Chartism Flashcards
Who drew up the People’s Charter?
William Lovett and the London Working Men’s Association
When was the People’s Charter drawn up?
1838
what did the People’s Charter resonate with?
the Magna Carta (the Great Charter) of 1215
what were the points of the People’s Charter?
- Universal Manhood Suffrage – every man over the age of 21 should have the vote
- No property qualification to become an MP
- Elections for the House of Commons to be every year
- Equality of representation through establishing electoral districts with the same number of electors
- Payment for MPs – proposed £500 salary
- Secret Ballot
when was the Chartist Decade?
1838-48
which PMs did the Chartist Decade affect?
- Melbourne
- Peel
- Russel
what was the Great Reform Act viewed as by leading radicals and the working class?
an act of trechary
why did the working class feel alienated form the British political system in wake of the GRA?
without the property qualification they were unable to vote
where was anti-Poor Law Amendment Act sentiment strongest?
in North England
increased mechanisation threatened the jobs of how many handloom weavers?
400,000
when was the Norther Star first published?
1837
who established the Northern Star?
Feargus O’Conner
where was the Norther Star first established?
Leeds
what percentage of the population lived in cities by 1851?
50%
why were working people in cities more prepared to challenge the government’s authority?
- distance from traditional local authorities
2. Higher concentration of people made it easier to disperse ideology
What did Royle say Chartism offered?
‘a programme of hope for those who saw themselves as victims of the power and control exerted by the enfranchised classes over the unenfranchised’
what can Chartism be seen as?
a ‘knife and fork question’
who created a ‘social tension chart’?
Rostow
What did Rostow create?
a ‘social tension chart’
what did Rostow’s ‘social tension chart’ do?
predicted years of high tension due to the state of the economy and bread prices
what years did Rostow predict to have been years of high tension during the Chartist decade?
1837-42 and 1847-48
What did Cobbet say?
‘I defy you to agitate a fellow with a full stomach’
What did Royle say Chartism can be seen as?
‘primarily a hunger-protest by the human refuse-tip of the early industrial labour force’
when did depression hit the textile industry?
1837-8
where were the textile districts?
East Midlands, Southern Lancashire and West Riding
how many workers were either unemployed or on short time in Manchester?
50,000
how many people in Manchester signed O’Conners petition in 1842?
99,000 (number second only to London)
what did General Sir Charles Napier describe Manchester as?
‘the entrance to hell realised’ (due to its squalid and polluted state)
how many readers did the Northern Star have at its peak?
50,000
which areas, where there had been little radicalism before, did Chartism spread to?
South Wales, the Black Country and parts of the West Country
Whigs prosecuted how many sellers of radical journals between which years?
700, 1830-36
Which radical paper opposed the stamp duty and how?
Herrington’s Poor Man’s Guardian deliberately published ‘contrary to the law’ failing to carry a stamp or sell at a minimum legal price
when did the Whigs reduce stamp duties?
1836
how did the number of British newspapers compare to European ones?
Britain had more newspapers per head than anywhere in Europe
what did Disraeli (despite ascribing to economic causes) say to support the view that Chartism had a political cause?
‘where there were economical causes for national movements they led to tumult, but seldom to organisation’
what question does Thompson pose on Chartism?
why ‘the Brtiish workers responded to hunger by forming a nation-wide movement around a political programme instead of by a more traditional means of protest’
what did Royle say to support the view that Chartism had a political cause?
‘using a political language and political means to demand a political programme’
what did Gray warn against in 1834?
‘a constant and active pressure from without to the adoption of measures the strict necessity of which has not been fully proved, and which are not strictly regulated by careful attention to the settled institutions’
what did Lord Macaulay say in a speech to parliament in 1839 would be the consequences of a Chartist victory?
‘Famine and pestilence would come’
what did Lord Macaulay say Chartism was?
‘utterly incompatible with the existence of civilisation’
when was the Rural Police Act introduced?
1839
what did the Rural Police Act do?
set up a nationwide police force to monitor and deal with discontent
how many soldiers, police and special constables were there in London in 1848?
1) 7,000 soldiers
2) 4,000 police
3) 85,000 special constables
how did General Sir Charles Napier organise his troops?
gathered his 6,000 troops into barracks in 5 key northern towns
punishment in the aftermath of the 1842 disturbances
1) 100 Chartists were transported to Australia
2) 15,000 were arrested
what did Stewart say of Chartism?
‘Chartism’s fatal weakness was that it had neither parliamentary strength nor the means of gaining it. It had to develop into a revolutionary movement or collapse’
what did Browne say on the strength of the British State?
‘Where was the phalanx of MPs in support of Chartists?’
what did Lenin say on revolutions?
‘it is not every revolutionary situation that leads to revolution’
what were Chartist leaders divided over?
whether to use ‘moral force’ or ‘physical force’
who led the ‘moral force’ campaign within Chartism?
William Lovett and Francis Place
who led the ‘physical force’ campaign within Chartism?
Feargus O’Conner
what was Feargus O’Conner imprisoned for?
Newport Uprising
who did Feargus O’Conner have a personality clash with?
William Lovett
what was the National Charter Association established?
1840
what did the National Charter Association aim to do?
establish a working-class party with a distinct organisation and structure
why was O’Conner sceptical of National Charter Association?
feared it might make Chartism more bureaucratic and less militant
what was the problem with Chartism being regionalised?
Chartism meant different things to different people in different areas meaning not united
evidence of Chartism being regionalised
1) North favoured physical force
2) Birmingham influences by Complete Suffrage Union – close links to moral force and ACLL
3) Scotland – ‘Christian Chartism’
evidence of different groups within Chartism (diversity of agendas)
1) ‘Temperance Chartist’ wanted reform of parliament with restrictions on drinking
2) ‘Education Chartist’ put stress on more schooling
3) ‘Municipal Chartists’ campaigned for urban improvement
why did the middle classes not support Chartism?
- deterred by physical force
2) now they had entered the fold of the electorate were content with parliamentary reform
what happens when the economy begins to pick up?
Chartism loses the oxygen of popular support
what did social reforms during the Chartist decade prove?
a restricted franchise did not necessarily mean the oppression of the people
what did Chartism achieve in the short term?
1) little as none of its six points were met
2) BUT could be argued that it prompted improvements to social welfare (reforms)
what did Royle say Chartism achieved in the short term?
brought ‘a new urgency to the philanthropic impulses of private individuals and the reforming tendencies of the government’
when were the points of the People’s Charter made a reality?
all but one of the six points of the Charter had been put into effect by 1918 (only the establishment of annual parliaments not implemented)
what did Wells say Chartism did politically?
‘fostered discussion of ideas and concepts which never disappeared’
what political movements/organisations have their roots in Chartism?
the Labour Party and Socialism
what was Chartism to the working classes?
a key staging post in the development of the working class conscience
what did Hopkins say Chartism represented?
‘the most striking and widespread working class movement for political reform in the 19th century’
what did Royle say the success of Chartism was to be fond in?
‘the mobilisation of the considerable mental, spiritual and emotional capacities of the working men and women of early industrial Britain’
when did Browne say Chartism did for the working classes?
helped help ‘to transform the ‘working classes’ into the ‘working class’
What happened to newspaper readership during the Chartist decade?
Doubled
