CHARTISM - key events 1842

Question 1

CHARTIST PETITION 1842

Background

Answer 1

Prominent Whig government that had dominated politics since 1830s was defeated heavily in 1841 by Conservatives.

Unemployment and economic depression.

Most families faced economic hardship because the new poor law broke down.

Question 2

CHARTIST PETITION 1842

Commons’ response

Answer 2

3.3 million signatures.

Only 49 votes in favour of it.

Question 3

PLUG PLOT RIOTS 1842

What was this?

Answer 3

This was a wave of strikes following reductions in Lancashire and Yorkshire cotton trade wage reductions.

Strikers removed plugs from boilers, disrupting factory work.

This was not a whole-Chartist movement.

Question 4

PLUG PLOT RIOTS 1842

Was this tension long-lasting?

Answer 4

NO

Unemployment fell as trading conditions improved and so this was not a long-lasting movement.

Question 5

PLUG PLOT RIOTS 1842

Why was the movement fragmented following 1842?

Answer 5

Leading chartists began taking up single issues e.g., religion and temperance.

Question 6

PLUG PLOT RIOTS 1842

What did O’Connor think of single issues?

Answer 6

He believed that for Chartism to work, it needed to have one shared concern that would re-unite the movement.

Question 7

PLUG PLOT RIOTS 1842

The Chartist Land Plan 1845

Answer 7

This was the shared concern which would re-unite the Chartist movement - unveiled at the 1845 Convention, the Chartist Land PLan.

This was part of O’Connor’s idea to shift workers from towns and resettle them on farms.

IT WAS A FAILURE BECAUSE BY 1851, ONLY 46 FAMILIES REMAINED ON THEIR SMALLHOLDINGS