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Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, with particular strongholds of support in
Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...
, the
East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...
, the Staffordshire Potteries, the
Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ...
, and the South Wales Valleys. The movement was fiercely opposed by government authorities who finally suppressed it. Support for the movement was at its highest when petitions signed by millions of working people were presented to the House of Commons. The strategy employed was to use the scale of support which these petitions and the accompanying mass meetings demonstrated to put pressure on politicians to concede manhood suffrage. Chartism thus relied on constitutional methods to secure its aims, though some became involved in insurrectionary activities, notably in South Wales and in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. The People's Charter called for six reforms to make the political system more democratic: * A vote for every man aged twenty-one years and above, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for a crime. * The
secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vo ...
to protect the elector in the exercise of his vote. * No property qualification for
Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs), to allow the constituencies to return the man of their choice. * Payment of Members, enabling tradesmen, working men, or other persons of modest means to leave or interrupt their livelihood to attend to the interests of the nation. * Equal constituencies, securing the same amount of representation for the same number of electors, instead of allowing less populous constituencies to have as much or more weight than larger ones. * Annual Parliamentary elections, thus presenting the most effectual check to bribery and intimidation, since no purse could buy a constituency under a system of universal manhood suffrage in every twelve months. Eventually, after Chartism died out, Britain adopted the first five reforms. Chartists saw themselves fighting against political corruption and for democracy in an industrial society, but attracted support beyond the radical political groups for economic reasons, such as opposing wage cuts and unemployment.Malcolm Chase, ''Chartism: A New History'' (Manchester UP, 2007)


Origin

After the passing of the
Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...
, which failed to extend the vote beyond those owning property, the political leaders of the working class made speeches claiming that there had been a great act of betrayal. This sense that the working class had been betrayed by the middle class was strengthened by the actions of the Whig governments of the 1830s. Notably, the hated new Poor Law Amendment was passed in 1834, depriving working people of
outdoor relief Outdoor relief, an obsolete term originating with the Elizabethan Poor Law (1601) The Poor Relief Act 1601 (43 Eliz 1 c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the Elizabethan P ...
and driving the poor into workhouses, where families were separated. The massive wave of opposition to this measure in the north of England in the late 1830s made Chartism a mass movement. It seemed that only securing the vote for working men would change things, and indeed
Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and was one of the few women news commentators on radio ...
, the preeminent historian of Chartism, defines the movement as the time when "thousands of working people considered that their problems could be solved by the political organization of the country."Dorothy Thompson, ''The Chartists: Popular Politics in the Industrial Revolution'' (1984). In 1836, the
London Working Men's Association The London Working Men's Association was an organisation established in London in 1836.
was founded by William Lovett and Henry Hetherington, providing a platform for Chartists in the southeast. The origins of Chartism in Wales can be traced to the foundation in the autumn of 1836 of Carmarthen Working Men's Association.


Press

Both nationally and locally a Chartist press thrived in the form of periodicals, which were important to the movement for their news, editorials, poetry and (especially in 1848) reports on international developments. They reached a huge audience. '' The Poor Man's Guardian'' in the 1830s, edited by Henry Hetherington, dealt with questions of class solidarity, manhood suffrage, property, and temperance, and condemned the Reform Act of 1832. The paper explored the rhetoric of violence versus nonviolence, or what its writers called moral versus physical force. It was succeeded as the voice of radicalism by an even more famous paper: the '' Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser''. The Star was published between 1837 and 1852, and in 1839 was the best-selling provincial newspaper in Britain, with a circulation of 50,000. Like other Chartist papers, it was often read aloud in coffeehouses, workplaces and the open air. Other Chartist periodicals included the ''Northern Liberator'' (1837–40), ''English Chartist Circular'' (1841–43), and the ''Midland Counties' Illuminator'' (1841). The papers gave justifications for the demands of the People's Charter, accounts of local meetings, commentaries on education and temperance and a great deal of poetry. They also advertised upcoming meetings, typically organised by local grassroots branches, held either in public houses or their halls. Research of the distribution of Chartist meetings in London that were advertised in the Northern Star shows that the movement was not uniformly spread across the metropolis but clustered in the West End, where a group of Chartist tailors had shops, as well as in Shoreditch in the east, and relied heavily on pubs that also supported local friendly societies. Readers also found denunciations of
imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...
—the First Opium War (1839–42) was condemned—and of the arguments of
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
rs about the civilizing and pacifying influences of free trade.


