Universal Suffrage
A few questions to help you build your arguments:
1. What are the main demands in the people's charter ?
2. Why should all men have the right to vote ?
3. What is a pocket or rotten borough ? Why should the electoral system be reformed ?
The Chartist movement
The Chartist movement was the first mass movement driven by the working classes. It grew following the failure of the 1832 Reform Act to extend the vote beyond those owning property.
Chartists' petition
In 1838 a People's Charter was drawn up for the London Working Men's Association (LWMA) by William Lovett and Francis Place, two self-educated radicals, in consultation with other members of LWMA. The Charter had six demands:
All men to have the vote (universal manhood suffrage)
Voting should take place by secret ballot
Parliamentary elections every year, not once every five years
Constituencies should be of equal size
Members of Parliament should be paid
The property qualification for becoming a Member of Parliament should be abolished
Unrest
In June 1839, the Chartists' petition was presented to the House of Commons with over 1.25 million signatures. It was rejected by Parliament. This provoked unrest which was swiftly crushed by the authorities.
A second petition was presented in May 1842, signed by over three million people but again it was rejected and further unrest and arrests followed.
The Chartist movement was the first mass movement driven by the working classes. It grew following the failure of the 1832 Reform Act to extend the vote beyond those owning property.
Chartists' petition
In 1838 a People's Charter was drawn up for the London Working Men's Association (LWMA) by William Lovett and Francis Place, two self-educated radicals, in consultation with other members of LWMA. The Charter had six demands:
All men to have the vote (universal manhood suffrage)
Voting should take place by secret ballot
Parliamentary elections every year, not once every five years
Constituencies should be of equal size
Members of Parliament should be paid
The property qualification for becoming a Member of Parliament should be abolished
Unrest
In June 1839, the Chartists' petition was presented to the House of Commons with over 1.25 million signatures. It was rejected by Parliament. This provoked unrest which was swiftly crushed by the authorities.
A second petition was presented in May 1842, signed by over three million people but again it was rejected and further unrest and arrests followed.
The people's charter in 1838
Chartists' petition
In 1838 a People's Charter was drawn up for the London Working Men's Association (LWMA) by William Lovett and Francis Place, two self-educated radicals, in consultation with other members of LWMA. The Charter had six demands:
- All men to have the vote (universal manhood suffrage)
- Voting should take place by secret ballot
- Parliamentary elections every year, not once every five years
- Constituencies should be of equal size
- Members of Parliament should be paid
- The property qualification for becoming a Member of Parliament should be abolished
The governement should represent the public opinion:
In 1832, Dr. Bowring demonstrated a changing attitude in parliament towards public opinion - the start of modern England. He thought that pressure groups should be recognised .
A government founded on a wide representation was, after all, nothing but the recognition that government represented public opinion, and the most enduring government must be that which had the greatest mass of public opinion to support it
A government founded on a wide representation was, after all, nothing but the recognition that government represented public opinion, and the most enduring government must be that which had the greatest mass of public opinion to support it
Pocket Borough or Rotten Borough
A caricature of a pocket borough, early 19 th century,
A pocket borough was a parliamentary constituency owned by one man who was known as the patron. Since the patron controlled the voting rights, he could nominate the two members who were to represent the borough. Some big landowners owned several pocket boroughs.
Sir Philip Francis the MP for Appleby
wrote to his wife describing how "yesterday morning, between 11 and 12,
I was unanimously elected by one elector to represent the ancient
borough of Appleby... there was no other candidate, no opposition, no
poll demanded." He added that "on Friday morning I shall quit this
triumphant scene with flying colours and a noble determination not to
see it again in less than seven years."
