Mr. David O’Brien

I will look at the key aspects that are present in the piece and how they relate to the question asked and the reliability of the source provided. The three aspects that I will look for are the evidence of economic pressure and how this drove people to fight against the poor law and rebel against the middle class and the oligarchs from 1838. The political movement within Chartism that spawned the general convention as well as the formation of the national charter association, and eventually put forward the petition in 1842.

And the cultural community that was very inclusive for its time, letting people from outside England and also other ethnicities like William Cuffay have as much of a say as anyone else within the movement. I will then conclude by choosing what I think is the main catalyst for support. Part 2 What evidence is there in the extract above of the three explanations for Chartism’s support that you learned about in the chapter, and which, if any, is stressed most strongly by the speaker?

In this essay I will show evidence from the speech provided, of economic pressure, political movement as well as the inclusive cultural community present within the Chartist Movement that helped Chartism gain a following, and reference other sources to support my discussion. And explain which aspect I think the speaker emphasises more strongly than the others. The primary source provided is the speech that was said on July 6, 1839, and was heard by as many as 12,000 people.

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It was taken from a report in the Northern Star a Chartist publication. I don’t believe this source to be particularly reliable due to the absence of the speaker’s name and that it is from another article. Certain things could be elaborated due to the bias nature of the publication. The speaker makes many references to the economic conditions of the times. One of the most important “These evils chiefly of a political and social cast arise from one source class legislation”.

Class legislation refers to the laws that chartist’s thought were put in place to defend the rich. One of these laws was the “poor law”. This law enacted in 1834 by parliament, tried to push the able bodied poor into workhouses to receive money and aid from the government if they were unemployed. These workhouses would provide lodging and food but had a social stigma attached to them. This was not popular among the chartists or the general population alike.

Another extract highlights the hard life of the working class during the economic down turn “while destruction in horrid form stalks though street, lane and thoroughfare, in all its sickening outlines, all of its appalling aggravations, all its emaciated frames, its haggard features, its ragged clothing, its insufficiency of food, its skeleton like, ghastly aspect, followed in the rear by heart rendering cries insufferable despair, the bursting heart, the muffle voice of burning inward madness, the infuriated rage of desperation, the sad habiliments of mourning, and the toll of the death-bell over the famish victim of monopoly, closes the scene” This is in contrast to the lifestyle of the Clergy, Aristocracy and the middle classes of the period. As many working class men we not allowed to vote, had laws passed that directly affected them whilst living in conditions that were abysmal made for strong resentment. The speaker adds “with this nation suffering its liberty and rights to be remorselessly trampled upon by murderous factions, jobbers and commercial blood sucking vampires, the rich unnaturally elevated above the proper spheres of the mortal man, the poor crushed beneath the alpine mountain weight of taxation, misrule and oppression”.

Adding to this resentment was the “Peterloo massacre” where Chartist’s died at the hands of British Army cavalry during a protest. Going back to other comments made by the speaker “Honourable gentlemen, I mean by this name the working class only” Highlighting the feeling between the working class and other casts, as very much divided. Extreme conditions and inequality existed throughout economic downturn and from 1837 to 1842 Britain was experiencing a sharp recession. 1839 was a “year of mass meetings” and there was a common ground among working class males that the idea of universal suffrage should be implemented, as they did not feel adequately represented in parliament. There is a strong political message for reform. Swell the numbers of the patriot throng which have sworn by him that liveth for ever, that they will have the peoples charter, or they will die in the struggle. (Bravo, and We will)” The movement formed a more organised front just after this speech on 20 July 1840 with the formation of the National Charter Association (NSA). Braches organised meetings and distributed free press. Mass meeting like this speech and the NSA were pivotal in the creation of the second charter that was signed by 3,317,752 people supporting Universal suffrage and other points mentioned in the charter. The Chartist Movement was very inclusive, as at this time racism and discrimination were rife.

Some examples of this in the higher leadership are Fergus O’Connor an Irishman of noble standing and William Cuffay the son of a freed black slave and well as being born with a deformed lower back and leg. “Mr Chairman and fellow working men, brethren of the human race”, an example of the camaraderie of the working class as a whole. The economic conditions and lack of representation are the main points in this speech. They led to the common support of the chartist cause, as support would increase in times of economic difficulty. Chartist’s adapted to create a political movement out of which, they had a voice. I conclude that Chartism was the catalyst for change and one of the main reasons we live in a democratic society today.

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