Chartism

Question 1

Irish coercion act

Answer 1

Repressive
Lord lieutenant of Ireland given power to suppress public meetings, arrests common
Fear over the same in Britain (whigs)
Mass demonstrations in Birmingham, Nottingham and Manchester over it

Question 2

Whigs and trade unions

Answer 2

Trade unions established after combinations acts repealed
1834- Robert Owen established grand national consolidated trade union
Whigs squishes it in six months
Tolpuddle martyrs

Question 3

War of the unstamped

Answer 3

1712- newspaper had been taxed to reduce circulation
1765- same tax was imposed on America- reason for revolution
1830- all newspapers had 4p tax too much for normal people
1831- Henry Heatherington established poor man’s guardian sold for 1p for 2 years
Govt tried to stop him

Question 4

Factory act

Answer 4

1833
Many reformers campaigned for govt regulation of factory systems
1830- Richard oastler- made argument‘Yorkshire slavery’ was the same as plantation conditions
Campaigned for 10 hour day
Whigs introduced
Children under 9 couldn’t work and 9-18 could only work 12 hours and had to be educated

Question 5

Poor law amendment act

Answer 5

1834
Old poor laws= expensive
Those seeking relief would receive less than the lowest worker
Poor should only be helped in the workhouse
Outdoor relief should be abolished

Question 6

London working men’s association

Answer 6

Formed 1836
Led by William Lovett
Never intended to be mass organisation for London working class
Small membership- a few hundred- fairly high monthly fee- 1 shilling
Conservative- promoted political and social rights and education for all
Believed in peaceful protest
Became part of national charter association and helped draft people’s charter

Question 7

Birmingham political union

Answer 7

Led by Thomas Atwood
Strong organisation- has campaigned in support of 1832 reform bill
Declined in importance after reform bill
1837- depression in midlands caused to reorganise
Failed to gain support
Nov 1837- relaunched- more radical- new proposals including universal suffrage
Would be presented to parliament backed by petition

Question 8

Great northern union

Answer 8

Founded by Feargus O Connor
Toured northern England establishing local radical associations
Persuasive orator
Gained widespread support in towns
1837- combined associations into GNU and opens Northern Star- Chartist newspaper

Question 9

1839 events

Answer 9

National chartist convention- met in London(Feb) attended by thousands- showed organisation of group- divisions over action of petition rejected
May- convention moves to Birmingham
June- petition- Thomas Attwood presents it to Parliament- 3 miles long over a million signed
July- meeting at Bull ring- govt reluctant to use force- used London police to disperse crowd
Nov- Newport riding
>aim: persuade authorities to release Henry Vincent and Chartist leaders
> John frost led 1 of 3 marches totalling 10,000
> surrounded west gate hotel where troops held chartist leaders
>troops shot into crowd killing 22 men- Frost and 2 associates found guilty of treason sentenced to death

Question 10

1842 events

Answer 10

Petition- 
Economic depression- unemployment 
Poor law couldn’t cope
3.3 mill signatures- largest signed petition 
Still denied
Plug plot riots
- wave of strikes involved strikers pulling plugs out of boilers
Not promoted by Chartists

Question 11

1848 events

Answer 11

Meeting on Kennington common- hopes to gain support
Terrible turn out due to weather and authority threat
25,000 not 200,000
Petition goes to parliament- allegedly 5.5 million but only 2 million real ones
Govt refuse to consider

Question 12

Leaders- Robert gammage

Answer 12

Travelled country giving political lectures

Wrote history of the chartist movement

Question 13

Leaders- Henry Heatherington

Answer 13

Working class
Imprisoned twice for selling newspapers without stamp duty
Became treasurer for LWMA
helped draw up charter

Question 14

Leaders- Elizabeth Pease

Answer 14

Niece of Elizabeth fry
Supported campaign for 1832 RA
supported moral force

Question 15

Failure of Chartism

Answer 15

Leadership-
- division over physical and moral force from start
- division on aims- no solid plan if petition fails
Tactics-
- petitions ignored by govt
- division on tactics meant no one knew what to do when it failed
Popular support-
-working class more concerned with working conditions than political rights
- Kennington common reflected decreasing support- low turnout and 170,000 recruited as special constables
-short term issue
Govt response
- controlled- correct level to avoid provocation
-police force meant not too much force
-troops rarely used
- couldn’t be shown as victims of govt brutality

Question 16

National convention

Answer 16

1839
Organised meeting to discuss plans to propose petition to parliament
Initially met in London but disagreements came up over force, petition failure and local or national
53 met but never in a group more than 50
Moved to Birmingham 35 members planned sacred month and measures in case petition failed

Question 17

Failure of first petition

Answer 17

Presented to Parliament in June 1839 
1.2 million signatures 
Rejected 235 votes to 46 
Some wanted national rebellion 
Sacred month voted down by convention 
Local riots that were squished

Question 18

Second national convention and petition

Answer 18

Arranged 1842 after economic depression and breakdown of parts of poor law
New petition collected with 3.3 million signatures
Again rejected by 287 to 49
Led to plug plot

Question 19

Third petition and Kennington common rally

Answer 19

1848
New petition prepared feargus oconnor claimed it had 6 million signatures it was less than 2 million
Peaceful march on Kennington common
Govt feared violence and brought in special constables
Claimed 150,000 turned up only around 12,000-15,000

Question 20

Support- south

Answer 20

Initially support came from south
Half the national convention was from London
More moderate than north
Southern influence declined as movement grew

Question 21

Support- Birmingham

Answer 21

Significant support initially
More moderate
After riots from first petition distanced themselves

Question 22

Support- north

Answer 22

Important to movement
Most under represented
As southern support reduced northern support was more important
1839-40- chartist militias formed and drilled and weapons collected

Question 23

Support- middle class

Answer 23

Initially a lot of middle class support 
Fell after riots and Newport uprising 
Had some middle class support in Birmingham

Question 24

Support- working class

Answer 24

Extremely working class movement
Attracted skilled workers who struggled as they were under represented in parliament
Communally working together fit with the close communities

Question 25

Support- rural

Answer 25

Largely unaffected by movement
Poor law amendment act had somewhat benefit them
Didn’t suffer from under representation

Question 26

Support- women

Answer 26

Significant source of support
Local chartist groups often had women’s divisions
Women were crucial to fundraising