Chartism - The Actions of the Chartist Movement Flashcards
The National Convention 1839 - What was the national convention?
The national convention was an organised meeting of the Chartists to discuss their plans to propose their petition to Parliament
The National Convention 1839 - How many members and distribution of members regionally?
53 members – 23 from London, 20 from the North, 8 from Birmingham
The National Convention 1839 - Where did they initially meet and what did they disagree over?
Initially they met in London, but soon, disagreements set in over whether or not to use force, what to do if the petition failed, and whether it was to be a local or national movement
The National Convention 1839 - General feelings of the Southern and Northern reps
In general, the Southern representatives were more moderate whereas the Northern representatives favoured violence – EG reports that weapons were being prepared in Newcastle
The National Convention 1839 - Where did the petition reconvene and with how many members and what did they plan?
The Convention reconvened in Birmingham with 35 members and planned a sacred month (general strike) and a run on the banks – they also wrote out a list of measures in case the petition failed
The failure of the first petition 1839 - When was the first petition presented to P and with how many signatures?
The petition was presented to Parliament in June 1839 with 1.2 million signatures
The failure of the first petition 1839 - P votes numbers for the first petition?
Parliament rejected it 235 votes to 46
The failure of the first petition 1839 - What happened to the Chartist National Convention after the failure of the first petition?
The Chartist National convention was then divided – some believing the right course of action was to attempt a national rebellion, others refusing to undertake physical action
The failure of the first petition 1839 - What happened to plans for a sacred month?
The ‘sacred month’ was voted down by the Convention 13 votes to 6
The failure of the first petition 1839 - Was there extra-P protest after the failure of the first petition?
There were some local riots and fights with police in Birmingham, but this was put down quickly with a number of Chartists arrested
The Newport Rising - What happened during the Newport Rising?
A real instance of Chartist violence was during the Newport Rising in South Wales, when John Frost led 5000 miners, some of whom were armed, on a protest march
The Newport Rising - How many dead and arrested?
They claimed it was to free Chartist prisoners and were stopped by solders, leaving 24 dead and 125 arrested, of whom 25 were charged with high treason
The Newport Rising - How many Chartists arrested between June 1839 and June 1840?
Between June 1839 and June 1840, over 500 Chartists were arrested, including most of their leaders – this was effective as it left the already disorganised movement leaderless
The Second National Convention and the Second Petition 1842 - When was a second national petition arranged and in what circumstances?
A second National Convention was arranged in 1843, following economic depression and the breakdown of the Poor Law system with the Outdoor Labour Test Order which reintroduced outdoor relief
The Second National Convention and the Second Petition 1842 - When was the second petition collected and how many signatures did it receive?
A new petition was collected in 1842, which recieved 3.3 million signatures
The Second National Convention and the Second Petition 1842 - What were the P votes for the second petition?
When presented to Parliament, it was again rejected, this time by 287 votes to 49
The Second National Convention and the Second Petition 1842 - What did the P vote lead to?
This led to a number of strikes around the country, including the ‘Plug Plot’ riots, where workers removed the plugs from factory boilers to prevent them from being used
The Second National Convention and the Second Petition 1842 - How long did the strikes last?
The strikes burned out quickly and the Convention again disintegrated into disillusionment and confusion
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - What happened in Europe in 1848?
In 1848, revolutionary fever spread across Europe, especially in Sicily and France
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - What happened to Chartist support in the North?
In the North of England, Chartist support increased as trade began to worsen and industrial unemployment increased
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - What happened in Birmingham and Glasgow?
Strikes and riots broke out in Birmingham and Glasgow
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - What were the claims surrounding the third petition’s signatures?
A third National Convention was organised and a third petition was prepared, which Feargus O’Connor claimed had 6 million signatures, which in reality had only 2 million signatures
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - What was planned on Kennington Common?
A peaceful march was organised on Kennington Common, but the gov feared violence and drafted in special constables to support the police, and put the army on standby
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - What happened happened to the Kennington Rally?
In the end, partly due to rain, far fewer showed up then anticipated and O’Connor urged the Chartists to disperse
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - How many did the Chartists claimed showed up vs gov claims?
The Chartists claimed 150,000 had attended, while the gov claimed only 12,000-15,000 had attended
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - What did P do to the petition?
Gov rejected the petition and formed an investigative committee to discredit the document
The Third Petition and the Kennington Common Rally 1848 - What happened to the leaders of the march after this and the movement as a whole?
After this, the leaders at the march were arrested, and the Chartist movement fizzled out