People's Charter of 1838

In 1837, six
Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs) and six working men, including William Lovett (from the
London Working Men's Association The London Working Men's Association was an organisation established in London in 1836.
, set up in 1836) formed a committee, which in 1838 published the ''People's Charter''. This set out the movement's six main aims. The achievement of these aims would give working men a say in lawmaking: they would be able to vote, their vote would be protected by a secret ballot, and they would be able to stand for election to the House of Commons as a result of the removal of property qualifications and the introduction of payment for MPs. None of these demands were new, but the People's Charter became one of the most famous political manifestos of 19th-century Britain.


Beginnings

Chartism was launched in 1838 by a series of large-scale meetings in Birmingham, Glasgow and the north of England. A huge mass meeting was held on
Kersal Moor Kersal Moor is a recreation area in Kersal, Greater Manchester, England which consists of eight hectares of moorland bounded by Moor Lane, Heathlands Road, St. Paul's Churchyard and Singleton Brook. Kersal Moor, first called Karsey or Carsall ...
near Salford,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
, on 24 September 1838 with speakers from all over the country. Speaking in favour of manhood suffrage, Joseph Rayner Stephens declared that Chartism was a "knife and fork, a bread and cheese question". These words indicate the importance of economic factors in the launch of Chartism. If, as the movement came together, there were different priorities amongst local leaders, the Charter and the Star soon created a national, and largely united, campaign of national protest. John Bates, an activist, recalled: The movement organised a National Convention in London in early 1839 to facilitate the presentation of the first petition. Delegates used the term MC, Member of Convention, to identify themselves; the convention undoubtedly saw itself as an alternative parliament.Charlton, John, ''The Chartists: The First National Workers' Movement'' (1997) In June 1839, the petition, signed by 1.3 million working people, was presented to the House of Commons, but MPs voted, by a large majority, not to hear the petitioners. At the Convention, there was talk of a general strike or "sacred month". In the West Riding of Yorkshire and in south Wales, anger went even deeper, and underground preparations for a rising were undoubtedly made.


Newport Rising

Several outbreaks of violence ensued, leading to arrests and trials. One of the leaders of the movement, John Frost, on trial for treason, claimed in his defence that he had toured his territory of industrial Wales urging people not to break the law, although he was himself guilty of using language that some might interpret as a call to arms. Dr William Price of
Llantrisant Llantrisant (; " Parish of the Three Saints") is a town in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying on the River Ely and the Afon Clun. The three saints of the town's name are ...
—more of a maverick than a mainstream Chartist—described Frost as putting "a sword in my hand and a rope around my neck". Unsurprisingly, there are no surviving letters outlining plans for insurrection, but Chartists had undoubtedly started organising physical force. By early autumn men were being drilled and armed in south Wales, and also in the West Riding. Secret cells were set up, covert meetings were held in the Chartist Caves at
Llangynidr Llangynidr is a village, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales, about west of Crickhowell and south-east of Brecon. The River Usk flows through the village as does the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. It is in the historic county of Bre ...
and weapons were manufactured as the Chartists armed themselves. Behind closed doors and in pub back rooms, plans were drawn up for a mass protest. On the night of 3–4 November 1839 Frost led several thousand marchers through South Wales to the Westgate Hotel, Newport,
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...
, where there was a confrontation. It seems that Frost and other local leaders were expecting to seize the town and trigger a national uprising. The result of the Newport Rising was a disaster for Chartism. The hotel was occupied by armed soldiers. A brief, violent, and bloody battle ensued. Shots were fired by both sides, although most contemporaries agree that the soldiers holding the building had vastly superior firepower. The Chartists were forced to retreat in disarray: more than twenty were killed, at least another fifty wounded. Testimonies exist from contemporaries, such as the Yorkshire Chartist Ben Wilson, that Newport was to have been the signal for a national uprising. Despite this significant setback the movement remained remarkably buoyant and remained so until late 1842. Whilst the majority of Chartists, under the leadership of
Feargus O'Connor Feargus Edward O'Connor (18 July 1796 – 30 August 1855) was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan, which sought to provide smallholdings for the labouring classes. A highly charismatic figure, O'Connor was admired for his ...
, concentrated on petitioning for Frost, Williams and William Jones to be pardoned, significant minorities in Sheffield and Bradford planned their risings in response.
Samuel Holberry Samuel Holberry (18 November 1814 – 21 June 1842) was a prominent Chartist activist. Early years Holberry was born in Gamston, Nottinghamshire, the youngest of 9 children. In 1832 he joined the British army, leaving in 1835 and moving to Sh ...
led an abortive rising in Sheffield on 12 January, and on 26 January Robert Peddie attempted similar action in Bradford. In both Sheffield and Bradford spies had kept magistrates aware of the conspirators' plans, and these attempted risings were easily quashed. Frost and two other Newport leaders, Jones and Williams, were transported. Holberry and Peddie received long prison sentences with hard labour; Holberry died in prison and became a Chartist martyr.


