Chartism: A People's Petition To Parliament

Chartism: a people's petition to Parliament
The early decades of the 1800s are well known as a period of discontent and
social unrest. The Industrial Revolution meant the decline of traditional rural
communities and the growth of a working class urban population, particularly
in the new industrial towns of the North such as Manchester. Living and
working conditions for the urban factory worker were frequently appalling
and gave rise to a number of movements aimed at bettering working class
conditions. One such movement was Chartism, which aimed to present a
people's charter, or petition for reform, to parliament. It had a number of
aims, but first and foremost among them was the granting of universal
suffrage, or the vote for all men over the age of 21.
There had been several previous attempts in the early 1800s to build a solid
working-class movement, most notably the attempt to establish a universal
trade union known as the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union or
GNCTU. In 1834, however, this trade union collapsed. The subsequent
disillusionment led to a growth of interest in other possible ways of giving
voice to the desires and grievances of the workers. In 1836, the London
Working Men's Association was founded, led by William Lovett. Its aim was
to reform parliament, and in 1838 it issued a charter demanding six political
reforms, including universal suffrage. Most of these demands were to be
taken up by the Chartist petitioners.
So began the Chartist movement. Other centres of this movement were

located in Birmingham, and in the north of England. In Birmingham, the
movement was championed by Thomas Attwood, a banker who was
interested in leading the movement for parliamentary reform in the Midlands,
and Joseph Sturge, a wealthy corn merchant. The key figure in the north of
England was Fergus O'Connor, at that time the editor of the newspaper The
Northern Star.
In 1839, a Chartist National Convention assembled in London. The delegates

talked of proclaiming a 'sacred month' or general strike, and collected
signatures for a great petition. This petition was presented to parliament but it
was rejected in the Commons by 235 votes to 46. Thereupon the National
Convention proclaimed a general strike, but a week later cancelled the
proclamation and ignominiously dismissed itself. The government meanwhile
had taken action and additional troops had been sent to those areas where
Chartism was strongest. Disturbances in Birmingham were crushed, and
William Lovett was arrested. The only other Chartist rising occurred in
Monmouthshire where a group of miners marched in Newport. Again, this
Newport Rising was quickly crushed and its leaders transported for life.
In 1842, a second petition was presented to parliament but was again rejected
by 287 votes to 49. A series of riots and strikes followed, most notably the
Lancashire Plug Plot, where strikers went round the mills removing the plugs
from boilers. Again, government troops moved in to crush all such
disturbances and many chartists were arrested. William Lovett subsequently
abandoned the cause, and Fergus O'Connor rose to prominence as the main
Chartist leader.
In 1848, under the leadership of O'Connor, a third Chartist petition was

drawn up, known as the 'Monster Petition': It was intended to be taken to
parliament in a large procession, but the government took elaborate military
precautions, and the procession was forbidden to cross the 'Thames. lt was
therefore taken to parliament in three cabs instead. O'Connor had claimed
that the petition contained five million signatures, but in the event it was
found to contain less than two million, and a great many of these were false.
Parliament refused to discuss it, and the Chartist movement was discredited.
Despite the fiasco of the third petition, the Chartist movement gave
expression to a number of proposals which were later adopted to produce a
reformed parliamentary system. Universal manhood suffrage, the abolition of
the property qualification, and a secret ballot all featured among the Chartists'
demands and all of them were eventually granted. In essence, the demands of
the Chartists were too far ahead of the times, and consequently, the
government took very resolute action to control and suppress their actions.
Doubtless, the contemporary essayist Thomas Carlyle expressed the fear of
many MPs when he wrote, "These chartisms are our French Revolution. God
grant that we, with our better methods, may be able to transact it by argument
alone".

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Chartism: a people's petition to Parliament

So began the Chartist movement. Other centres of this movement were

In 1839, a Chartist National Convention assembled in London. The delegates

In 1848, under the leadership of O'Connor, a third Chartist petition was

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