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History, Britain - Chartism > Aims and Action - including developments up until 1850 > Flashcards

Aims and Action - including developments up until 1850 Flashcards

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1
Q

What were the 6 points of the Charter?

A
  1. Universal suffrage for all men over 21
  2. The abolition of property qualifications for MPs
  3. The secret ballot
  4. Redrawn constituencies so equal in size of population
  5. Annual parliaments
  6. Payment of MPs
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2
Q

Why was universal male suffrage important to the Chartists?

A

It would grant them men more freedom and middle class needs would be addressed by parliament.

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3
Q

Why did the Chartists want the abolition of property qualifications for MPs?

A

It would open up Parliament to middle and working classes.

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4
Q

Why was the secret ballot important to the Chartists?

A

This would reduce opportunities for bribery and intimidation of voters by candidates.

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5
Q

Why was the redrawing of constituencies important to the Chartists?

A

Certain regions would no longer have too much influence and each MP would have the same influence per constituency. It would improve the representation of the North.

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6
Q

Why were annual parliaments important to the Chartists?

A

It would make the government more accountable as they had to answer to the public every year.

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7
Q

Why was the payment of MPs important to the Chartists?

A

It meant that working middle class people could afford to become MPs because they could afford to give up their job to work in Parliament.

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8
Q

Who were disillusioned with the 1832 Great Reform Act?

A

The working classes as they had been excluded from the extension of the franchise.

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9
Q

Why had the Whigs excluded the working classes from the extension of the franchise in 1832?

A

The Whigs deliberately excluded the w/c as they believed they could not be trusted with political power.

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10
Q

Who was prime minister in England in 1838/9?

A

Lord Melbourne, a Whig.

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11
Q

How did parliament appear even more hostile to the w/c after the 1832 GRA?

A

MPs who had championed w/c causes like Henry Hunt and Michael Sadler lost their seats as the newly enfranchised m/c voted in their own interests. Those who had been key in campaigning for a reformed parliament, only to be excluded from the franchise, felt betrayed.

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12
Q

When did Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom?

A

1837

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13
Q

What was the Factory Act?

A

An act introduced in 1833 which showed parliament to be opposed to factory reform. Parliament voted against limiting the length of the working day in factories and mines to 10 hours. This allowed factory owners to continue to exploit workers.

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14
Q

What was the Municipal Corporations Act?

A

An act introduced in 1835 which excluded working classes from local government.

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15
Q

What was the Poor Law Amendment Act?

A

An act introduced in 1834 which was seen as punishing the poor by making conditions in workhouses so unpleasant and taking advantage of the poor to benefit the rich. For many, it confirmed the governments hostility to the working classes and demonstrated how little control the w/c had over their own lives.

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16
Q

What had the existing poor laws of 1597 and 1601 not done?

A

Had not properly cared for the poor and were open to corruption.

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17
Q

What in particular did the Poor Law Amendment Act lead to the emergence of?

A

Mass movement and the start of the Northern Star newspaper which played a key role in spreading Chartist news.

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18
Q

What was the War of the Unstamped Press?

A

It was a radical victory for the w/c as the Whig government gave into pressure from Henry Hetherington (‘The Poor Man’s Guardian’) to reduce tax on newspaper in 1836, which would allow w/c to read them. It was an important victory as radical press was vital to spread ideas and showed how focused, organised campaign could win results.

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19
Q

What were conditions like in factories and mines during this period and what had the government done to change this?

A

Terrible conditions went unaddressed.

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20
Q

What happened in 1837-42 which causes economic hardship?

A

A trade depression.

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21
Q

What was the life expectancy of a labourer in Liverpool during this period 1837-42?

A

15 years

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22
Q

What are the four main reasons for the emergence of Chartism?

A
  1. Economic misery
  2. Political grievance
  3. Political disillusionment
  4. Political motivation/inspiration
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23
Q

When was the first petition presented to Parliament?

A

June 1839

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24
Q

When was the second petition presented to Parliament?

A

May 1842

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25
Q

When was the third petition presented to Parliament?

A

April 1848

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26
Q

How many signatures did the first petition have?

A

1.2 million

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27
Q

How many signatures did the second petition have?

A

3.3 million

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28
Q

How many signatures did the third petition have?

A

Allegedly 5.5 million but in reality approximately 2 million.

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29
Q

How did parliament receive the first petition?

A

They debated it but rejected it.

30
Q

How did parliament receive the second petition?

A

They debated it but rejected it

31
Q

How did parliament receive the second petition?

A

They refused to consider the petition.

32
Q

When was the National Convention?

A

1839

33
Q

What happened at the National Convention?

A

A group of Chartists met to discuss their plans to propose their petition to Parliament. There was disagreements around whether force should be used.

34
Q

What did delegates suggest at the National Convention?

A

Some delegates recommended that they should use ulterior measures if the petition failed, such as provoking the authorities into making mass arrests. A minority of delegates recommended that Chartists should arm themselves for the anticipated future struggle.

35
Q

Why did many Chartists think that the government would succumb to pressure in 1839?

A

They reasoned that if the establishment had succumbed to threat and pressure in 1832 then it would do the same in 1839.

36
Q

How was the situation in 1839 vastly different to when reform was passed in 1832?

A

Neither minister not the propertied and newly enfranchised classes were prepared to submit to Chartist tactics. The government were now resolutely against reform.

37
Q

What did the Convention plan to do after the first petition failed?

A

They had no agreed strategy on how to proceed. They hastily devised the ambitious concept of a general strike which they described as a ‘Sacred Month.’

38
Q

Why did the Sacred Month never actually materialise?

A

There were no plans being put in action for a general strke and there was insufficient support amongst working members of Chartist movement.