1842

According to Dorothy Thompson, "1842 was the year in which more energy was hurled against the authorities than in any other of the 19th century". In early May 1842, a second petition, of over three million signatures, was submitted, and was yet again rejected by Parliament. The '' Northern Star'' commented on the rejection: The depression of 1842 led to a wave of strikes, as workers responded to the wage cuts imposed by employers. Calls for the implementation of the Charter were soon included alongside demands for the restoration of wages to previous levels. Working people went on strike in 14 English and 8 Scottish counties, principally in the
Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
,
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...
, Yorkshire, and the Strathclyde region of Scotland. Typically, strikers resolved to cease work until wages were increased "until the People's charter becomes the Law of the Land". How far these strikes were directly Chartist in inspiration "was then, as now, a subject of much controversy". The ''Leeds Mercury'' headlined them "The Chartist Insurrection", but suspicion also hung over the Anti-Corn Law League that manufacturers among its members deliberately closed mills to stir-up unrest. At the time, these disputes were collectively known as the ''Plug Plot'' as, in many cases, protesters removed the plugs from steam boilers powering industry to prevent their use. Amongst historians writing in the 20th century, the term General Strike was increasingly used. Some modern historians prefer the description "strike wave". In contrast, Mick Jenkins in his ''The General Strike of 1842'' offers a
Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...
interpretation, showing the strikes as highly organized with sophisticated political intentions. The unrest began in the Potteries of Staffordshire in early August, spreading north to Cheshire and Lancashire (where at Manchester a meeting of the Chartist national executive endorsed the strikes on the 16th). The strikes had begun spreading in Scotland and West Yorkshire from the 13th. There were outbreaks of serious violence, including property destruction and the ambushing of police convoys, in the Potteries and the West Riding. Though the government deployed soldiers to suppress violence, it was the practical problems in sustaining an indefinite stoppage that ultimately defeated the strikers. The drift back to work began on 19 August. Only Lancashire and Cheshire were still strike-bound by September, the Manchester power loom weavers being the last to return to work on 26 September. The state hit back. Several Chartist leaders were arrested, including O'Connor, George Julian Harney, and Thomas Cooper. During the late summer of 1842, hundreds were incarcerated; in the Pottery Riots alone, 116 men and women went to prison. A smaller number, but still amounting to many dozens—such as William Ellis, who was convicted on perjured evidence—were transported. One protester, Josiah Heapy (19 years old), was shot dead. However, the government's most ambitious prosecution, personally led by the Attorney General, of O'Connor and 57 others (including almost all Chartism's national executive) failed: none were convicted of the serious charges, and those found guilty of minor offences were never actually sentenced. Cooper alone of the national Chartist leadership was convicted (at a different trial), having spoken at strike meetings in the Potteries. He was to write a long poem in prison called "The Purgatory of Suicides." In December 1842 the Chartists held a joint national delegate conference with the National Complete Suffrage Union in Birmingham. Tensions with the NCSU soon surfaced and came to a head over their proposals both for a union with the Anti-Corn Law League, which was also broadly middle class, and for rewriting the People's Charter as a legislative Bill of Rights. In both, O'Connor perceived a threat to his leadership, and unable to find agreement the NCSU leader Joseph Sturge withdrew. In May 1843, William Sharman Crawford introduced the NCSU approved bill to "a small and bored" House of Commons.


