Chartism Flashcards
Causes
In England, the ruling classes were worried that something similar (to the French Revolution) would happen in England if the reformers weren’t listened to.
Impacts of the Industrial revolution: a growing working class, becoming conscious of how hard they worked and the taxes they paid, but having no say in how the country was run. Factory owners were not represented either despite their wealth.
Methods
William Lovett set up the Chartist movement in 1836, with six demands: Votes for all men, equal-sized constituencies, a secret ballot, wages for MPs, no property qualifications for voters, and an election every year. They handed this in to parliament in 1839, but it was rejected. 1842 - another petition was rejected. This time with 3 million signatures. Lovett encouraged lack of or abstinence from alcohol to show they were disciplined and worthy of the vote - MORAL FORCE
Some Chartists were angry when the petition in 1839 was rejected. In Newport in South Wales, there was a march. They hoped to attack the prison and release an imprisoned Chartist leader. The authorities sent soldiers to the prison who opened fire on the marchers. 22 people were killed.
Feargus O’Connor called for violent action. People in the north of England began to protest violently, the ‘plug plot’ was a plan to vandalise factory machinery. He set up the ‘PHYSICAL FORCE Chartists’. He also called for a general strike and a republic
Support for the Chartists increased as 1847 was a year of economic and agricultural depression. The Chartists had their own newspaper and support from many classes, which the government feared, so they began to arrest them, and even transport some to Australia.
The Moral Force Chartists prepared a third petition. In support of this, O’Connor and 50,000 supporters met in London in April 1848, but were stopped from entering by the police, who forced O’Connor to take the petition in himself. Parliament saw the petition as a farce when it was realised that many signatures had been forged
Outcomes
Long term: men got the vote in 1918
Equal size constituencies achieved -1884
Voting in secret achieved 1872
Wages for MPs achieved 1911
No property qualifications to be able to vote achieved for men in 1918
Short term: failed in short term as - strong parliamentary opposition
standard of living started to increase during 1850s
alternative working class movements grew
lacked a clear message
