the group of people who can vote in a country's elections

the need to own property in order to do something, such as voting

to take away power or opportunities, especially the right to vote, from a person or group

word used to describe a group of people imagined as an underclass

Widening the franchise in 19th century Britain

History

In this unit, pupils investigate the expansion of voting rights and who benefited from these changes. This will be extended in the next unit, ‘Women's suffrage: why did it take so long for women to get the vote in Britain?’, where pupils will examine the struggle for women’s political rights and the reasons for the delay in achieving suffrage.

In ‘The Industrial Revolution: did industrialisation revolutionise people's lives?’, pupils explored the major social and economic transformations brought about by industrialisation. This unit builds on this by examining how these changes contributed to the widening of the franchise in Britain, granting more people the right to vote.

Widening the franchise: who gained the right to vote?

Choose a lesson (1)

These lessons will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.