Mid-1840s

Despite this second set of arrests, Chartist activity continued. Beginning in 1843, O'Connor suggested that the land contained the solution to workers' problems. This idea evolved into the Chartist Co-operative Land Company, later called the
National Land Company The National Land Company was founded as the Chartist Cooperative Land Company in 1845 by the chartist Feargus O'Connor to help working-class people satisfy the landholding requirement to gain a vote in county seats in Great Britain. It was ...
. Workers would buy shares in the company, and the company would use those funds to purchase estates that would be subdivided into 2, 3, and 4 acres (0.8, 1.2, and 1.6  hectare) lots. Between 1844 and 1848, five estates were purchased, subdivided, and built on, and then settled by lucky shareholders, who were chosen by lot. Unfortunately for O'Connor, in 1848 a Select Committee was appointed by Parliament to investigate the financial viability of the scheme, and it was ordered that it be shut down. Cottages built by the Chartist Land Company are still standing and inhabited today in
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...
,
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
,
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...
and on the outskirts of London. Rosedene, a Chartist cottage in
Dodford, Worcestershire Dodford is a village in the Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire, England, approximately west of Bromsgrove, officially founded on 2 July 1849 by members of the Chartist movement. It was one of five settlements created in the land scheme and re ...
, is owned and maintained by the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, and is open to visitors by appointment. Candidates embracing Chartism also stood on numerous occasions in
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
s. There were concerted campaigns in the election of 1841 and election of 1847, when O'Connor was elected for Nottingham. O'Connor became the only Chartist to be elected an MP; it was a remarkable victory for the movement. More commonly, Chartist candidates participated in the open meetings, called hustings, that were the first stage of an election. They frequently won the show of hands at the hustings, but then withdrew from the poll to expose the deeply undemocratic nature of the electoral system. This is what Harney did in a widely reported challenge against Lord
Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer * Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston ** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman and ...
in Tiverton,
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
, in 1847. The last Chartist challenge at a parliamentary poll took place at Ripon in 1859.


1848 petition

In February 1848, following the arrival of news of a revolution in Paris, Chartist activity increased. In March there were protests or bread riots in Manchester, Glasgow, and Dublin, and a new demonstration was announced for 10 April 1848, to be held on Kennington Common,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. After the meeting, a planned procession would carry a third petition to Parliament. Marches and demonstrations were also planned for April 10 in Manchester and elsewhere. In anticipation of the announced march, Parliament revived a statute dating to the time of Charles II that forbade more than 10 persons from presenting a petition in person. That was followed on April 7 by new legislation making certain seditious acts ("proposing to make war against the Queen, or seeking to intimidate or overawe both Houses of Parliament" or openly speaking or writing "to that effect") felonies in Great Britain and Ireland, punishable by death or transportation. The authorities knew that the Chartists were planning a peaceful demonstration, but still wanted a large-scale display of force to counter the challenge, so 100,000 special constables were recruited to bolster the police force. O'Connor, seeing that any form of resistance to authorities would be impossible, cancelled the planned procession to Parliament to present the petition. The meeting was peaceful and finished without incident, after which the petition with its many signatures was sent to Parliament in three cabs accompanied by a small group of Chartist leaders.David Goodway, '' London Chartism, 1838–1848'' (1982). Parliament's repressive measures strengthened an already-present impulse to violent resistance. In June there was widespread drilling and arming in the West Riding and the devising of plots in London. In
Bingley Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,294 at the 2011 Census. Bingley ra ...
, Yorkshire, a group of "physical force" Chartists led by Isaac Ickeringill were involved in a huge fracas at the local
magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...
and later were prosecuted for rescuing two of their compatriots from the police.
William Cuffay William Cuffay (1788 – July 1870) was a Chartist leader in early Victorian London. Chatham Cuffay William was mixed-race, the son of an English woman from Gillingham, Kent, Juliana Fox, and a man of African heritage, Chatham Cuffay, who was ...
, a London labour activist and one of the organisers of the Kennington Common rally, was convicted of "conspiring to levy war" against the Queen and transported to Australia.


