Chartism,c. 1838-50

When was Chartism?

1838-50

When was the Peoples Charter and what was on it?

Universal manhood suffrage (all men over 21)

= Achieved in 1918, ROPA

Vote by Secret Ballot (Achieved in 1872)

Annual Parliament (Never Achieved)

Equal electoral districts

Abolition of the property qualifications for MPs

= Achieved in 1868

Payment for MPs (Achieved in 1911)

What was the Attitudes of post-1932?

New m/c electorate = no desire for further reform

= The Chartist movement was essentially w/c, so class mattered.

Dec 1932: Henry Hunt (rad MP) and Michael Sadler (Tory MP) lost their seats

Sadler campaigned for reduced factory hours

Post 1932, seemed w/c & m/c views were diverging

1) The Whigs were not going to be sympathetic towards the w/c

2) Now a separation of interest between w/c & m/c

When was the Factory Act?

1833

Factory Act 1833 (Economic Cause) -

Campaign for abolition of slavery in Empire succeeded 1833

Many regarded the factory systems as a form of ‘slavery’

Short-time Committees emerged in favour of a 10hr day.

Factory Act 1833 = disappointing, only reduced hours for children to 8.

When/What were the Tolpuddle martyrs? (Economic cause)

1834

6 Agricultural workers in Doreset arrested for swearing oaths = Another eg of Whigs’ harshness.

Sentenced to transportation to Australia: 50,000 protested.

= politicisation of the w/c

= Chartism from 1838 can develop and grow in fertile soil.

When/What were the Municipal Corpations act? (Economic cause)

1835

Municipal Corporations Act reformed local gov (councils); now to be elected

However, only ratepayers could vote. Thus, excluding the w/c

= local gov, could and was encouraged to create a local police force

= metropolitan police (1829) - London and surrounding areas.

= rural police act (1839)

When was the ‘war of the unstamped press’?

c.1831-6

The ‘war of the unstamped’ press c.1831-6

(politicised of the w/c)

Since the Six Acts (1819), newspapers had to pay stamp duty, = tax on knowledge

This puts the price at 3d: too expensive for many w/c

= w/c was becoming more political and more experienced at political campaigns

1831: Hetherington’s Poor Man’s Guardian sold illegally, 1d

= 740 people were arrested for selling an unstamped newspaper

1836: Whig gov’t lowered the stamp duty; papers could sell at 1½ d.

When was the Poor Law Amendment Act?

1834

When was The Anti-Poor Law Campaign?

1837-8

The Anti-Poor Law Campaign 1837-8 -

(Economic para or own one)

The most central campaign to Chartism = Anti-Poor Law (1837-8)

= Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)

This = meant to cut costs of outdoor relief as clamants grew.

= Whigs keen to reduce poor rates to please the m/c voters.

Those in need sent into workhouse; idea of ‘less eligibility’ = Poor Laws Bastilles

The attempt to repeal the new Poor Law was defeated in 1838 by 309 to 17

= Feargus O’Connor entered British Politics and set up his newspaper = The Northern Star (1837)

When was the first phase of Chartism?

1837 - 9

The areas of early Chartism (1837-9)

London

= The artisan-dominated London Working Men’s Association (LWMA) was founded in 1836 by William Lovett.

= Lovett and his associates formulated the six points of the charter in June 1837.

Glasgow

= The document, the People’s Charter, was officially published in Glasgow in May 1838.

= Members of the LWMA & the BPU joined forces in support of the local cotton spinners’ strike.

Birmingham

= The BPU was reformed in 1838 by the leader, Thomas Attwood, and gave its support to the charter.

= The BPU was led by m/c but found a common cause with other pressure groups during 1938-9

Leeds

The northern wing of the Chartist Movement was based in Leeds, where Fergus O’Connor edited the Chartist newspaper, the Northern Star (1837).

= He set up the Great Northern Union in June 1838.

Newport

Newport in South Wales

The rising of 7,000 men in November 1839 resulted in the deaths of 22 of the marchers.

This marred the end of the first phase

The Chartist leaders during the first phase, 1837 - 9?

William Lovett

Occupation = Cabinet-marker

Support base = London artisans

Special Interests = Education for w/c

Style = Committee man and organiser

Thomas Attwood

Occupation = Banker and MP for Birmingham

Support base = Birmingham manufacturers

Special Interests = Household suffrage

Style = Chartist for tactical reasons

Fergus O’Connor

Occupation = Journalist and lawyer

Support base = Northern w/c

Special Interests = Political reform, land reform

Style = Great orator and political writer

When was the People’s Charter drawn up?

Charter drawn up in London, June 1837, by the London Working Man Association; 6 radical MPs signed.

= London was most active during the first wave (1838-9)

and last (1847-8)

When was the Charter published?

Charter was published in Glasgow in May 1838; accepted by Birmingham in August

= The Glasgow meeting could be used as an economic cause for Chartism.

Birm. meeting: representatives of LWMA, BPU, and GNU (Great Northern Union) all met

= Loveett, Attwood, and O’Connor had very different personalities (potential for a split)

= August 1838 - Beginning of Chartism

Name ‘Charter’ evoked memories of Magna Carter (1215). = Chartism forward-looking & backwards

When was the National Convention established?

1839

Mass meetings late 1838: sign petition & elect delegates to NC

= Spreading the word of Chartism

= Manchester - Sept.1839 - (250,000)

National Convention met Feb-Sep 1839: to present petition & discuss tactics.

= NC alternative to parliament.

