Chartists

• The Peoples Charter Timeline:

  • 1829 - CPU set up by Thomas Attwood
  • 1836 - London's Workers Men's Association set up by Lovett
  • 1838 - Charter is drawn up with the Chartist movement starting in Birmingham
  • 1839 - first National Petition is served to Parliament and rejected
  • 1842 - second National Petition is rejected by Parliament
  • 1848 - third National Petition is rejected by Parliament
• What was the peoples charter:

  • six point charter drawn up by Lovett in 1838

  1. Universal manhood suffrage. Men over 21 to have the vote
  2. No property qualification for MP's
  3. Equal electoral districts - adjusted 1882
  4. Annual Parliaments
  5. Payment of MP's - less restrictive to upper classes -- 1911
  6. Secret Ballot - 1872
• How many supporters of Chartism:

  • thousands of ordinary Britains
  • National Charter Association had 401 branches and by 1842 there were 50 000 paying members --> Samuel Cook in Dudley reached a big audience
  • in every major town or city
  • Chartist newspaper was started by Fergus O'Connor (Northern Star) -- readership of 40 000 in 1839
• How many signed the first petition in 1839?

  1.2 million
• How many signed the second petition in 1842?

  3.3 million
• How many signatures for the last petition in 1848?


  5 million +
• Causes of chartism

  • Social and economic problems stemming from industrialisstion, tech change and urbanisation
  • French revolution
  • Poverty and hugh food priced
  • Unemployment
  • Growth of the press
  • Social ties loosening
  • Popular campaigns
  • New poor law
  • Failure of GNCTU
  • 1832 disappoinment
• Methods:

  Meetings

  Publicity - leaflets and posters

  Newspapers - the Northern Star

  Riots in the week of failed petitions - plug plots — Black country

  Mass meeting im Kennigton Common Lomdon April 1846
• Leadership issues:

  • leaders came from very different backgrounds which led to a change in their perspectives
  • disagreement between moral and physical force - Lovett preferred= peaceful methods whereas O'Connor preferred physical action - Newport Rising 1839
  • Chartists had no strategy to offer after the repeated rejection of the mass petitions
• Why was it difficult for them to meet their aims:

  • little support from MPs - only a few radicals supported, and the Chartists only ever got O'Connor into parliament
  • no uniform ideas - craftsmen and factory had different ambitions when compared to rural workers
  • little support from the middle class - O'Connor was too extravagant for the middle class
  • weaned in years of relative prosperity
  • other issues diluted the movements focus
• William Lovett:

  • 1836 Lovett and a number of other London radicals founded the London Workingmen’s Association, which issued the People’s Charter two years later
  • Lovett’s moderation made it difficult for him to work with the more militant Chartist leader Feargus O’Connor; thus his role in Chartism was limited
  • Arrested after Chartist disturbances in Birmingham while the convention was in progress there, he was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment in Warwick jail.
• Feargus O'connor:

  • Irish-born Chartist leader
  • During agitation for reform in the early 1830s, he emerged as an advocate of Irish rights and democratic political reform. In 1832, he help of Daniel O'Connell, leader of the Irish radicals.
  • O'Connor toured the country campaigning for political reform, universal male suffrage and better working conditions, particularly in the industrial districts. He was well-known for his charismatic and incendiary speeches and his efforts laid the groundwork for Chartism.
  • 1847 - elected MP for Nottingham, only Chartist MP
• Why did support for Chartism vary:

  • Poor coordination - Chartist groups were spread out in small groups all over the country
  • Lack of single leadership - the two leader fought amongst eachother
  • Different aims - the Chartists did not always agree about what they wanted from Parliament. They all supported the Six Points, but some also wanted improved education, sobriety laws and working conditions
  • Loss of middle class support due to O'Connor - lost support of Burddett
• Government responses:

  • ignored Chartist petitions
  • use of troops in Newport (1839) resulted in the death of 24 Chartists
  • Special constables were recruited - spies and informants
  • mass arrests after Plug Plots
  • economic hardship - increase in activity in 1847
  • government indifference + repression -- limited chartist achievements
• Chartism HAD an impact:

  • encouraged working class to get involved in political ideas
  • larger readerships for newspapers - increase from 33m to 53m by 1838
  • working class people came together - including women
  • anxiety with the elites - loathed by the queen - worries of revolution
  • eventually - all aims achieved except an annual parliament
• Chartism had NO impact:

  • reflection of fluctuating social and economic difficulties
  • interest was often short lived - short bursts
  • had little impact in areas were there was full employment - railway construction
  • no achievements took place during the movement