Chartism
The working class movement from 1839 to 1848 was Chartism, and it had a large impact on the reform during the Industrial Revolution. The movement said that sweeping changes should be made in the political system of Britain, but above all it said the following six points were to be introduced, these six point being called the "Charter":
1. Every man over the age of 21 had the right to vote.
2. A secret ballot was introduced.
3. All members of parliament were not required to own property of certain value or above to be a member of parliament.
4. Every member of parliament was to be paid to allow working men to assist in parliament.
5. Every nation to be equal in terms of population.
6. Elections were made annual so that every member of parliament would be required to answer their voters if they had not performed well.
Most leaders of the Chartist group were headstrong, like Feargus O'connor and John Frost, who wanted to use force to get Parliament to accept the Charter. Other leaders such as William Lovett wanted to use peaceful methods to persuade Parliament to accept the change. This caused their leadership to appear weak as people did not know which direction to take.
The influence that Chartism had on the reform of the Industrial Revolution was the significant impact on politics. The people involved in the movement realised what they were worth and called to have changes in parliament such as the six points listed above. Although only five of the six points were passed, those five altered society significantly in that the parliament made work easier and allowed middle-class men to work for money. Point six was not passed because it was said that the government needed more than a year to show the improvement to the society. Chartism helped the parliament empathise with middle-class working men through understanding point four (that every member of parliament was to be paid to allow working men to assist in parliament).
1. Every man over the age of 21 had the right to vote.
2. A secret ballot was introduced.
3. All members of parliament were not required to own property of certain value or above to be a member of parliament.
4. Every member of parliament was to be paid to allow working men to assist in parliament.
5. Every nation to be equal in terms of population.
6. Elections were made annual so that every member of parliament would be required to answer their voters if they had not performed well.
Most leaders of the Chartist group were headstrong, like Feargus O'connor and John Frost, who wanted to use force to get Parliament to accept the Charter. Other leaders such as William Lovett wanted to use peaceful methods to persuade Parliament to accept the change. This caused their leadership to appear weak as people did not know which direction to take.
The influence that Chartism had on the reform of the Industrial Revolution was the significant impact on politics. The people involved in the movement realised what they were worth and called to have changes in parliament such as the six points listed above. Although only five of the six points were passed, those five altered society significantly in that the parliament made work easier and allowed middle-class men to work for money. Point six was not passed because it was said that the government needed more than a year to show the improvement to the society. Chartism helped the parliament empathise with middle-class working men through understanding point four (that every member of parliament was to be paid to allow working men to assist in parliament).
The People's Charter
The People's Charter was a newspaper based on Chartism. The Chartist movement emerged out of the London Working Men's Association in 1836. Most of the leaders of this group were involved in publishing newspapers. The leader of the chartists William Lovett was involved in editing and editing a significant amount of the Peoples Charter.
This picture depicts the newspaper "The Charter" based on Chartism.