Representatives of LWMA, BPU and GNU were all present

3 purposes of the NC:

1) to gather signatures for the petition,

2) to present the petition, and

3) to discuss what to do if the petition is rejected.

When was the first petiton presented?

Presented July 1839

1.28 million signatures - 1/3 by women

Rejected 235 - 46

Laughter at by MP,s when first delivered, there are 650 MPs; not even half voted for it.

What was discussed if the petition failed?

Convention also discussed what to do if the petition was rejected.

= Possible reasons discussed -

1) Insurrection, 2) Sacred month of strikes,

3) Exclusive dealing

Simplistic division into ‘physical force’ (O’Connor) vs ‘moral force’ (Lovett)

= ‘Peacefully if we can, forcefully if we must’

Not one of the proposed tactics had been adopted, even by July (re-assembled convention)

= possible failure of leadership

When was the government crackdown?

The government crackdown was in August, followed by arrests of Chartist leaders.

July 1839: ‘Bull Ring Riots’, arrests of chartist leaders began.

When was the Newport Rising?

November 1839

What happened at the Newport Rising?

Lovett, Vincent & many others arrested by end of summer 1939.

= potentially the rising an attempt to release chartists prisoners

Desperate times: some Chartists turned to extreme measures

Newport was an highly industrialised area; predominatly w/c.

= 7,000 marched on town

= 22 chartists killed by soldiers

1839-41: Some 500 chartists arrested; O’Connor arrested 1840.

Wave Diagram

What happened to the leaders in 1940?

Fergus O’Connor = Imprisoned in York

William Lovett = Warwick

Henry Vincent = Monmouth

How was Splinters beginning to form 1839-42?

During imprisonment in York (1840), O’Connor still wrote for the Star.

= July 1841 Election: could speak & gain publicity

= O’Connor released Aug.1841

= Economic downturn, 1841-2.

O’Connor also encouraged the establishment of the National Charter Association by James Leach.

= helped to maintain some of the momentum

The NCA had 50,000 members (subscription payers) by 1842

= Suggests degree of continuity as Northern Star had 50,000 readers

= By 1842, there were 400 branches and 50,000 members.

Some other chartist leaders began to focus on other issues (1841-6 = Conservative gov)

What was the Chartist splinters after 1840?

Main political branch continued under O’Connor and the National Charter Association (1840-)

= He talked about ‘the charter and nothing else’

William Lovett focussed more on workers’ education & selfhelp (1840-)

National Association for Promoting the Political and Social Improvement of the people.

= O’Connor refers to it as ‘knowledge Chartism’

Henry Vincent promoted his Teetotal Chartist Association (1840-)

In 1842 number of Chartists flirted with the rival Complete Suffrage Union.

= 1838 - 46: Anti Con Law League

When was the Second Charter petition and its results?

May 1842

Leviathan Petition = Presented May 1842; it had 3.3m signatures

1/3 of Adult population and most were radicals.

Petition was nevertheless rejected by 287 votes to 49 (MPs)

= Thomas Slingsby Duncombe presented it

= John fleiders enlightened employer signed it

What happened during the 2nd petition?

National Charter Association (400 branches by 1842) helped to promote a new petition.

= Chartist resurgence explained by: 1) NCA; 2) election of 1841; 3) release of O’Connot; 4) economic decline.

Much support came in due to a new economic slump in 1842

= 1842: Chartist links to economy more obvious

When was the ‘Plug’ strikes and riots?

1842

What happened during the ‘plug’ strikes and riots?

Violence during Chartist years = usually spontaneous/sporadic

= Plug strikes happened after the rejection of the petition, similar to the Newport Rising in 1839.

Economic slump + petition failure = strikes & riots, August 1842.

Strikers pulled plugs from steam engines, forcing factory closures.

= Preston: 6 people shot dead

Peel employed 6,000 troops; 1,500 Chartists were arrested at the end of 1942.

What did General Charles Napler say?

He’s in charge of the Northern District during 1839-41.

Kept a diary sympatheti to chartism yet said they had no chance & weren’t a threat.

What were the years 1843-6 being described as and why?

‘Doldrum years’ due to the relative lack of energy in the movement at that time.

The failure of the Laviathan petition and mass arrests of 1842, recovery with some economic recovery and palliative measures passed by the Peel government

= National Union of Association Trades - 1845

When was The Chartist Land Plan?

1845-8

What was The Chartist Land Plan?

O’Connor formulated the Land Plan to maintain Chartist energies.

= Reasons for decline, 1843-6: economic recovery, fatigue, Mines Act (1842 - palliative measures), Factory Act (1844), Northern Star 6,500 sales by 1845.

The idea was to improve workers’ lives through a return to the land.

= reminder of Chartism’s link to older, traditional forms of radicalism.

70,000 paid subscriptions to NLC; lots drawn to allocate estates.

= Used as evidence of good leadership

= More than NCA and Northern Star readers.

Only 250 people secured a smallholding, but helped momentum.

What sparked the last wave of Chartism?

Elections 1847, depression 47-8

Events in France = Feb 1848 Rev overthrew monarchy and second republic was establoished which gave chartism a new implement.

O’Connor had been the only chartist elected in the election of 1847.

= O’Connor election combined with the FR raised hopes & expectations.

20,000 gathered in Kennington Common to present the final petition

= 10th April 1848: Rushed after the FR so was not organised.

= 3 million fake yet 2 real

7,000 troops, 4,000 police & 85,000 special constables (m/c volunteers) were in place

= Both gov & chartist overreacted: anti-climatix