Why did the Conservative Party split apart in 1846
In the summer of 1846 the long debated issue of the Corn Laws finally split the Conservative Party into two conflicting factions. Fissures had begun to appear as early as 1834 when Peel delivered his “Tamworth Manifesto” in which he introduced a new name for the Tories, the Conservative Party. This orientated the Party more towards the middle classes but distanced it from the traditional Tories, i. ... Was this reorientation the real reason for split or are the causes more complicated? This essay will discuss the common arguments for this milestone in British Political history and argue that the direction in which Peel was taking the Party and the attitude that he took at the time was highly controversial at the time and therefore he was doomed to failure from the outset. Historians may say that a long-term of cause of the split of the Tory Party was Peel’s complete disregard for his backbenchers and that he attempted to change the direction in which the party was going. ... It marked the “beginnings of the modern Conservative Party.” but the rest of the Party saw it as a betrayal to the imperialist principles of Conservatism. ... Peel knew that “Catholic priests had played a major role in mobilising the mass movements that had pressed with such force for Emancipation in the 1820’s and for the repeal of the Union in the early 1840’s” Again, the backbenchers were appalled at Peel’s disregard towards them and fissures began to appear in the Conservative Party. So, the reorientation of the party had begun to divide the Prime Minister from his party.