Chartism - The Role of Individuals in the Chartist Movement

Question 1

William Lovett - Who was Lovett and what values did he have?

Answer 1

Lovett was a pro-reformer who had met both Henry Hunt and William Cobbett, with strongly pro-peace values – within the Chartist movement this became central to Lovett’s views and caused differences with other Chartist leaders

Question 2

William Lovett - What was Lovett a founding member and secretary of?

Answer 2

Lovett was a founding member and secretary of the London Working Men’s Association and was key to authoring the six points of the People’s Charter

Question 3

William Lovett - What did Lovett become secretary of and what did his non-violent stance lead to?

Answer 3

He became the secretary for the national convention and his non-violent stance contributed to the confused split felt after the failure of the first petition in 1839

Question 4

William Lovett - What happened to Lovett for his role in the Birmingham riots?

Answer 4

Ironically, Lovett was then arrested during the Birmingham riots in which Chartists protested the use of police violence – he spent a little over a year in prison during which time he wrote letters and a book to direct the Chartist movement

Question 5

William Lovett - What happened after the first national convention?

Answer 5

After the first national Convention, Lovett still continued to play a role in the Chartist movement – he focused on trying to unite the working-class and middle class movements by working closely with the Birmingham based Universal Suffrage Association

Question 6

William Lovett - What hindered Lovett’s influence?

Answer 6

However, Lovett was hindered in his influence by the division among the leadership, notably through the opposition of O’Connor, who attacked him repeatedly in the Northern Star

Question 7

William Lovett - What did Lovett get side-tracked by?

Answer 7

Lovett also got side-tracked into other concerns such as campaigning to improve education and joining the Anti-Slavery League

Question 8

Feargus O’Connor - Who was O’Connor and what was his past?

Answer 8

O’Connor was an Irishman with a chequered past – he had been a lawyer, then an Irish MP until being disqualified for failing the property qualification, then he became the owner of Leeds-based newspaper the Northern Star

Question 9

Feargus O’Connor - Good things about O’Connor?

Answer 9

On one hand, O’Connor was very charismatic as a leader and attracted many working-class supporters with his speeches drawing huge crowds

Question 10

Feargus O’Connor - When did his reputation grow?

Answer 10

His reputation grew when we served 18 months in prison for sedition, during which time he smuggled letters out to publish in his Northern Star

Question 11

Feargus O’Connor - The role of the Northern Star?

Answer 11

The Northern Star was essential as the main means of transmitting Chartist ideas between the various national groups, selling 36,000 copies weekly

Question 12

Feargus O’Connor - When did O’Connor serve as an MP and what did this allow?

Answer 12

O’Connor also served as an MP in 1847, which gave him influence – he created the National Charter Association in 1840, which revived the movement after the failure of the first petition

Question 13

Feargus O’Connor - What was the National Charter Association claiming by 1842?

Answer 13

By 1842, the National Charter Association claimed to have 400 branches and 50,000 members

Question 14

Feargus O’Connor - Problems with O’Connor?

Answer 14

On the other hand, O’Connor was deeply divisive – his political ideas were unfocused and varied from speech to speech and he argued with almost every Chartist leader

Question 15

Feargus O’Connor - What did he write about other Chartist leaders?

Answer 15

He wrote articles that criticised them and damaged their reputations, describing the other leaders as artisans, rather than real members of the industrial working classes

Question 16

Feargus O’Connor - What was a main area of dispute between O’Connor and his fellow leaders?

Answer 16

A main areas of dispute was over violence – O’Connor’s rhetoric was of action and violence and he maintained that the British gov would only every act in the face of real threats

Question 17

Feargus O’Connor - What led to accusations of cowardice?

Answer 17

However, O’Connor never personally got involved in these actions, which led some to criticise his of cowardice

Question 18

Feargus O’Connor - Where was another area of dispute for O’Connor?

Answer 18

Another areas of dispute was that in the later years, O’Connor became focused on theories of land ownership for peasants and this diverted some of his attention – his Land Plan, an effort to purchase land to settle workers on their own plots, absorbed a lot of time and finances and was ultimately badly planned and impractical

Question 19

Importance of leadership for the Chartist movement?

Answer 19

Although the Chartists were a mass movement, it was not spontaneous and needed leadership – it was the leaders that directed the actions, and it was the divisions in leadership that weakened the movement - this explains why the gov tactic of locking up the leaders as often as possible was so effective in weakening the movement