s harshly and then finally repealed. Catholic emancipation in 1829 relieved Catholics in Britain of the legal and civil restrictions accumulated since the time of the English Reformation. Religious freedom for all people in Britain has since become an accepted right.Reform Actspeople in Britain take for granted the right to vote in national and local elections. However, at one time the vote was confined to a very narrow group of men.widening of the franchise started with the Reform Acts of 1832 and 1867, continued in 1884, 1918 and 1928, and was completed in 1969 when the minimum voting age was reduced to 18. The Ballot Act of 1872 gave voters the means to keep their vote secret - an arrangement that has stood the test of time so well that even the official specification for the design of the ballot box is virtually identical to that of the late 19th century.of Ireland formal connection between Great Britain and Ireland dates from the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. In the late 1550s and early 1600s English and Scottish Protestants migrated to the northern province of Ulster, their religion setting diem apart from die other, indigenous Roman Catholic inhabitants of Ireland. In 1801 Ireland was unified with Great Britain, but Irish Nationalists continued to campaign in the 19th and early 20th centuries, for some measure of independence. At the same rime, the Protestant Unionist majority in the north resisted any moves towards Irish home rule. In 1921 the Anglo-Irish Treaty established the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion, but Northern Ireland exercised its right to opt out and remain part of the United Kingdom.1922 and 1972 Northern Ireland was governed by a Parliament responsible for a range of local affairs. Following an upsurge in intercommunal violence in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was ruled directly by Westminster while successive British Governments sought to find a political settlement capable of commanding widespread support on both sides of the divided community.a result of multi-party talks which began in June 1996, the Belfast Agreement - more commonly referred to as the 'Good Friday Agreement' - was finally reached on Friday 10 April 1998. This led to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly which is made up of 108 members elected by the people of the province.and Social Welfare1940s saw educational and social welfare developments, the broad principles of which are maintained today. In 1944 a new Education Act for England and Wales allowed for a great expansion of education provided by the State. A new Ministry of Education was empowered to develop a national education policy. Also, the school system was divided into two levels, primary and secondary, making secondary education to the age of 15 compulsory.1942 the government-sponsored 'Beveridge report' proposed a comprehensive scheme of social insurance covering the whole community, forming the basis of much of the present social security system. Legislation in 1946 provided for the establishment of Britain's National Health Service (NHS), the most comprehensive medical care scheme of its time. The NHS has since provided a full range of mainly free medical services, available to all British residents regardless of their income. end of Empirethe death of Queen Victoria in 1901 the British Empire had expanded to almost one-fifth of the world land mass and one-quarter of the world population. However, from that time it decentralised. Self-governing dominions, such as Canada and Australia, were described in1926 as autonomous members of the 'British Commonwealth of Nations'. Most other colonies, beginning with India and Pakistan, were granted independence by Britain after 1945, and most of them joined the Commonwealth. Immigration from former territories in the Caribbean and the South Asian sub-continent was substantial in the 1950s and 1960s, forming the basis of the minority ethnic population in Britain today.in Europethe end of the Second World War in 1945 the economies of most European countries were in ruins. In addition, the then Soviet Union's Communist influence was expanding. In the face of these challenges, the countries of Western Europe sought to co-operate in their reconstruction and to organise themselves in such a way that wars between them would not recur.of the consequent negotiations emerged what is now termed the European Union - an association of sovereign nations, initially comprising six member states in the 1950s but expanding progressively over the years to the current membership of 25. Britain joined in 1973 and its links with its European Union partners have since become ever more closely integrated, influencing the lives of all its citizens. br/>
How did the British people evolve?
What was the Magna Carta? What were the origins of Parl...
