a day. Plus it required children of the ages 9 and 13 to get 2 hours of schooling a...