Chapter 7- Chartism Flashcards
What were the problems with the electoral system in the early nineteenth century?
-The King and the major landowners controlled the country.
-The workers in the new towns and cities had no political representation.
-In some places, people had the right to vote if they had a fireplace and a door with a lock, hinting how there was no standard property qualification needed to vote.
-Women did not have the vote.
-Rotten boroughs had no one living there but still sent two MPs to parliament.
What happened in the Peterloo Massacre?
-In 1819, 60,000 workers in Manchester went to hear Henry Hunt speak, Hunt was calling for a reform to parliament.
-The local magistrate panicked when he saw the crowd, the government were worried about large crowds after the French Revolution, and called the local troops.
-Within 10 minutes, over 600 people had been injured and 15 were killed.
-Hunt was arrested and put in prison.
What important steps were being taken to persuade the government for reform?
-Thomas Attwood from Birmingham formed the Birmingham Political Union of the Lower and Middle Classes of People in 1829.
-Attwood, along with 8000 others, sent a petition to parliament for reform.
-They wanted: short parliaments to make it harder to buy votes, the end of property qualifications, and the vote for all men who contributed taxes.
-The union was renamed the Birmingham Political Union.
What was the Great Reform Act in 1832?
-In the 1830 election, the Tory party was replaced by the Whig party led by Earl Grey.
-In the same year, King George III died and was succeeded by William IV. Both the Whigs and Willian IV were more progressive and open to reform.
-Earl Grey tried three times to pass laws for a reform act but the House of Lords would not pass it.
-They did not want ordinary people to have power unnecessarily.
-On the third attempt, Earl Grey requested that the King appoint more lords who were Whigs or sympathetic to reform.
-Scared that they would lose power and influence, the Tory lords passed the Great reform act.
What changes were brought through the Great Reform Act?
-The Middle class consisted of merchants and industrialists who gained more representation.
-Rotten boroughs were removed and new towns and cities got an MP.
-Most working-class people did not earn enough to vote.
-No secret ballot meant those who could vote had to vote for their factory owner.
What were the causes of Chartism?
-The social causes of Chartism were that most workers in the new towns and cities lived in poor conditions, and the bad harvests in the 1830s meant many farmworkers couldn’t feed their families.
-The political causes of Chartism were that the Great Reform Act did not give the working class the vote, and there was still no secret ballot.
-The economic causes of Chartism were that the skilled workers were no longer need due to new machines in factories, and the Poor Law in 1834 sent people with financial problems to the workhouse.
What happened during this Chartism Movement?
-One of the leaders William Lovett, sent the first petition in 1839 but got rejected, the second petition in 1842 also got rejected by parliament.
-Temperance was encouraged among members to show they were disciplined and worth of the vote.
-The other leader O’Connor was more political with his approach, calling for violence after the rejection of the 1842 petition.
-He called for a general strike and a republic.
What was the government’s actions to the Chartists?
-Rejected petitions.
-Arrested Chartists regularly.
-Put up posters asking people not to attend Chartist meetings.
What events took place regarding the Third Petition in 1848?
-O’Connor and fewer than 50,000 supporters met on Kennington Common in London in April 1848.
-The authorities expected more, so prepared thousands of police.
-O’Connor had to take the petition into Londom himself and it was said to have 5 million signatures down. However, it actually had 2 million so the remaining were forged.
-Queen Victoria’s name was forged on the petition as well, and the governmentsaw the whole thing as a farce.
How impactful was the Chartism movement?
-Chartism failed in the short term for many reasons like:
-strong parliamentary opposition
-standard of living started to increase during the 1850s
-Alternative working class movements grew.
-Lacked a clear message.
However, in the long term, campaigns for electoral reform were very successful, achieving 5 of the Chartists’ 6 main aims by 1928.
