Britain - Chartism

Question 1

What were the 6 points of the People’s Charter?

Answer 1

• Universal male suffrage
• The secret ballot
• No property qualification
• Payment for MPs
• Equal constituencies
• Anual Parliaments

Question 2

What was the LWMA?

Answer 2

London Working Men’s Association
founded by William Lovett and Francis Place in June 1836
Attracted the skilled workers who wanted to bring about change through peaceful means and not violent methods

Question 3

What was the LDA?

Answer 3

London Democratic Association
founded by George Julian Harney
Attracted the unskilled workers and those who favoured a more confrontational approach to the government. Many saw it as in opposition to the LWMA regarding tactics

Question 4

What 3 factors led to people becoming Chartists?

Answer 4

• Betrayal of the Reform Act 1832
• Humiliation of the Pool Law Amendment 1834
• Impact of Economic Depression

Question 5

How did the betrayal of the GRA lead to people becoming chartists?

Answer 5

Uniform £10 franchise in the boroughs excluded most working class men. Was clear the Reform Act was ultimately designed to exclude working class men for voting.

Question 6

What was the Poor Law Amendment Act?

Answer 6

Attempt to centralise and impose order on the system of poor relief, dividing the ‘deserving’ poor (not their fault they were poor, e.g widows, old, disabled) and ‘undeserving’ (fit men unwilling to work). Given ‘outdoor’ relief to the poor in their homes, and ‘indoor’ relief to the poor in workhouses. Government trying to replace outdoor with indoor.

Question 7

Why did the Poor Law Amendment Act make people become Chartists?

Answer 7

Seen as a conspiracy between the middle classes and the government to reward the middle classes for their support in parliamentary reform and separate them from the working class.
Chartists campaigned for an effective factory reform in 1837 and 1839 when authorities attempted to introduce the New Poor Law to the North. Working classes supported Chartism because of the act because they believed the government wasn’t acting in their interests; needed representatives in the Commons

Question 8

How did the economic depression lead people to become Chartists?

Answer 8

Trade depression 1837-42 meant unemployment in new industrial towns, reduced hours and wage cuts. Bread prices rose. Chartism seemed like the last hope.

Question 9

What kind of people supported Chartism?

Answer 9

Many were craftsmen due to the economic depression.
Everyone supported it for different reasons.
All of them believed, however, that having working men in the Commons would solve their problems.

Question 10

What was the Northern Star?

Answer 10

Chartist newspaper founded in November 1837.
Editor Feargus O’connor.
Peak in 1839, selling 36,000 copies a week.

Question 11

What were Chartist meetings? (give an example)

Answer 11

Gatherings of Chartists to discuss aims and tactics.
Holloway Head in Birmingham - accepted the 6 points and agreed on collecting signatures for the Nation Petition for the Charter, and if rejected they would strike called the ‘sacred month’. Agreed on the formation of a national Chartist Convention.

Question 12

What was the Chartist Convention?

Answer 12

Body of elected representatives of Chartism.
Moderates: saw it to organise a petition and promote chartist ideas nationally.
Radicals: saw it as a ‘People’s Parliament’ direct rival to the Commons and wanted ulterior measures.

Question 13

What was the result of the discussion of ulterior measures?

Answer 13

Alarmed moderates (Lovett and Place) left the convention. Remaining members moved to Birmingham where they drew up Ulterior measures if the petition was rejected.

Question 14

What were the events of the First Petition?

Answer 14

Had 1,280,000 signatures.

Presented to the Commons by Thomas Attwood and other sympathetic MPs but rejected

Question 15

What was the Chartist response to the rejection of the First Petition?

Answer 15

All potential tactics were problematic (either practically or morally).
‘Sacred month’ began but soon abandoned due to insufficient preparation and ineffective during a trade depression.

Question 16

What were the rumours following the rejection of the First Petition?

Answer 16

Plans to capture key towns in South Wales and establish a republic there.

Question 17

What happened at the Newport Rising in November 1839?

Answer 17

Led by John Frost (Newport’s delegate at the Chartist Convention) 7,000 workers planned to march into Newport and attack the Westgate Inn (where the mayor and magistrates were holding captive some workers).
Disrupted by bad weather and it was poorly managed. Soldiers defended the attack and quickly regained control.

