Second Reform Dbq

The Second Reform Bill was a piece of legislation approved by the British Parliament in 1867 that gave more people, notably working-class males in urban areas, the ability to vote. For all British people, the measure represented a huge step toward democracy and political participation. Since women at the time were denied the ability to vote, the feminist movement of the 19th century was strongly related to the fight for voting rights. Suffragettes and other female activists battled tenaciously for the right to vote because they thought 8attaining social justice and gender equality depended on political representation. The Second Reform Law did not guarantee women the right to vote, but it did provide a framework in which they might demand suffrage

The act increased the number of males who could vote in the United Kingdom and Ireland and gave certain women the right to vote. Only males who paid a particular amount of rent or held property worth a certain amount were eligible to vote before the passage of the second reform measure. Women and most men were shut out of the political process. While some women were granted the right to vote under the second reform measure, it did not give them the same rights as males. Women who satisfied specific requirements, such as being single or widowed, and held property worth at least £5, were permitted to cast ballots in municipal elections. Although it would appear that this was only a tiny step, it was a massive triumph for feminists at the time. It laid the groundwork for later movements for women's suffrage by demonstrating that women could engage in the political process. The broader extension of voting rights in the following decades was made possible thanks partly to the second reform measure. The Franchise Act gave most males the right to vote in 1884, while the Representation of the People Act gave women over 30 who satisfied specific property requirements the right to vote in 1918. Ultimately, the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 granted women the same voting rights as males. In the 19th century, the second reform law was significant to the development of feminism. It expanded the franchise to certain women, even though it did not grant them the same rights as males, and it helped build the groundwork for future battles for women's suffrage. Also, it prepared the groundwork for the later decades' more significant extension of voting