Chartists

The name given to a body of political reformers (mainly working men) formed in England about 1838.

Economic depression and a succession of bad harvests aggravated the discontent and disappointment felt among the workers of Britain after Grey's reforms and the Reform Bill 1832, which did jot enfranchise the working class, and this resulted in the movement now known as Chartism, which takes its name from the document or charter in which the agitators presented their demands publicly. In 1837, six members of the House of Commons held a conference with representatives of the London Workingmen's Association, and together they drew up the People's Charter for alleviating the sufferings of the artisans and labouring classes. They petitioned for:
(1) universal suffrage (of men);
(2) abolition of the property qualification for a seat in Parliament;
(3) annual parliaments;
(4) equal representation;
(5) payment of MPs;
(6) vote by ballot.

Among the chief Chartist leaders were Feargus O'Connor, Thomas Attwood, the Rev. J.R.Stephens, Richard Oastler, William Lovett and Henry Vincent (both working men) Ernest Jones, and Thomas Cooper. The Northern Star became the newspaper organ of the movement. Members of the extreme section favoured resort to arms, or popular risings and riots, if their demands could not be obtained by peaceable methods. This section of the Chartists were called 'physical-force men'; but the more moderate Chartists, who advocated only constitutional agitation, were in the majority. Their demands were adopted from earlier reformers, John Cartwright's Plan of Reform, 1776, and the Duke of Richmond's Bill, 1780, known as the People's Rights measure.

The struggle of the Chartists may be divided into two periods - 1836-39, aiming merely at industrial amelioration, and 1840-48, when the extremists gradually took over leadership. The Chartists refused to support the Anti-Corn Law League, as they thought that it helped only the middle classes. Disturbances were most frequent in the north of England. Petitions incorporating the Chartists' demands were presented to Parliament on three occasions, in 1838, 1842, and 1848; they were rejected each time. Rejection of a monster petition in 1839 brought rioting. The demonstration at Kennington Common in April 1848, prior to presenting the third petition, caused great alarm in the government, and Wellington posted troops to guard London. But the demonstration was a failure and marked the end of Chartism as a movement of national importance; it declined partly owing to improved conditions of labour, partly due to the legislative concessions made in reform bills, and partly to internal dissensions with the party itself.

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