A summary of the Chartist movement exploring the following:
- Aims
- Causes
- Key events
- Constitutional tactics
- Support
- Important individuals
- Reasons for failure
- Was the movement a complete failure?
What was Chartism? - Whig suppression shocked and scared radicals → mass
- Movement that grew in the late 1830s demanding meeting revival
constitutional change Whigs and trade unions
- Originated from the LWMA, radical MPs and reformist groups - GNCTU established and brought workers together across the
country
Aims - Whigs abolished GNCTU and transported leaders after deemed
- 6 points on the People’s charter as treason
1. Universal manhood suffrage for those - 800,000 strong petition presented to government in protest
>21 - Trade union power limited → intensified hatred
2. Secret ballots
3. Annual Parliaments War of the unstamped 1831-6
4. Abolition of property qualifications - Papers became to expensive for w/class
5. Payment of MPs - Poor Man’s Guardian created by Hetherington - gov’t
6. Constituencies of equal size attempted to end this
- Success of Hetherington and war of the unstamped inspired
What were the main causes of the people to demand reform
movement?
Disillusionment with the 1832 Reform Act Factory Act 1833
- W/class was excluded from the Act - Whig took attention away from the 10 hr movement and
→ nicknamed the Act as the ‘Great Betrayal’ of 1832 introduced legislation for children
- The W/class fuelled the radical movement → only the → child working hours cut, education compulsory
m/class was enfranchised by the Whigs - 10 hr movement disappointment transferred onto Chartism -
- Caused the creation of the LWMA by William Lovett reform needed to change factory conditions and regulate
- Some expected the promise of future reform → extra- employment
parliamentary protest became necessary
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
- Poor relief given ‘less eligibility’ - benefited the m/class
Irish Coercion Act 1833
- Forced the poor to go to terrible conditions in the workhouses
- Violent clashes in Ireland led to the introduction of the most
- Economic conditions worsened and riots increased
repressive Act in the 19th Century
→ Irish Lord Lieutenant given the power to suppress public
Events during the Chartist movement
meetings, arbitrary unrest, offenders tried by court martial Phase 1:
, - Attwood and the BPU began to support the LWMA - created a - Coal miners and textile workers formed mobs and created a
more credible movement general stoppage as plugs were drawn from boilers
- Feargus O’Connor created one of the most circulated papers of - Demonstrates surges in Chartist support during economic
the time : ‘Northern Star’ depressions
National Chartist Convention 1839 3rd Petition and 1848 Kennington Common Rally
- Organised meeting of Chartists to plan their petition to gov’t - Nat’l Convention planned a peaceful mass demonstration
- Disagreements over use of physical or moral force followed by a peaceful procession to present the petition to
- Manifesto with ‘ulterior measures’ created if petition were Parliament
rejected - Rejection plan:
→ most important measure was ‘sacred month’ - month-long → set up a ‘Nat’l Assembly’ as alternative to Parliament
general strike → call upon the Queen to dissolve Parliament
- Gov’t prepared for ‘sacred month’ - Fears of revolution spread amongst property owners
→ 6000 troops under Napier dispatched to the north - Gov’t banned the procession, placed Wellington in charge of
- Birmingham Bull Ring Riot broke out - Lovett arrested London’s defence and swore in thousands of special constables
- Petition was rejected - only half of MPs even voted - Meeting gathered in Kennington Common and was dispersed
- Sacred month was never carried out - w/class didn’t have by Chartist leaders
enough money → Chartists claimed a gathering of 150,000 but only 12,000 showed
- The petition claimed to have 5m signatures, but 3m of these
Phase 2: were fake
Newport Rising 1839 - Kennington Common seen as a fiasco and the event that ended
- 5000 miners, some armed, marched on Newport - some wanted Chartism
‘sacred month’
- Purpose of freeing Chartist members from prison Constitutional Tactics
- Fight broke out between soldiers and miners - 24 died, 125 Creation of the NCA
arrested - Modelled after a trade union
- Largest no. killed in one outbreak during the 19th century - Features:
→ 22-point constitution
2nd Petition and the 1842 Plug Plots → substantial sub-paying w/class m/ship
- Petition created following an economic depression and
→ local branches
breakdown of the Poor Law System
- Petition had 3.3m signatures → elected Executive Council with paid officials
- 500,000 workers involved in strikes Strengths Weaknesses
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