Chartist Movement Research Paper

Chartism was one of the biggest movements of the nineteenth century as it incorporated the desires and ambitions of millions of people from all over Britain. Various political, social and economic grievances were merged in to a huge protesting movement that strived for political reform and political democracy. In 1832 an act called the Reform Act was passed which removed small boroughs and added more seats in Parliament for certain towns, however it failed to extend the vote to members of society who did not hold a lease or own a property. This act indisputably endorsed the middle class as well as establishing the framework for later politics. As a result of this, founding member of the London Working Men’s Association (1836), with the help

Many of them coming from working class backgrounds. William Lovett was a British activist and was the man behind the People’s Charter in 1838 and also founded the London Working Men’s Association in 1836. Lovett was from a working-class background and before founding the London Working Men’s Association he was a cabinet maker. It was undoubtedly Lovett who drew up the People’s Charter and it was his association, the London Working Men’s Association, which released the Charter into the public. The London Working Men’s Association united a large group of artisans and craftsmen of various different trades and most of these men had early associations with the National Union of the Working Classes. John Frost, though not one of the most significant members of the Chartist movement, certainly left his mark. Born in Newport, his family lead very working class lives. His father was an innkeeper but died whilst Frost was an infant and therefore was raised by his grandfather who was bootmaker. Frost is mainly known for being the unofficial leader of the Newport Rising in 1839, but he also released numerous pamphlets over the course of two years and became a spokesperson against landowning aristocracy. Thousands of working class people came together in support of the charter and consequently many of them were sent to prison as a result of their beliefs. Like Samuel Holberry for instance, who was arrested

The working-class leaders within the movement came to the realisation that they would never make any significant and permanent changes until their supporters had votes and thus began to try and appeal to the middle class. They aimed to demonstration their capability in a peaceful and law abiding manner and tried to gain the sympathetic help and support of those from the middle class who might want to work with them and then relay and support these claims inside the House of Commons. So despite the huge number of working-class members and influences, many of the most significant members of the Chartism movement came from the middle classes. One of the most notable (and arguably controversial) figures of the Chartism movement was Feargus O’Connor. O’Connor came from a protestant background. His father was an Irish revolutionary, his uncle settled in France where he was given a General rank in Napoleons service and also married a daughter of Condorcet. In 1837, O’Connor founded a newspaper which wrote about Chartist news and opinions called The Northern Star newspaper which was based in Leeds. Thomas Attwood was another high-profile member of the Chartist movement. He was a banker from Birmingham who presented to