Decline after 1848

Chartism as an organized movement declined rapidly after 1848. Throughout the 1850s, pockets of strong support for Chartism could still be found in places such as the
Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ...
, but the final National Convention, held in 1858, was attended by only a handful of delegates. Before the 1980s historians of the movement commonly blamed Chartism's decline on O'Connor's egotism and vanity, but more recent historians (notably
Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and was one of the few women news commentators on radio ...
) have tended to see the process as too complex to be attributed to the personality of a single individual. Ernest Charles Jones became a leading figure in the National Charter Association during its decline, together with George Julian Harney, and helped to give the movement a clearer socialist direction. Jones and Harney knew
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Brandon Estate features a large mural by Tony Hollaway, commissioned by
London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...
's Edward Hollamby in the early 1960s, commemorating the Chartists' meeting on 10 April 1848.


Christianity

During this period, some Christian churches in Britain held "that it was 'wrong for a Christian to meddle in political matters ... All of the denominations were particularly careful to disavow any political affiliation and he who was the least concerned with the 'affairs of this world' was considered the most saintly and worthy of emulation."Harold Underwood Faulkner, ''Chartism and the churches: a study in democracy'' (1916) This was at odds with many Christian Chartists for whom Christianity was "above all practical, something that must be carried into every walk of life. Furthermore, there was no possibility of divorcing it from political science." William Hill, a
Swedenborgian The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious group, influenced by the writings of scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Swedenborgian or ...
minister, wrote in the ''Northern Star'': "We are commanded ... to love our neighbours as ourselves ... this command is universal in its application, whether as a friend, Christian or citizen. A man may be devout as a Christian ... but if as a citizen he claims rights for himself he refuses to confer upon others, he fails to fulfil the precept of Christ". The conflicts between these two views led many like Joseph Barker to see Britain's churches as pointless. "I have no faith in church organisations," he explained. "I believe it my duty to be a man; to live and move in the world at large; to battle with evil wherever I see it, and to aim at the annihilation of all corrupt institutions and the establishment of all good, and generous, and useful institutions in their places." To further this idea, some Christian Chartist Churches were formed where Christianity and radical politics were combined and considered inseparable. More than 20 Chartist Churches existed in Scotland by 1841. Pamphlets made the point and vast audiences came to hear lectures on the same themes by the likes of J. R. Stephens, who was highly influential in the movement. Political preachers thus came into prominence. Between late 1844 and November 1845, subscriptions were raised for the publication of a hymnal, which was printed as a 64-page pamphlet and distributed for a nominal fee, although no known copy is thought to remain. In 2011, a previously unknown and uncatalogued smaller pamphlet of 16 hymns was discovered in
Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax. In 2011 it had a population of 15,481. Todm ...
Library in the North of England. This is believed to be the only Chartist Hymnal in existence. Heavily influenced by dissenting Christians, the hymns are about social justice, "striking down evildoers", and blessing Chartist enterprises, rather than the conventional themes of crucifixion, heaven, and family. Some of the hymns protest the exploitation of
child labour Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
and
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. One proclaims, "Men of wealth and men of power/ Like locusts all thy gifts devour". Two celebrate the martyrs of the movement. "Great God! Is this the Patriot's Doom?" was composed for the funeral of Samuel Holberry, the Sheffield Chartist leader, who died in prison in 1843, while another honours John Frost, Zephaniah Williams, and William Jones, the Chartist leaders transported to
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
in the aftermath of the Newport rising of 1839. The Chartists were especially critical of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
for unequal distribution of the state funds it received, resulting in some bishops and higher dignitaries having grossly larger incomes than other clergymen. This state of affairs led some Chartists to question the very idea of a state-sponsored church, leading them to call for absolute
separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...
. Facing severe persecution in 1839, Chartists took to attending services at churches they held in contempt to display their numerical strength and express their dissatisfaction. Often they forewarned the preacher and demanded that he preach from texts they believed supported their cause, such as 2 Thessalonians 3:10, 2 Timothy 2:6, Matthew 19:23 and James 5:1–6. In response, the set-upon ministers often preached the need to focus on things spiritual and not material, and of meekness and obedience to authority, citing such passages as Romans 13:1–7 and 1 Peter 2:13–17.


