Chartism

Question 1

Who in Britain, was still unhappy with the Great reform act and why?

Answer 1

The working class, felt ignored because whilst middle class men could vote, they couldn’t. Furthermore, the 1833 Factory Act seemed to benefit the middle classes more and failed to offer adequate working conditions or a maximum working day for those out of the textile industry

Question 2

What did the 1834 poor law appear to do?

Answer 2

The 1834 Poor Law appeared to punish those who didn’t work rather than support them

Question 3

What did the London Working men association do and who founded it?

Answer 3

The London Working Men’s Association (LWMA) was founded by William Lovett in 1836 to gain representation for all men. It attracted support from pro-reformists such as Henry Hetherington and Thomas Attwood and even seems to stimulate the revival of the BPU

Question 4

What did the 1832 act fail to do?

Answer 4

The 1832 Reform Act failed to help workers. The 1833 Factory Act didn’t provide the 10-hour working day many wanted and the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act punished the poor by placing them in workhouses

Question 5

The anti-poor law and ten-hour movements developed in response to what?

Answer 5

in response to these laws and provided the building blocks of Chartist activity

Question 6

What did the poor law guardians do in Huddersfield and Bradford?

Answer 6

Poor Law Guardians had to be protected by local cavalry and at Todmorden, police constables were attacked

Question 7

Who established the Northern Star in 1837?

Answer 7

Feargus O’Connor established the Northern Star in Leeds to campaign for an end to the Poor Law

Question 8

Who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

Answer 8

The Tolpuddle Martyrs were six leaders of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers (set up in 1833 to fight wage cuts) who were sentenced to seven years’ deportation to Australia

Question 9

What did the Tolpuddle Martyrs cause?

Answer 9

triggered a wave of protest and in April 1834, 30,000 radicals marched through London to protest at the sentences

Question 10

What happened in Oldham and Glasgow?

Answer 10

In Oldham, union leaders were arrested, mills were attacked and in 1837, the leaders of the Glasgow Spinners’ strike were also transported

Question 11

Where did the strongest support of Chartists come from in the 1830s?

Answer 11

Strongest support for the Chartists came from the worst hit areas such as Cheshire, Lancashire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire

Question 12

How many unemployed handloom weavers were there by the 1840s?

Answer 12

• There were 400,000 unemployed handloom weavers by the 1840s, many of whom joined the Chartist movement in the 1830s and 1840s

Question 13

What did Thomas Attwood create in 1838?

Answer 13

In 1838, Thomas Attwood (of the BPU) created a petition based on the ideas of the People’s Charter. By May 1839, 1.2 million signatures had been collected

Question 14

What did the National chartist convention, formed in 1839, do?

Answer 14

A National Chartist Convention was formed in February 1839 to discuss the reaction if Parliament rejected the petition. A general strike was the most popular suggestion although there were disagreements

Question 15

Parliament rejected the 1839 petition by how many votes?

Answer 15

Parliament rejected the petition by 235 votes to 46. The Chartists discussed organising a ‘sacred month’ (general strike) but this fell through and gave the government the time to arrest many Chartists and to send 6000 troops north to keep the peace

Question 16

What did the economic recession in 1841-42 do?

Answer 16

reinvigorated the Chartist cause

Question 17

Despite the failure of the first, how many signatures did the second petition drawn up in April 1842 get?

Answer 17

3.3 million

Question 18

The 1842 petition was rejected by how many votes?

Answer 18

287 votes to 49

Question 19

What happened at the end of the 1840s which brought the chartist message to the fore again?

Answer 19

A further depression towards the end of the 1840s bringing the Chartist message to the fore again. Unemployment had increased dramatically and provoked Feargus O’Connor into action

Question 20

Who was O’connor?

Answer 20

O’Connor had been elected as MP for Nottingham in 1847 and he seemed to be more ambitious in his plans

Question 21

How did the French Revolution, in 1848, affect the Chartists?

Answer 21

The 1848 French Revolution increased the confidence in the Chartists who organised an open-air rally on Kennington Common, London in April 1848

Question 22

Why did the Government ban the Chartists?

