1. Presenter: Scott Dobson

2. Formed due to anger at 1832 Reform Act and 1834 Poor Law
Arguably the world’s first mass labour movement
June London Working Men’s Association- small but influential
1838- Publication of the People’s Charter- too moderate?

3. Suffrage for all adult males
Equal-sized parliamentary constituencies
Secret Ballot at elections
An end to the property qualification to Parliament
Pay for MPs
Annual parliamentary elections

4. JUNE 1832 REFORM ACT NO VOTE FOR WORKING PEOPLE
1835 PEOPLE'S CHARTER
FIRST PETITION ,25 MILLION PEOPLE HAD SIGNED THE PETITION
REJECTED BY PARLIAMENT
VIOLENCE FOLLOWS
SECOND PETITION ,25 MILLION PEOPLE SIGN THE PETITION
PARLIAMENT AGAIN REJECTS THE PETITION
VIOLENCE FOLLOWS 1848 THIRD PETITION REJECTED

5. Joseph Rayner Stephens and Feargus O’Connor
O’Connor: “willing to die for the cause” and to “lead people to death or glory”
Warned of violence if the six points were not met quickly

6. “If Abraham was ready to kill his only child, shall we falter when God commands us to draw the sword and never to sheath that sword until it is sheathed in the hearts of his enemies? God wills the death of no man; neither is it the will of God that a Poor Law Commission, of the kind that now curses England, should ever be established. I pray God to cast them all to hell.”

7. John Frost and the Newport Rising, 4 November 1839
Frost planned to march on Newport and then, through passive protest, prove the scale of public of opposition to imprisonment of Henry Vincent- events spiralled out of control, 20 men killed
The Plug Riots, August 1842
Industrial disruption, but denounced by O’Connor

9. O’Connor attempted ‘moral force’ tactics by arranging a petition and a big meeting
It was claimed there were over 5.7 million signatures on the petition, but inspection by parliament showed there were less than 2 million with many forgeries
Accused of destroying credibility of the movement

10. Kennington Common fiasco damaged the movement, but pockets of strength remained- into the 1850s there were well attended meetings in London, Birmingham and Leicester
But, Chartist candidates did very badly at General Election and sales of the Northern Star dropped considerably
Tactics of mass mobilisation still impressive