Leadership

Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 and was one of the few women news commentators on radio ...
argues that, "Chartism was a movement whose members, supporters, and most of its leaders, were working men. A few were shopkeepers, innkeepers or marginal members of lesser professions." Ernest Jones (1819–1869), was born into the landed gentry, became a barrister, and left a large documentary record. "He is the best-remembered of the Chartist leaders, among the pioneers of the modern Labour movement, and a friend of both Marx and Engels." According to Thompson,
Feargus O'Connor Feargus Edward O'Connor (18 July 1796 – 30 August 1855) was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan, which sought to provide smallholdings for the labouring classes. A highly charismatic figure, O'Connor was admired for his ...
the proprietor of the ''Northern Star'' was the "most well-loved man":
For the Chartists...O'Connor was the acknowledged leader of the movement. Abler men among the leadership there certainly were and men with a clearer sense of direction in which a working-class movement should go, but none of them had the appeal which O'Connor had nor his ability to win the confidence and support of the great crowds who made up the Chartist meetings in their heyday. Over 6 ft tall—he was almost the tallest man in the House of Commons—and with a voice which could easily carry an open-air meetings of tens of thousands, with a handsome appearance, a quick wit and a rich vein of scurrility when it came to abusing his opponents, Connor possessed all the qualities of the first rate popular orator.
Many of the early historians of Chartism attributed the failure of Chartism at least in part to O'Connor. He was accused of egotism and of being quarrelsome. In recent years, however, there has been a trend to reassess him in a more favourable light. According to Thompson, George Julian Harney:
is a particularly good figure to take as central to the study of Chartism. For five years (1845–50) he was the editor of the ''Northern Star.'' He was one of the few leading figures who entered the movement in its earliest days—coming in straight from an active part in the dramatic and principled fight against the stamp duties on newspapers which is one of the highlights of 19th century radical action—and remained active throughout the years of its mass influence.
According to Tristram Hunt:
George Julian Harney, Chartism's enfant terrible ... was firmly on the radical side of the movement, advocating the use of physical force and enjoying riling his conservative comrades by flaunting the red cap of liberty at public meetings. In and out of jail, endlessly feuding with fellow Chartists, and ultimately expelled from the party, the Robespierre-admiring Harney remained convinced that insurrection was the surest route to achieve the demands of the charter.


Legacy

Malcolm Chase argues that Chartism was not, "a movement that failed but a movement characterized by multiplicity of small victories." Moreover, eventually "Chartism collapsed, but ''Chartists'' did not."


Eventual reforms

Chartism did not directly generate any reforms. However after 1848, as the movement faded, its demands appeared less threatening and were gradually enacted by other reformers. Middle-class parliamentary Radicals continued to press for an extension of the franchise in such organisations as the National Parliamentary and Financial Reform Association and the Reform Union. By the late 1850s, the celebrated John Bright was agitating in the country for franchise reform. But working-class radicals had not gone away. The Reform League campaigned for manhood suffrage in the 1860s and included former Chartists in its ranks. In 1867 part of the urban working men was admitted to the franchise under the Reform Act 1867, and in 1918 full manhood suffrage was achieved. Other points of the People's Charter were granted: secret voting was introduced in 1872 and the payment of MPs in 1911. Annual elections remain the only Chartist demand not to be implemented.


Enabling political progressions

Political elites feared the Chartists in the 1830s and 1840s as a dangerous threat to national stability. In the Chartist stronghold of Manchester, the movement undermined the political power of the old Tory-Anglican elite that had controlled civic affairs. But the reformers of Manchester were themselves factionalised. Chartism has also been seen as a forerunner to the
UK Labour Party The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all gene ...
.


Development of working class confidence

Participation in the Chartist Movement filled some working men with self-confidence: they learned to speak publicly, to send their poems and other writings off for publication—to be able, in short, to confidently articulate the feelings of working people. Many former Chartists went on to become journalists, poets, ministers, and councillors.