Answer 22

The government, fearful of revolution spreading to Britain, banned the Chartists’ march to Westminster but on receiving the petition with 5.7 million signatures, it was discovered only 2 million were real; the rest had been faked

Question 23

What did the Duke of Wellington do to defend the capital?

Answer 23

created 150,000 new ‘special constables’, in addition to 8000 soldiers, to keep the peace.
• This was the final act of the Chartists and circulation of the Northern Star dropped dramatically. O’Connor was declared insane before he died in 1855

Question 24

What caused the Plug Riots in 1842?

Answer 24

rejection of the Second Petition

Question 25

How many workers went on strike across Staffordshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Yorkshire?

Answer 25

500,000 workers went on strike across Staffordshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire and enforced the strike by removing plugs from factory boilers, rendering them useless

Question 26

By September 1842, who was affected by the Plug riots?

Answer 26

15 English and Welsh counties, in addition to eight Scottish counties, were affected

Question 27

Even though this wasn’t a Chartist protest, how many Chartists did Peel arrest?

Answer 27

1000

Question 28

Why was there a lull in protests in August 1842?

Answer 28

due to a good harvest

Question 29

How did Parliament make Chartism fail?

Answer 29

The common feeling was that popular pressure had forced the government to bring about reform 1830-32, so similar pressure could work in the future.
The failure of the three petitions could be because Parliament felt change had already occurred and they were not prepared to do so again.
Earl Grey warned against pressure from groups in Britain for change that was not ‘strictly necessary’ and against change that wasn’t strictly regulated.

Question 30

How did leadership cause the failure of the Chartists?

Answer 30

During the 1840s, two opposing attitudes within the Chartists emerged: moral force and physical force Chartists.
Moral force Chartists emphasised non-violent protest, education and even cooperation with groups such as the Anti-Corn Law League. They were led by William Lovett (who left in 1843) and Francis Place.
Physical force Chartists supported armed struggles. The Newport Rising and the Plug Riots were the high points of this attitude.
Feargus O’Connor was a third attitude; he threatened violence but remained within the law. He delivered impressive speeches and wrote for the Northern Star newspaper. He convinced many Chartists to follow his approach and divided the rest.

Question 31

How did regional differences cause the chartists to fail?

Answer 31

Chartism was strongest in the north of Britain and successful revolutions proved that winning the capital was key.
There were few examples of coordinated action by the Chartists across the country.
O’Connor controlled the northern Chartists and encouraged violence whilst Birmingham was influenced by the Complete Suffrage Union and moral force Chartism. In Scotland, the Chartist message was spread by the idea of Christian Chartism.
With these competing agendas, the government was able to divide and rule successfully.

Question 32

How did the strength of the British state cause the Chartists to fail?

Answer 32

The political system, following the 1832 Reform Act, was relatively stable and both the army and police were loyal to the government.
The 1839 Rural Police Act ensured a nationwide police force was able to deal with discontent.
During the Kennington Common demonstration, London was secured with 7000 soldiers, 4000 police and 85000 special constables.
The government arrested rioters and leaders swiftly, using the new railway system to move troops around the country where necessary.

Question 33

How did lack of middle-class support cause the Chartists to fail?

Answer 33

The threat of physical force meant the majority of middle-classes refused to support Chartism.
Despite the actions of Lovett, the cooperation between working and middle class was absent for the Chartists.
The middle-classes moved on to support the Anti-Corn Law League which campaigned on an issue they cared about (as opposed to Chartism).
The middle-class were content with their gains from 1832 and did not want their property subject to the violence of O’Connor and his mob

Question 34

How did the success of Peels reforms cause the Chartists to fail?

Answer 34

Chartism’s popularity grew with economic crises and so their message faltered with a series of well-considered laws e.g. 1842 Mines Act and the Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846.
There was a mid-Victorian boom during this period which lasted for a long time.
Wages rose, food consumption increased and living standards improved, all of which conspired against the Chartists to reduce their support