How did the Chartists hope to achieve their goals?
Only Parliament could give the Chartists what they wanted. The most famous tactic they used to put pressure on Parliament was the mass petition. There were three of these, in 1838, 1842 and 1848 each with millions of signatures. There were also monster meetings of tens or even hundreds of thousands of people. In 1842, the Chartists’ demands were taken up in a general strike that spread across much of the Midlands, North of England and parts of Scotland. Some Chartists tried to avoid shops whose owners were hostile to their cause. Finally, at Newport in 1839, and in London, Ashton-under-Lyne and Yorkshire in 1848, Chartist supporters took up arms in more or less serious attempts at revolution.