Colonies

Chartism was also an important influence in some British colonies. Some leaders were punished by transportation to Australia, where they spread their beliefs. In 1854, Chartist demands were put forward by the miners at the
Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, whic ...
on the
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
fields at
Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vi ...
, Victoria,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. Within two years of the military suppression of the Eureka revolt, the first elections of the Victoria parliament were held, with near-universal male suffrage and by secret ballot. It has also been argued that Chartist influence in Australia led to other reforms in the late 19th century and well into the 20th century, including
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
, relatively short 3-year parliamentary terms, preferential voting,
compulsory voting Compulsory voting, also called mandatory voting, is the requirement in some countries that eligible citizens register and vote in elections. Penalties might be imposed on those who fail to do so without a valid reason. According to the CIA World F ...
and
single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
. In the African colonies after 1920, there were occasional appearances of a "colonial Chartism" that called for improved welfare, upgraded education, freedom of speech, and greater political representation for native people.Barbara Bush, ''Imperialism, race, and resistance: Africa and Britain, 1919–1945'' (1999) p. 261


See also

* Condition of England question * Constitutional reform in the United Kingdom * John Frost (Chartist) *
Politics of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch, currently Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, is the head ...
* Reform Bills * Representation of the People Act 1884 * Republicanism in the United Kingdom * Richard Spurr


References


Further reading

*Allen, J and Ashton, R.O. ''Papers For the People.'' Merlin Press. London. (2005) *Archer, J.E. ''Social Unrest and Popular Protest in England 1780–1840.''
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
. (1996) *Ashton, Owen, Fyson, Robert, and Roberts, Stephen, ''The Chartist Legacy'' (1999) Essays *Belchem, J ''Radical Language, Meaning and Identity in the Age of the Chartists.'' Journal of Victorian Culture. (2005) * Briggs, Asa. ''Chartist Studies'' (1959) * Briggs, Asa. ''The Age of Improvement 1783–1867'' (1979), pp 302–31
online
* Browne, Harry. ''Chartism'' (1999), short textboo
online
* * Carver, Stephen, ''Shark Alley: The Memoirs of a Penny-a-Liner'' (2016), a creative non-fiction account of the life of a Chartist journalist. * Chase, Malcolm. ''Chartism: A New History'' (
Manchester University Press Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with t ...
, 2007), A standard scholarly history of the entire movemen
excerpt
* Chase, Malcolm. "'Labour's Candidates': Chartist Challenges at the Parliamentary Polls, 1839–1860." ''Labour History Review'' (Maney Publishing) 74, no. 1 (April 2009): 64–89. * Epstein, James and Thompson, Dorothy, ''The Chartist Experience'' (1982) Essays * Evans, Eric J. ''Chartism'' (2000) short textboo
online
* Fraser, W. Hamish, ''Chartism in Scotland'' (2010) * Gammage, R. G. ''History of the Chartist Movement 1837–1854'' * Gibson, Josh. "The Chartists and the constitution: revisiting British popular constitutionalism." ''Journal of British Studies'' 56.1 (2017): 70–90. * Gibson, Josh. "Natural right and the intellectual context of early Chartist thought." ''History Workshop Journal'' Vol. 84. (2017). * Griffin, Emma. "The Making of the Chartists: Popular Politics and Working-Class Autobiography in Early Victorian Britain." ''English Historical Review'' 129#538, (2014), pp. 578–605
online
* Hadfield, Alice Mary, ''The Chartist Land Company'', (1970) * Hall, Robert, ''Voices of the People: Democracy and Chartist Political Identity'' (The Merlin Press, 2007) stresses the importance of regional loyalties and associations. * Jones, David J. V., ''Chartism and the Chartists'' (1975). * Jones, David J., ''The Last Rising; The Newport Insurrection 1839'' (1985) * O'Brien, Mark, ''"Perish the Privileged Orders": A Socialist history of the Chartist movement'' (1995) * Pickering, Paul, ''Chartism and the Chartists in Manchester and Salford'' (1995) * Read, Donald and Glasgow, Eric, ''Feargus O'Connor: Irishman and Chartist'' (London 1961)
online
* Roberts, Stephen, ''Radical Politicians and Poets in Early Victorian Britain: The Voices of Six Chartist Leaders'' (1993) * Roberts, Stephen and Thompson, Dorothy. 'Images of Chartism' (1998) Contemporary illustrations * Roberts, Stephen, 'The People's Charter: Democratic Agitation in Early Victorian Britain' (2003) Essays * Roberts, Stephen, ''The Chartist Prisoners: The Radical Lives of Thomas Cooper and Arthur O'Neill'' (2008) * Royle, E, ''Chartism'' Longman (1996) * Sanders, Mike. ''The poetry of Chartism: aesthetics, politics, history'' (Cambridge University Press, 2009). * Schwarzkopf, Jutta, ''Women in the Chartist Movement'' (1991) * Slosson, Preston William, ''The Decline of the Chartist Movement'' (1916) * Taylor, Miles, ''Ernest Jones, Chartism and the Romance of Politics'' (2003) * Thompson, Dorothy. ''The Chartists: popular politics in the Industrial Revolution'' (1984) by a leading exper
online
* Thompson, Dorothy. ''The early Chartists'' (1971
online
* Thompson, Dorothy, ed. ''The Dignity of Chartism'' (Verso Books, 2015), Essays by leading specialists. * Vargo, Gregory. ''An Underground History of Early Victorian Fiction: Chartism, Radical Print Culture, and the Social Problem Novel'' (Cambridge University Press, 2018). * Walton, John K. ''Chartism'' (1999), short textboo
online


