Chartism - The Role of Individuals in the Chartist Movement Flashcards

1
Q

William Lovett - Who was Lovett and what values did he have?

A

Lovett was a pro-reformer who had met both Henry Hunt and William Cobbett, with strongly pro-peace values – within the Chartist movement this became central to Lovett’s views and caused differences with other Chartist leaders

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2
Q

William Lovett - What was Lovett a founding member and secretary of?

A

Lovett was a founding member and secretary of the London Working Men’s Association and was key to authoring the six points of the People’s Charter

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3
Q

William Lovett - What did Lovett become secretary of and what did his non-violent stance lead to?

A

He became the secretary for the national convention and his non-violent stance contributed to the confused split felt after the failure of the first petition in 1839

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4
Q

William Lovett - What happened to Lovett for his role in the Birmingham riots?

A

Ironically, Lovett was then arrested during the Birmingham riots in which Chartists protested the use of police violence – he spent a little over a year in prison during which time he wrote letters and a book to direct the Chartist movement

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5
Q

William Lovett - What happened after the first national convention?

A

After the first national Convention, Lovett still continued to play a role in the Chartist movement – he focused on trying to unite the working-class and middle class movements by working closely with the Birmingham based Universal Suffrage Association

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6
Q

William Lovett - What hindered Lovett’s influence?

A

However, Lovett was hindered in his influence by the division among the leadership, notably through the opposition of O’Connor, who attacked him repeatedly in the Northern Star

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7
Q

William Lovett - What did Lovett get side-tracked by?

A

Lovett also got side-tracked into other concerns such as campaigning to improve education and joining the Anti-Slavery League

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8
Q

Feargus O’Connor - Who was O’Connor and what was his past?

A

O’Connor was an Irishman with a chequered past – he had been a lawyer, then an Irish MP until being disqualified for failing the property qualification, then he became the owner of Leeds-based newspaper the Northern Star

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9
Q

Feargus O’Connor - Good things about O’Connor?

A

On one hand, O’Connor was very charismatic as a leader and attracted many working-class supporters with his speeches drawing huge crowds

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10
Q

Feargus O’Connor - When did his reputation grow?

A

His reputation grew when we served 18 months in prison for sedition, during which time he smuggled letters out to publish in his Northern Star

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11
Q

Feargus O’Connor - The role of the Northern Star?

A

The Northern Star was essential as the main means of transmitting Chartist ideas between the various national groups, selling 36,000 copies weekly

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12
Q

Feargus O’Connor - When did O’Connor serve as an MP and what did this allow?

A

O’Connor also served as an MP in 1847, which gave him influence – he created the National Charter Association in 1840, which revived the movement after the failure of the first petition

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13
Q

Feargus O’Connor - What was the National Charter Association claiming by 1842?

A

By 1842, the National Charter Association claimed to have 400 branches and 50,000 members

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14
Q

Feargus O’Connor - Problems with O’Connor?

A

On the other hand, O’Connor was deeply divisive – his political ideas were unfocused and varied from speech to speech and he argued with almost every Chartist leader

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15
Q

Feargus O’Connor - What did he write about other Chartist leaders?

A

He wrote articles that criticised them and damaged their reputations, describing the other leaders as artisans, rather than real members of the industrial working classes

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16
Q

Feargus O’Connor - What was a main area of dispute between O’Connor and his fellow leaders?

A

A main areas of dispute was over violence – O’Connor’s rhetoric was of action and violence and he maintained that the British gov would only every act in the face of real threats

17
Q

Feargus O’Connor - What led to accusations of cowardice?

A

However, O’Connor never personally got involved in these actions, which led some to criticise his of cowardice

18
Q

Feargus O’Connor - Where was another area of dispute for O’Connor?

A

Another areas of dispute was that in the later years, O’Connor became focused on theories of land ownership for peasants and this diverted some of his attention – his Land Plan, an effort to purchase land to settle workers on their own plots, absorbed a lot of time and finances and was ultimately badly planned and impractical

19
Q

Importance of leadership for the Chartist movement?

A

Although the Chartists were a mass movement, it was not spontaneous and needed leadership – it was the leaders that directed the actions, and it was the divisions in leadership that weakened the movement - this explains why the gov tactic of locking up the leaders as often as possible was so effective in weakening the movement