CHARTISM - response to the Chartist challenge Flashcards
POLICE FORCES
1829 - who was home sec and what did he establish?
Peel
Metropolitan Police Act, which established a single, professional, uniformed force of 1000 who maintained order in London and surrounding counties.
POLICE FORCES
When was the Met Police Act extended?
1839 - by the Rural Police Act, which empowered authorities in counties and boroughs to raise their own police forces, paid for by a local rate.
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH + spies
Why did spying suck before?
The govt loved the intelligence provided by spies but communication between spies was slow.
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH + spies
What developed in the 1840s?
Electric telegraph
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH + spies
Where was it used in 1848?
Super useful when the govt recieved info about the Chartists’ intentions and their strength following the rejection of the third petition and the Kennington Common Riots.
RAILWAYS
Who did the development of railways help?
BOTH THE GOVT AND CHARTISTS MOVEMENT
RAILWAYS
Railway mania
Refers to the craze and excitement of people to invest in railway company shares.
The frenzy of investment collapsed in the mid-40s when many people lost their investment.
RAILWAYS
What did railway mania do for the development of railways?
It led to over 5000 miles worth of railway lines, created by 1851
RAILWAYS
How did it help Chartism?
Spread of ideas
Helped Chartism become a national organisation because more people could move around and visit more organisations.
E.g., the Northern Star could spread, news, journals, people spread ideas etc.
Helped spread the ideas to countryside from the urban areas.
RAILWAYS
How did it help Chartism?
Historian Briggs
Development of Railway between London + Cornwall = development of rural chartism in the West Country.
RAILWAYS
How did it help govt?
Increased efficiency in responding
1838 saw the opening of the London-Birmingham railwasy, whose Grand Junction Line created direct links between London, Birmingham, Liverpool etc.
GOVT RESPONSE 1838-1842
Whig overall response
Not to agitate because it was intended to not provoke a violent reaction.
GOVT RESPONSE 1838-1842
1838 whigs attacked by press
Whigs attacked in the press for failing to take strong action against Chartist speakers such as O’Connor who claimed ‘peacibly if we may, forcibly if we must’
GOVT RESPONSE 1838-1842
Freedom of Northern Star
The govt refused to curtail the Northern Star, preferring to allow the free and open discussion of ideas.
GOVT RESPONSE 1838-42
Military forces
Reluctant to respond to calls from local magistrates who wanted to supply military forces because they wanted to de-escalate difficult situations.
Strong action was only taken following 1839 petition and Newport rising.
GOVT RESPONSE 1838-42
How many Chartists were arrested between 1839-1840?
500 Chartists arrested.
GOVT RESPONSE 1842-8
Did the Whigs care about W.C grievances during 1830s?
The whigs showed little interest in W.C grievances
Paradoxically, many of the new measures (E.g., Poor Law amendment) were significant in giving birth to the Chartist movement.
GOVT RESPONSE 1838-1842
What was Peel more interested in during the 1840s?
The Condition of England Question, which referred to the growing divide between rich and poor.
He believed social improvements could be achieved without Chartist intervention.
MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER
When was he appointed to command troops in the Northern District?
1839 - appointed to command 4000 troops in 11 counties.
MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER
Why was he an unusual choice for appointment?
He displayed sympathy for the poor for many years.
MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER
What was his strategy?
He rejected requests from magistrates for small detachments of troops to be sent to their towns because they would be targets for local chartists.
MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER
What was his alternative to deploying small detachments of troops?
He would divide his forces into three large detachments, posiotoned around the north and close to major industrial centres.
E.g., the 2800 men placed in South Lancashire to respond to disturbances in textile towns.
MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER
When was his fears of violence eased?
When he attended mass meeting at Kersal Moor where he estimated 30,000 people attended, whilst O’Connor believed that one million people joined.
MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER
Despite Kersal Moor, when was his fear of possible rebellion activity justified?
When the Chartists called for sacred month of strikes.
He didn’t believe this was effective because without working, they would lose their wages.
However, he refused the magistrate’s requests to use troops as a precautionary measure which meant that during the few days of strike action, peace was maintained.
