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What was a major turning point in the revival of the Chartist Movement?
The foundation of the National Charter Association in 1940.
Local Chartist groups and other working men's clubs were absorbed into the NCA.
What was the supposed membership of the NCA?
13000 in 1841; 50000 in 1842; these statistics were likely exaggerated.
What was the role of Feargus O'Connor in the early 1840s?
He had influenced policy while in gaol through letters and his column in the Northern Star. When he was released from prison in August 1841, he dominated the Movement.
Along with a deepening of the economic depression, O'Connor's popularity was a possible reason for the NCA's popularity.
What did the NCA look like as an organisation?
It had a full, written constitution; its members paid subscription fees and it was them who elected the members to the new Chartist Convention
What was one of the first things that the NCA organised? How did it go?
They agreed to organise the Second Petition in 1841.
It was better organised than the First Petition and was presented to Parliament with over 3 million signatures. However, MPs votes 287 to 49 against even accepting the Petition, let alone debating the Charter.
What proposal did William Lovett devise while in prison?
He and another Chartist, John Collins, wrote the book "Chartism: A New Organisation for the People" in which they proposed a national education system funded by a penny tax on the signatories of the Chartist Position. They believed in residing the working classes through education to make them respectable and worthy of the vote in the eyes of the middle classes.
Lovett was released in 1840 and began to promote his education proposals as part of the "National Association for the Moral, Social and Political Improvement of the People".
How did O'Connor react to Lovett's education proposals?
He was angry and saw them as damaging the unity of the Movement. He denounced them in the Northern Star and used his position in the NCA to stir up opposition to the ideas, which succeeded. Eg in northern industrial towns, Lovett and Collins's work was condemned as moving Chartism away from its main objectives.
As such, from 1841, Lovett focused on education and left O'Connor to the NCA and aggressive ideology.
What event followed the rejection of the Second Petition?
The Plug Plots, August - September 1842. They were protests and strikes against wage cuts in mines and mills as well as other trades. Delegates met in Manchester to appeal for calm and at the same time endorse the Charter. Unrest continued to spread across the North through September before being stopped in October with around 1500 arrests and stricter police and military control.
Where did the Plug Plots get their name from?
Some workers removed the plugs from factory boilers, putting out the furnaces. This was effective because it prevented strikebreakers from being brought in by employers.
How involved were the Chartists with the Plug Plots?
The NCA had nothing to do with starting the riots, though many of the strikers were Chartists. The NCA Executive happened to be meeting in Manchester at the same time as the trade representatives (in order to unveil a statue of Henry Hunt) and they did discuss the Riots. Not all agreed with the motion by Peter Murray McDouall to officially support the action, but the majority agreed with O'Connor that it was an excellent opportunity to show solidarity with the working people and their trade delegates.
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