To what extent was Chartism a complete failure 1836-52? Flashcards
What five factors need to be discussed?
1) Leadership and Division
2) Peel’s Actions
3) Strength of the 1832 Act and petitions
4) Violence
5) Petitions
What was the electorate increase through the 1832 reform act?
366 000 to 650 000 (18% of the male population). This was mainly middle class people who became rich through the industrial revolution.
Why did the electorate increase mean that Chartism fail?
This meant that Chartism failed because it was now guaranteed that middle class support would be eliminated, reducing the support who could help to add respectability to the movement.
Why didn’t the government trust workers?
The government didn’t trust workers because of their tendency for violence. Britain had already become wealthy with a low electorate so there was little call to reform it significantly.
When were the Chartist petitions?
The Petitions of 1839, 1842 and 1848 used by the Chartists were dominated by the working classes.
Why did the Chartist petitions mean that Chartism failed?
This meant that Chartism failed because it lacked support from people who the government and upper classes respected.
What did violence mean for the support of Chartism?
The threat of physical force meant that the majority of middle classes refused to support Chartism.
Give an example of violence used by Chartists in Wales
The Newport Rising (due to terrible conditions in working South Wales) where thousands of armed iron workers marched to Newport where Chartists were being held prisoner.
How many people were killed and wounded in the Newport Rising?
Soldiers opened fire and killed 20 and wounded 50.
Give an example of violence used by Chartists in England
1842 Plug Riots where workers removed Plugs from factory boilers rendering them useless across Staffordshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and York.
How many workers went on strike during the Plug Riots?
500 000
How many people did peel have arrested after the Plug Riots and name two of the people arrested
Peel arrested about 1000 of those involved.
Leaders John Frost and Zephaniah Williams were arrested.
Why did the arrest of the leaders mean that Chartism failed?
This lead to Chartism failing because their leadership was even more threatened and the government could employ their effective tactic of divide and rule to ensure their failure.
What were the two forces of Chartism?
Moral and Physical
Who led the moral force Chartists?
William Lovett, who wanted to educate people and left in 1845 and Francis Place.
Who was a prominent member of the Physical force Chartists?
Feargus O’Connor
Why did the divisions and the lack of leadership mean that Chartism failed?
The fact that there were so diverse aims by the Chartists meant that the government could divide and rule the Chartists, forcing them into failure. The government hadn’t given into violence in the 1810s with the Peterloo massacre and the luddites and as well as the Tollpuddle martyrs so they wouldn’t in the 1830s and 40s either. It appeared that some of the chartists hadn’t learnt from previous mistakes.
Where was Chartism and why did this mean that it failed?
Chartism was mainly in the north of the country with few examples in the South. Those in Birmingham were heavily influenced by moral forces, where physical forces were more prevalent in the north. It was not a movement big enough to threaten westminster as the Swing Rots were.
What happened to Chartism when the economy grew?
When the economy improved Chartism declined and its popularity grew with economic crisis, so during the mid-victorian boom its popularity declined.
Why did the mid-victorian boom lead to Chartism declining?
This meant Chartism failed because it was no longer a force great enough to be significant enough of the government to pay attention to.
Give an example of some of Peel’s reforms
Peel’s actions such as the 1842 Mines Act and the Repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 improved working conditions anyway. The 1842 mines act stopped women from working in mines and the 1844 factory act rescued children’s working hours between the ages of 8-13 to 6 ½ hours a day. Chartism was a force that wanted to get the vote to achieve reform.
Why did Peel’s reform mean that the Chartists failed?
Peels reforms essentially gave the people what the Chartists were demanding. This meant Chartism failed because their demand became obsolete.
What did Peel appear to do through his actions such as the 1842 Mines act?
Listen to the people, meaning that Chartism was no longer necessary as a vessel for protest.
What are the two relevant historians?
Dorothy Thompson and Anna Clarke
What does Thompson say?
Chartism failed principally because it could not adapt to a changing landscape
What does Clarke say?
Chartism failed due to the actions of the government rendering the movement obsolete
Whose actions supports Clarke’s view?
Peel
Give an example of a group that the moral force Chartists co-operated with?
Anti-Cornlaw league
What are the three main figures of moral force Chartism?
1) William Lovett
2) Francis Place
supported by Thomas Attwood
Who undermined the cause of the moral force Chartists?
Physical force chartists
What are the two methods of the moral force Chartists?
Petitions and pamphlets
How should you approach this question?
