CHARTISM - response to the Chartist challenge

Question 1

POLICE FORCES

1829 - who was home sec and what did he establish?

Answer 1

Peel

Metropolitan Police Act, which established a single, professional, uniformed force of 1000 who maintained order in London and surrounding counties.

Question 2

POLICE FORCES

When was the Met Police Act extended?

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH + spies

Why did spying suck before?

Answer 3

The govt loved the intelligence provided by spies but communication between spies was slow.

Question 4

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH + spies

What developed in the 1840s?

Answer 4

Electric telegraph

Question 5

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH + spies

Where was it used in 1848?

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

RAILWAYS

Who did the development of railways help?

Answer 6

BOTH THE GOVT AND CHARTISTS MOVEMENT

Question 7

RAILWAYS

Railway mania

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

RAILWAYS

What did railway mania do for the development of railways?

Answer 8

It led to over 5000 miles worth of railway lines, created by 1851

Question 9

RAILWAYS

How did it help Chartism?

Spread of ideas

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

RAILWAYS

How did it help Chartism?

Historian Briggs

Answer 10

Development of Railway between London + Cornwall = development of rural chartism in the West Country.

Question 11

RAILWAYS

How did it help govt?

Increased efficiency in responding

Answer 11

1838 saw the opening of the London-Birmingham railwasy, whose Grand Junction Line created direct links between London, Birmingham, Liverpool etc.

Question 12

GOVT RESPONSE 1838-1842

Whig overall response

Answer 12

Not to agitate because it was intended to not provoke a violent reaction.

Question 13

GOVT RESPONSE 1838-1842

1838 whigs attacked by press

Answer 13

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’

Question 14

GOVT RESPONSE 1838-1842

Freedom of Northern Star

Answer 14

The govt refused to curtail the Northern Star, preferring to allow the free and open discussion of ideas.

Question 15

GOVT RESPONSE 1838-42

Military forces

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

GOVT RESPONSE 1838-42

How many Chartists were arrested between 1839-1840?

Answer 16

500 Chartists arrested.

Question 17

GOVT RESPONSE 1842-8

Did the Whigs care about W.C grievances during 1830s?

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

GOVT RESPONSE 1838-1842

What was Peel more interested in during the 1840s?

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER

When was he appointed to command troops in the Northern District?

Answer 19

1839 - appointed to command 4000 troops in 11 counties.

Question 20

MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER

Why was he an unusual choice for appointment?

Answer 20

He displayed sympathy for the poor for many years.

Question 21

MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER

What was his strategy?

Answer 21

He rejected requests from magistrates for small detachments of troops to be sent to their towns because they would be targets for local chartists.

Question 22

MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER

What was his alternative to deploying small detachments of troops?

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER

When was his fears of violence eased?

Answer 23

When he attended mass meeting at Kersal Moor where he estimated 30,000 people attended, whilst O’Connor believed that one million people joined.

Question 24

MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER

Despite Kersal Moor, when was his fear of possible rebellion activity justified?

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER

Where did he go in 1841?

Answer 25

He held his command until 1841, when he took command of some troops in India

Question 26

MAJOR GENERAL NAPIER

Significance

Answer 26

It was because of him that despite unrest in northern towns during 1839 and 1840, the region did not experience a second Peterloo.