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Article: Midlands Millenium: Delicate act of reform; Chris Upton discusses the impact Thomas Attwood had on 19th century politics.(News)
- Article from:
- The Birmingham Post (England)
- Article date:
- January 23, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On May 7, 1832, an estimated 200,000 people gathered on a hillside on the edge of Birmingham. Many had marched from as far afield as Halesowen and Wolverhampton, bearing banners and singing songs.
The meeting had something of a religious gathering about it, with undercurrents of struggle and violence. Such, in the early 19th century England, was politics.
It has often been asked why England did not have a revolution of the kind that France and the United States and Ireland "enjoyed." The usual answer is that the "mother of democracies" sorted out its ...