CHARTISM. – A predominantly working-class political movement in England during the first half of the 19th century. The force behind it was a widespread discontent caused by the extreme poverty suffered by workers, but its program was political and consisted of six points: universal suffrage for all adult males, secret ballot, annual elections, eligibility without property qualifications, payment of members of Parliament, and equal-sized electoral districts. Naturally, these demands were regarded merely as means, since once workers had gained political power they would establish a better social order. However, the various Chartist groups disagreed on how this political power was to be used once it had been achieved, and the union under a program of purely political reforms served only to mask the differences in aims among the leaders.
The Charter, with its famous six points, was drawn up by a small group of London artisans under the leadership of William Lovett; it was published in 1838 and enthusiastically received by workers. In 1839 a petition in favor of the Charter was presented to Parliament, but it was rejected by a large majority, which led to a split among the agitators. The advocates of “moral force,” such as Lovett, wished to continue the struggle by peaceful means, while the advocates of “physical force” preferred recourse to violence, either by proclaiming a “sacred month” or “national holiday” (a general strike) or by organizing an armed uprising. The threats of these latter, led by O’Connor, resulted in sporadic and isolated acts of violence: a small Chartist rising occurred at Newport, and three years later an epidemic of strikes broke out in the north and interior of England. These events merely provided the authorities with a pretext to imprison the leading Chartists. The last great demonstration took place in 1848. A petition was prepared for presentation to Parliament, and a grand procession was organized in London. The government, somewhat exaggerating the danger, filled the capital with troops, and at the time of the meeting forbade the demonstrators to march on Westminster; after attempting to cross the bridges over the Thames, they dispersed peacefully. O’Connor then carried the petition to the House of Commons in three carriages, where it was greeted with loud laughter.
Chartism never recovered from the effects of these failures and gradually died out. This failure was almost inevitable for several reasons: lack of leadership, lack of common understanding, and above all because it was premature—workers a century ago lacked both the education and the political experience necessary to conduct a campaign successfully without the support of the middle classes, and these could not endorse a movement that attacked private property.