Chartism - Why did Chartism Fail to Achieve its Aims? Flashcards

1
Q

Rejection of the petitions by P - What happened to the petitions in P?

A

Petitions presented three times, and were rejected each time by a large majority

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2
Q

Rejection of the petitions by P - What did P rejections lead to for the campaigners?

A

Campaigners became disillusioned – the numbers of signatures on the third petition was low compared to the first two

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3
Q

Divisions among the leadership - What did Lovett originally want?

A

Lovett originally wanted to include female suffrage, but this was overruled by his fellow Chartist leaders

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4
Q

Divisions among the leadership - What did disagreements over methods lead to?

A

Disagreement over the importance of protesting by argument or violence led to confusion and conflict when unity was required

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5
Q

Divisions among the leadership - Difference in interests between O’Connor and Lovett?

A

Lovett was particularly interested in education as a solution – O’Connor was interested in land sharing – some leaders emphasised a Methodist, teetotal approach, while Scottish leaders focused on a mainstream Chartist approach

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6
Q

Divisions among the leadership - Was there a single decision making body and what were the leaders not willing to do?

A

There was no single decision-making body and leaders were not willing to compromise

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7
Q

Class divisions - Differences between the working and middle classes?

A

The violence associated with the working classes did not motivate middle classes to united with them – the movement was still strong without the middle classes, but would have been harder to oppose if it was unified

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8
Q

Conflict with others protests and reforms - Impact of the 1847 Factory Act and the 1848 Public Health Act?

A

The 1847 Factory Act reduced the working week for factory workers, and the 1848 Public Health Act started to improve conditions in urban areas, which weakened support for Chartism

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9
Q

Conflict with others protests and reforms - Impact of the anti-corn league

A

The Anti-Corn Law League caused division – some Chartists, especially moderates and the middle-classes, wanted to support it, more radical northern members wanted to oppose it and still others thought it should be ignored

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10
Q

Aims being too ambitious - When were the six points eventually passed?

A

It took until 1928 for five of the six points of the People’s Charter to be achieved

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11
Q

Aims being too ambitious - Status of annual elections?

A

Annual general elections never became part of the constitution

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12
Q

Aims being too ambitious - How may the Chartists have achieved more?

A

Had the chartists followed a single, focused aim such as universal suffrage, they may have achieved more

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13
Q

Inconsistent support - Examples of fluctuating support?

A

Support was stronger in the years which coincided with economic hardship, notably the petition years of 1839, 1842, and 1848

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14
Q

Effective gov tactics - What did the gov tactics do?

A

Gov arrests led to short prison sentences for leaders – most leaders served time in prison leading the movement directionless

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15
Q

Damage to the reputation of the Chartist movement - The Kennington March

A

The Kennington March – after a lot of worry about a mass march, relatively few marchers turned up and dispersed peacefully

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16
Q

Damage to the reputation of the Chartist movement - The third petition

A

The Third Petition’s failure in Parliament was exacerbated by O’Connor, who claimed it contained 6 million signatures when it had fewer than 2 million, including fake names like ‘Pug Nose’ and ‘No Cheese’ – a parliamentary investigation discredited Chartist claims about the petition

17
Q

Damage to the reputation of the Chartist movement - O’Connors land plan

A

O’Connor’s land plan – the efforts to purchase land, run a land bank, and settle workers on independent plots of land, was a sincere effort to help workers, but lacked real organisation and discredited the movement

18
Q

Was Chartism really a failure - How may Chartism have had an indirect influence?

A

The Chartist movement was a failure in that it faded out and didn’t achieve any of its aims – however in an indirect sense it did have an impact – within the various reform acts, every one of the six points except annual parliaments was enacted

19
Q

Was Chartism really a failure - What did the Chartist movement teach to future protests?

A

Furthermore, the Chartist movement taught future political and protest movements valuable lessons – many of the younger leaders were active in political movements in the following decades

20
Q

Was Chartism really a failure - What did the Chartist create?

A

Plus, the Chartist movement created an exclusively working-class culture in Victorian England – EG the spread of TUs – by the 1870s, they had become a significant political force for the working classes and strikes were commonplace – between 1872 and 1879 there were more than 300 strikes per year