Why is Chartism such an important area of study?
The study of working class radical protest in Britain during the late 1830s and 1840s is dominated by differing interpretations of the origins, development and ultimate failure of the Chartist movement. For many historians, Chartism – its name derived from the Six Point ‘People’s Charter’ or list of political demands drawn up by the movement’s early leaders in 1838 – represents the first genuinely national and, even more importantly, first genuinely political movement of the industrial working class in Britain. On three occasions – 1839, 1842 and finally in 1848 – the movement petitioned Parliament to consider its programme of democratic reforms: • universal male suffrage (one man, one vote) • a secret ballot • the abolition of property qualifications for MPs • the payment of MPs • equally-sized electoral constituencies • annual parliaments. None of these reforms were achieved during the period of Chartist activity. Yet, despite this failure, Chartism still occupies for many historians
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