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| In 1848 the British establishment watched in horror as revolution swept across Europe. In London, Chartist leaders delivered a petition to Parliament asserting the rights of ordinary people. Dangerous radicals or proto-democrats? Stephen Roberts traces their story. |  The 1848 Chartist demonstration poster
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In the years 1839, 1842 and 1848, the Chartist Movement urged Parliament to adopt three great petitions. Of these, the best known is the final petition, with six million signatures, presented to Parliament on 10th April 1848 after a huge meeting on Kennington Common. This event achieved great prominence in the story of Chartism, due largely to the reaction of the authorities as they faced the challenges of that turbulent year.
The presentation of the petition came at a time of much violent change in Europe; Louis Philippe had been removed from the French throne in February 1848, and revolutions were soon to convulse other European capitals. These events had given great heart to the Chartist leaders, although they were already much encouraged by the election to Parliament, in July 1847, of their most popular leader, Feargus O'Connor.
'...some of the propertied classes had come to believe that the Chartists intended revolution...'
Working people had proclaimed themselves as Chartists at crowded meetings throughout March 1848. The authorities had viewed this campaign with great concern, and some of the propertied classes had come to believe that the Chartists intended revolution, even though the Movement's leaders always emphasized their commitment to peaceful protest. The government's concern led to Queen Victoria being dispatched to the Isle of Wight for her safety, and the Duke of Wellington - with thousands of soldiers and special constables - was brought in to defend London.
'The propertied classes now sought to present the Chartist petition and demonstration of 1848 as a 'fiasco'.'
No part of the Chartist petition of 1848 survives - though a fragment of an earlier one does - but within two days of its presentation O'Connor was informed that the number of genuine signatures on it was far fewer than the six million the Chartists claimed. In 17 hours, 13 clerks had apparently counted 1.9 million signatures; O'Connor expressed scepticism that such a task could have been completed by such a small number of people in such a short time. If pseudonyms such as 'Victoria Rex' and 'No Cheese' were used, this did not necessarily mean these signatures were forgeries; for some Chartists it was necessary to keep their identities secret from employers.
The propertied classes now sought to present the Chartist petition and demonstration of 1848 as a 'fiasco'. This was the line taken by the newspapers in the days after the event, and was confirmed in Charles Kingsley's 'Alton Locke' (1850). Despite this, Chartists such as Thomas Clark, who had walked alongside the cabs carrying the petition, looked back on the events of 1848 with great pride. Their intentions had been peaceful; the aggressive militarisation of the capital had been unnecessary.
William Lovett was instrumental in drawing up this new document of long-established radical demands. He had been an active metropolitan radical at the time of the Reform Bill crisis of 1831-2, when the middle class but not the working class had been admitted into the parliamentary system. This was seen as a betrayal of a large section of society, and created some of the resentment that led to Chartism.
The draconian New Poor Law of 1834 amounted to an attack on the working class, and helped this new movement of protest to gain massive support in the north of England. There were other injustices, including the treatment of trade unionists, to fuel the fires that turned people into Chartists.
'The draconian New Poor Law of 1834 amounted to an attack on the working class...'
The origins of Chartism were complex. For Lovett, peaceful persuasion by respectable working men - 'moral force' - was the best way to win the Charter. This strategy clashed with that of Feargus O'Connor. Self confident and energetic, O'Connor was a charismatic demagogue, who used mass meetings and the widely read 'Northern Star' to unite the forces of the working class behind him. His popularity was immense; the Chartists named their children after him and he himself was known as the 'Lion of Freedom'.
O'Connor may have implied support for 'physical force', but only a very small number of Chartists were genuine insurrectionists. John Frost was transported after leading a rising in Newport, in November 1839, in which 22 Chartists were shot dead by soldiers; Robert Peddie was sentenced to three years with hard labour after his involvement in an attempted Chartist rising in Bradford in January 1840.
These local leaders were not failures or dropouts. George Binns, of Sunderland, sacrificed involvement in a family business to be part of the movement. Peter McDouall, active in Bury, was a surgeon. Thomas Cooper was a journalist in Leicester, who encouraged poetry writing, gave lectures and opened an adult school. Weavers, shoemakers, tailors, carpenters - all became Chartists. Women were drawn into active support for Chartism. They signed petitions, raised funds, made banners, attended rallies; some founded female Chartist associations, and Mary Ann Walker, one of the 'Hen Chartists' attacked by 'The Times', became well known as a lecturer.
'In Preston, in the face of Chartist crowds, soldiers opened fire...'
In 1842 more force was thrown against the authorities than in any other year in the 19th century. In May of that year, a wave of strikes in the industrial districts followed the government's rejection of the second Chartist petition, which had 3.3 million signatures. In Preston, in the face of Chartist crowds, soldiers opened fire; in Halifax there was an attack by Chartists on soldiers escorting prisoners. The authorities struck back harshly; 56 Chartists from the Potteries were transported. This defeat did not, however, spell the end of Chartism.
In 1845 Feargus O'Connor became interested in the land question, and the Chartist Land Plan was launched. The idea was that people might be helped to leave their factory towns, to live independently in a cottage with an allotment. This had huge appeal, and in 1847 about 600 branches of the Land Company were formed. Members of the company paid a small weekly subscription and drew lots for the cottages. With the £100,000 collected, five estates were bought, the first being Heronsgate near Watford in 1846. The scheme touched deep feelings of attachment to the land, and greatly bolstered Chartism, although only 250 working people were eventually settled on the estates.
The project soon ran into legal difficulties: O'Connor was harried on the subject in the House of Commons, and in 1851 the company was dissolved. One of the Chartist cottages, restored to its original appearance, can still be seen, in Great Dodford, Worcestershire.
'...40 000 people attended his funeral.'
William Lovett died in 1877, having spent his life since the years of the Chartist Movement promoting working-class education. Thomas Clark lived only two years longer than Feargus, the man he had so admired. Thomas Cooper spent the second part of his long life as a Christian preacher. He died in 1892, the same year as Samuel Kydd, another well-known figure in the movement. John Frost returned to Britain from exile in 1856; Robert Peddie was not heard of again; and George Binns died in New Zealand, aged only 31.
The People's Charter was not enacted in the 1840s. In the short term Chartism failed, but it was a movement founded on an optimism that was eventually justified. It was a powerful assertion of the rights of working people, creating in them a long-term self-confidence and self-reliance. During the century after the end of the movement, most of the Chartist demands were passed into law, and undoubtedly the Chartist issues of democratic inclusion and the rights of citizenship remain highly relevant today.
Books
The Chartists by Dorothy Thompson (Temple Smith, 1987)
1848 The British State and the Chartist Movement by John Saville (CUP, 1987)
Images of Chartism edited by Stephen Roberts and Dorothy Thompson (Merlin, 1998)
Radical Politicians and Poets in Early Victorian Britain. The Voices of Six Chartist Leaders by Stephen Roberts (Edwin Mellen, 1993)
People's History Museum [http://www.peopleshistorymuseum.org.uk/] in Manchester houses exhibitions that portray working class life over the last two centuries. Special collections include banners relating to various movements and archive material on movements from the Chartists through to New Labour.
The Chartist Cottage, Great Dodford, Worcestershire. Faithfully restored by the National Trust and managed by the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, this cottage was part of the Chartist Land Plan project, the brainchild of Feargus O'Connor. The cottage is open by appointment only, for educational visits. Contact the museum on 01527 831886 or 883363 for further details.
Published on BBC History: 2002-05-01
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