The word “complete” should be assessed
How could you suggest that moral force chartists did not completely fail?
encouraged the growth of working-class co-operatives and self-help programmes
What did the diverse aims and factionalism of the movement mean that the government could do?
Divide and rule the movement
With the Peterloo massacre and Luddism of the 1810s, what had the government done?
Established a precedent of not giving in to violence
What did O’Connor write for?
The Northern Star
Who edited the Northern star?
George Harney
How did O’connor feel about industrialisation?
It was tearing workers away from their roots. He held an agrarian nostalgia
When was the land plan set up?
1845
What shows that the land plan was initially successful?
70 000 subscribers by 1848
Where is the example of the land plan?
Lowbands
When did the chartist movement succeed most with the working classes?
In times of economic discontent
How could the dual factionalism be argued as not a complete failure?
Widened the movement’s appeal
Finnish the sentence: given that the movement was so divided in its aims and methods…
…it was unlikely that it would ever be listened to
Finnish the sentence: given that the movement was so divided in its aims and methods it was unlikely that it would ever be listened to…
….especially when their audience was so hostile to their cause
What does the failure of chartism show about government resolve?
government confident in their actions and acting without any fear that would have forced it to offer significant changes beyond that which it deemed suitable
Given that the 1832 reform act had only just happened, what would the upper classes not want to do?
Start to make further reform straight after they’d just made the last set
What did Peel do in 1846?
Repeal the corn laws
What did Peel do in 1842?
Mines act
Which factory act reduced children’s working hours between the ages of 8-13 to 6 ½ hours a day
1844
Which factory act introduced a 10 hour working day for women & children?
1847
What did the 1832 mines act do?
1) No child under 10 could work underground
2) No woman could work underground
Complete the sentence: Chartists were a group who wanted to achieve the vote in order to get reform, yet Peel’s reforms…
… removed the sources of working class discontent that were fuelling the movement. This meant they failed as a vessel was no longer needed for Protest.
How could Peel’s actions suggest that they were not a complete failure?
They may have caused the movement to fail, however they agenda did get addressed to a certain extent
What did Peel’s actions make it seem like he was doing?
Listening to the people
What did the Plug riots make chartists?
Indistinguishable from other radical working class groups
What threat meant that middle classes refused to support chartism?
violence
How many went on strike in the plug riots?
500 000
What were the actions of Lovett not enough to do?
Facilitate bull-blown co-operation between middle and lower classes
How many of those involved in the plug riots did Peel arrest?
1 500
Which two leaders were arrested in the plug riots?
john Frost and Zephaniah williams
When was the Newport rising?
November 4th 1839
How many armed iron workers in the Newport rising?
5000
Where did the iron workers clash with soldiers as a part of then Newport rising?
Westgate Hotel
Soldiers opened fire on the Newport rising, killing how many and wounding how many?
killed 20 wounded 50
As a result of the newport rising, what happened to chartist leaders?
500 held in prison from 1839-41
Name each of the dates of the three petitions and how many signatures each got:
1) 1839 1.2 million
2) 1842 3.3 million
3) 1848 5 million acclaimed
What is significant about the number of signatures of the 1842 petition?
More than the number of voters in the country
When was the 1839 petition rejected by parliament and what was the majority?
Rejected by Parliament in July 1839 by a majority of 235 to 46
The rejection by Parliament in July 1839 by a majority of 235 to 46 did what within the movement?
It exacerbated an existing split between the moral and physical force chartists as proponents of physical force Chartism saw this as their opportunity and embarked on the ‘sacred month’
What was the sacred month?
a general strike and protest movement that usually turned into fights with the local authorities. Included Newport Rising.
What did the rejection of the 3.3 million signatures of the 1842 petition trigger?
The rejection was followed by a series of strikes in the industrial districts. It started in the Midland coalfield, spreading during August to Scotland and to the textile industry in Lancashire and Yorkshire. These were the plug riots
Out of 1500 arrested for the plug riots in 1842, how many were found guilty?
79
Of the 5 million claimed signatures of the 1848 petition, how many were genuine?
What accompanied the 1848 petition?
Kennington common
When was the kennington common demonstration?
10th April 1848
What was the government response to kennington common?
8000 extra soldiers and 150 000 special constables
What was the northern Army co-ordinator who prevented kennington common being repeated up north?
General Charles Napier, commander of the Army in northern England, was charged with monitoring Chartist activity in the region and subduing anything that happened.
What cannot be denied about Chartist failure?
that none of the 6 points were achieved by 1852 and the political elite had become firmly entrenched against further reform after 1832.