Question 18

What was the significance of the Newport Rising?

Answer 18

It was a massive Chartist failure and shed serious doubt on the effectiveness of the use of physical force.

Question 19

Why did widespread violence fail to take off in 1839-40?

Answer 19

Lack of cohesion; different uprisings in different towns happening at different times without proper coordination and management.
All attempts were swiftly controlled by the government.
More than 500 Chartists were imprisoned during this period, including the leaders (Lovett, O’Connor) - government control.
Chartism appeared to have collapsed by 1840.

Question 20

Why did Chartism recover after its collapse by 1840?

Answer 20

Because the will and desire to persuade parliament to accept the six points of the Charter was still there

Question 21

How did the National Charter Association form?

Answer 21

Inspired by the Chartist revival instigated by Henry Hetherington.
Brought together local Chartists and other working men’s associations.
50,000 members by 1842 (partly due to economic downturn, and O’Connor’s influence)

Question 22

How did the National Charter Association have better organisation than the Chartists before 1840?

Answer 22

Had a formal constitution and mass membership paying subscriptions funding propaganda and payment of officials.
Organised a new Chartist Convention and the second petition.

Question 23

What were Lovett’s views after 1840?

Answer 23

Still believed it was essential to educate the working classes to make them worthy of the vote and that they could use it intelligently.
After being released from prison in 1840 he implemented his scheme for a ‘National Association for the Moral, Social and Political Improvement of the People’.
Angered O’Connor who built up opposition for Lovett in the Northern Star.

Question 24

Outline the events of the ‘Summer of Discontent’ 1842

Answer 24

After the failure of the 1842 Petition, Chartists had to rethink their tactics.
Year of severe economic crises and social distress in the industrial depression.
Strikes and rioting took place in industrial areas of the Midlands and the North

Question 25

What were the ‘Plug Plot’ riots?

Answer 25

Reduced wages in the textile industry due to trade downturn. Led to mass meetings and marches.
A popular tactic used by the workers was to unplug the boilers, putting out the furnaces, which meant so stream so that factories and mills couldn’t work. Prevented employers from bringing in strike-breaking workers.
Strikes largely suppressed within 2 months, and tightening of control by the police and military.

Question 26

What was the Chartist connection to the Plug Plot riots?

Answer 26

Chartists didn’t initiate the strikes, but took advantage of the unrest.
Delegates representing striking workers met in Manchester, where the NCA also met. Worked together in the Plug Plots

Question 27

What was the government’s response to the Plug Plot riots?

Answer 27

Arrested and tried many Chartist leaders, e.g O’Connor, and found them guilty. They never called them up for sentence, however.
Tried to balance vigorous action with a degree of leniency to avoid creating a popular backlash (as in 1839).

Question 28

What happened on Kennington Common?

Answer 28

It was an illegal meeting under leadership of O’Connor and Earnest Jones. They met on Kennington Common and listened to Chartist speeches before beginning a peaceful procession to Westminster with the 3rd Petition (but it was stopped before it was reached). O’Connor and others, however continued separately to Westminster but the petition was rejected on the basis of false signatures.

Question 29

What was the extent of the threat posed by the Chartists at Kennington Common?

Answer 29

Didn’t pose a threat to the Queen or Parliament during this event because it was a peaceful procession and there was no bloodshed. O’Connor was even accused of being cowardly due to his restraint to resort to violence

Question 30

Why did the third petition fail?

How did this effect the Chartists?

Answer 30

Largely due to the fact that they wouldn’t receive the petition formally based on the declaration that 2 million of the signatures were false.
Made the Chartist movement lose credibility, and weren’t taken as seriously.

Question 31

How was Chartism a political movement?

Answer 31

• View that the Commons should tend to all opinions/interests of the working classes and should be representative. (charter points regarding no property qualification, equal constituencies and payment of MPs)
• Political aims: view that change in politics would allow Chartists to implement economic and social change
• Moral Chartists aimed it to be a movement with a clear political programme built around a legal, constitutional strategy of petitioning.

