Feargus O'Connor Flashcards
Background- before Chartism
Trained as a lawyer and elected MP for County Cork in 1832-35.
Support for limits on working hours, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and his opposition to the New Poor Laws won him support from London radicals.
Activities- role within Chartism
-The Northern Star
Established this paper in Leeds in 1837- the most widely read Chartist journal. The Northern Star helped to maintain Chartism as a national unified political force.
Phase 1 1838-40
Helps to transform Chartism into a national movement with the Help of the Northern Star.
Phase 2 1840-42
Found guilty of printing seditious libel and imprisoned for 18 months.
Phase 3 1843-48
Set up the Chartist Land Plan; he was elected as MP for Nottingham in 1847, the only Chartist to be elected in the general election. It was in his capacity as an MP that he presented the 1848 petition which marked the high point of his fame.
Beliefs
To some he represented the physical force side of Chartism, yet this is too simplistic. To him the language and threat of violence was all part of political strategy. He avoided involvement in the Newport Uprising of 1839 and in 1848 he avoided clashes with the authorities.
Attributes
He was a powerful speaker- Dorothy Thompson wrote ‘ no other leader… had the energy, ability or charisma… h was the main inspiration and guiding force of the movement’, He adopted many of the attributes of orator Hunt and was known to be a flamboyant and engaging speaker.
Criticism
Lovett and other moral force Chartists criticised the violence of his language and said he raised unrealistic expectations in his listenings. Some accused his famous Land Plan of being backward looking and impractical- it ended in failure.