Historiography

* Claeys, Gregory. "The Triumph of Class-Conscious Reformism in British Radicalism, 1790–1860" ''Historical Journal'' (1983) 26#4 pp. 969–98
in JSTOR
* Griffin, Emma. "The Making of the Chartists: Popular Politics and Working-class Autobiography in Early Victorian Britain." ''English Historical Review'' 129.538 (2014): 578–605. * Hilton, Boyd. ''A mad, bad, and dangerous people?: England 1783–1846'' Oxford University Press, 2008) pp 612–629, 681. * Kovalev, Yuri V. "The Literature of Chartism." ''Victorian Studies'' (1958): 117–138
online
* Saunders, Robert. "Chartism from Above: British Elites and the Interpretation of Chartism", ''Historical Research'' 81:213 (August 2008): 463–484 ( DOI). * Taylor, Miles. "Rethinking the chartists: Searching for synthesis in the historiography of chartism", ''Historical Journal'', (1996), 39#2 pp 479–49
in JSTOR


Primary sources

* Finn, Joe, ed. ''Chartists and Chartism'' (Hodder and Stoughton, 1992), 124pp. * The Chartist Movement in Britain, ed. Gregory Claeys (6 vols, Pickering and Chatto, 2001) * Frost, Thomas, ed. (1880)
''Forty Years' Recollections: Literary and Political''
Samson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington * Mather, Frederick C. ed. (1980) ''Chartism and society: an anthology of documents'' 319pp *Scheckner, Peter, ed. (1989). ''An Anthology of Chartist Poetry. The poetry of the British Working Class, the 1830s–1850s'', Fairleigh Dickinson University Press,
online preview
*Kovalev, Yu. V. ed. (1956). "Antologiya Chartistskoy Literatury" nthology of Chartist Literature Izd. Lit. na Inostr. Yazykakh, Moscow, 413 pp. (Russian introduction, with original Chartist texts in English).


External links


Resources


Chartist AncestorsThe People's Charter
* ttp://john-leech-archive.org.uk/keyword/chartist-movement.htm Punch Series on "Great Chartist Demonstrations"br>Spartacus index on Chartism


Articles





* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070311192806/http://www.mytimemachine.co.uk/chartistrising.htm How the police foiled a planned armed Chartist uprising, 1848 {{Authority control History of social movements History of liberalism Radical parties Social history of the United Kingdom Protests in the United Kingdom 19th century in the United Kingdom Liberalism in the United Kingdom Articles containing video clips Radicalism (historical) Labour movement