Question 32

How was Chartism an economic movement?

Answer 32

-When people were hungry and distressed the working class chose to turn to Chartism

-Relationship between bad trade/unemployment and Chartist activity.
Pendulum effect: high unemployment = weak trade unions so went to political solutions (Chartism)

Question 33

How did the failure of petitions contribute to the failure of Chartism?

Answer 33

The failure of 3 attempts suggests that they were never going to succeed.
The failure of petitions undermined their tactics.
Reinforced due to the false signatures. Shows lack of genuine support

Question 34

How did the Newport Rising contribute to the failure of Chartism?

Answer 34

Due to its failure it shed serious doubt on the effectiveness of physical force in Chartism.
The use of violence depicted a negative and unprofessional view of the Chartists and led to doubt of their seriousness

Question 35

How did the split in leadership contribute to the failure of Chartism?

Answer 35

Lovett = moral force
O’Connor = physical force
Their conflict regarding the NAofMSPIoftheP and the NCA led to lack of cohesion in their organisation. This weakened the Chartist movement

Question 36

How did O’Connor’s leadership contribute to the failure of Chartism?

Answer 36

Criticised as being indecisive and cowardly in some circumstances (Kennington Common).
People saw him as having character flaws due to his desire for domination and an inflated sense of his own importance.

• 1839: initially approved general strike, then later said Chartists should abandon it (indecisive). However, correctly recognised the ‘sacred month’ was impractical.
• 1842 Plug Plots: Overtaken by events, only belatedly giving support (originally thought they were part of a middle class plot). However probably right to have doubts
• 1848 Kennington Common: held mass meeting, while accepting govt. ban on planned procession to parliament.

Question 37

How did economic depression and recovery contribute to the failure of Chartism?

Answer 37

Continual change in the success of the economy led to an inconsistent amount of Chartist support.
High unemployment = trade unions (strikers) were weak, leading to political solutions.

Question 38

How did Government actions and ability to maintain law and order contribute to the failure of the Chartism?

Answer 38

• The government could easily suppress the Chartist movement because they were more powerful.
• They had experience of how to control riots ect. (e.g martyrs controlled by imprisonment).
• Passed legislation for new police forces.
• Railway building made the transportation of troops to troubled spots easier.
• They had the support of the middle class after 1832

Question 39

How did the fact that the Chartist aims were too radical contribute to the failure of Chartism?

Answer 39

The 6 points of the People’s Charter were too ambitious for the government to consider. They were unrealistic and suggested a sense of unprofessionalism and were therefore not taken seriously.
Set them up for failure due to unachievable goals

Question 40

What were the reasons for the failure of Chartism? (summary)

Answer 40

• Failure of petitions
• Newport Rising
• Split in Leadership
• Economic depression and recovery
• Government action
• Chartist demands too radical

Question 41

What did the Chartists achieve? (summary)

Answer 41

• Working Class consciousness
• Working Class solidarity and focus
• Working Class organisation of protest
• Chartists and education
• Chartists and landownership

Question 42

How did Chartism achieve working class consciousness?

Answer 42

It was the first working class movement in Britain.
Gave the them an enormous sense of purpose.
There was the feeling that united working people could make a difference

Question 43

How did Chartism achieve working class solidarity and focus?

Answer 43

Shared focus of hostility towards the state that appeared to be operating in the interests of the propertied classes.

Question 44

How did Chartism achieve working class organisation of protest?

Answer 44

• Northern Star was their publication; gave them an public voice.
• Organisation of Chartist outings ect to organise large numbers of people to achieve their goals

Question 45

How did Chartism achieve education?

Answer 45

Lovett: "Before an educated people a government must bow"
Many weekend and evening schools were set up to improve the education provided for the working class and make them more professional to the other classes and the government

Question 46

What was the Chartist Land Company?

Answer 46

Set up by O’Connor.
An attempt to encourage some working people to return to the land as small holders, which would reduce over supply of labour and force up the wages of industrial workers. Also provide a focus for collective activity.
Was enormously popular, particularly with craftsmen.
Succeeded in creating 250 settlements before it ended in 1851. It was impractical and had legal complications. It was too idealistic.