39
Q

What happened instead of the Sacred Month?

A

O’Connor abandoned this idea of a general strike and instead replaced it with a holiday consisting of a three day strike - he also realised that the sacred month would be ineffective at a time of trade depression.

40
Q

How did the Birmingham Political Union get involved in the Chartist movement?

A

The BPU was revived in 1837 by Thomas Attwood and they decided to campaign for universal suffrage. In August 1838 they endorsed the six points of the charter and launched the petitioning strategy which was to form a major part of Chartist campaigning.

41
Q

How did the Chartists collect signatures for the first petition?

A

They collected them at mass meetings held throughout the country.

42
Q

What was impressive about the first petition?

A

The level of organisation - they had undergone a great deal of national coordination.

43
Q

By how many votes was the first petition rejected?

A

Rejected by 235 votes to 46. The majority of MPs simply chose to ignore the demands of the Chartists and less than half even bothered to attend the debate.

44
Q

What happened after the first petition was rejected in the short term?

A

Local riots and fighting with police in Birmingham followed but was quickly put down. A number of Chartists were arrested.

45
Q

When was the Newport Rising?

A

November 1839

46
Q

What happened at the Newport Rising?

A

10,000 men marched from towns and villages in south Wales to Newport. Most of these were miners and ironworkers, yet many were armed and marching in military formation. They surrounded the Westgate Hotel where some local Chartist leaders were being held, where shots were exchanged with a small force of troops. 20 protesters were killed.

47
Q

How did he authorities interpret the Newport Rising.

A

They certainly saw this as an armed uprising intended to provoke similar risings elsewhere. It gave the authorities the excuse it needed.

48
Q

What happened as a result of the Newport Rising?

A

The South Wales Chartist leader, John Frost, and his chief lieutenants were convicted of treason and sentenced to death (although this was later changed to transportation to avoid creating martyrs).

49
Q

What were the Bull Ring Riots?

A

Riots in Birmingham in 1839 following the rejection of the first petition. Lovett was arrested after these (O’Connor along with other prominent chartists were also rounded up and imprisoned).

50
Q

What did the Chartists learn after the rejection of the first petition and the Newport Rising?

A

They had learned the dangers of insurrection and violence (the myth that soldiers would never fire upon them was also destroyed) and working class agitation was now directed down the constitutional path.

51
Q

Why was the Northern Star important to the Chartist movement?

A

It was crucial in ensuring that Chartism both emerged and sustained itself as a national movement.

52
Q

Who was the owner of the Northern Star?

A

Feargus O’Connor

53
Q

How did O’Connor use the Northern Star to benefit Chartism?

A

He used the profits to finance the movement, build up defence funds for trials, and to support the families of imprisoned Chartists.

54
Q

What did O’Connor’s critics claim about the Northern Star?

A

That he used the newspaper to stamp his own personality upon the movement and silence his opponents within it, however, it is now widely accepted that he did not interfere with the decisions of its editors and staff.

55
Q

When was the National Charter Association (NCA) set up?

A

1840

56
Q

What was the National Charter Association?

A

It was set up to provide the central organisation hat Chartism lacked. It had mass membership paying subscriptions which funded propaganda activities and the payment of officials. The mass membership elected members of the Convention, and it was the NCA which organised a new Chartist Convention and the second petition.

57
Q

By how many votes was the second petition rejected?

A

Rejected by 287 votes to 49.

58
Q

How did the rejection of the second petition mimic that of the first one?

A

The ineffectiveness of peaceful petitioning had been demonstrated once more and the National Convention had no agreed alternative strategy again.

59
Q

Why did the Plug Riots occur?

A
  1. The economic depression was at its worst during this time.
  2. The mood of political bitterness was intensified by the death in prison of Samuel Holberry, the leader of Sheffield’s 1840 riot.
    3* The failure of the second Chartist petition.
60
Q

When were the Plug Riots?

A

July 1842

61
Q

Where did the Plug Riots occur?

A

The strikes affected 23 counties throughout GB but were most severe in the Midlands and the North.

62
Q

What did strikers do during the plug riots?

A

They pulled the plugs from boilers to prevent the steam engines from working and thus forcing the factories to close down.

63
Q

How did the Plug Riots hinder the Chartist movement?

A

The Chartist leaders were punished (arrested) for a strike it had not begun, although they were acquitted on a technicality in 1843.

64
Q

Why did the Chartist movement die down between 1842-48?

A
  1. The Chartists were no match for the government (General Napier’s troops, railways).
  2. Mass arrests were used by a Conservative government which was elected in 1841. They were far more firm in their response than the Whigs had been.
  3. The harvest of 1842-3 was good and the economic depression lifted.
65
Q

How many people had been put on trial by the end of 1842 for Chartist-related offences?

A

1500

66
Q

Why did support for Chartism in the 1840s begin to increase again?

A

Economic depression returned - strikes broke out in Birmingham and Glasgow.

67
Q

What inspired the third Chartist petition?

A

Feargus O’Connor’s election to Parliament in 1847 and by revolutionary fervour spreading across Europe in France and Sicily.

68
Q

When was the Kennington Common rally?

A

April 1848

69
Q

How many Chartists attended the Kennington Common rally?

A

15-20,000 participated in a peaceful march, although the Chartists claimed 150,000 attended.

70
Q

How did the government respond to the Kennington Common rally?

A

They feared violence and drafted in 85,000 special constables to support the 4,000 police and 7,000 troops.

71
Q

How did the third petition cause further embarrassment for the Chartists?

A

Over half the signatures were forged with silly names and Chartism became a laughing stock.

History, Britain - Chartism (3 decks)

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