The People's Charter
Background information on the images above; In 1838, William Lovett from the London Working Men’s
Association wrote a manuscript. The ideas that the Chartism movement had, was
the foundation of the document. It highlighted the six changes that would make
people’s lives fairer and easier.
On May 1838, the Charter was instituted during a meeting that was overseen by 150,000 people. The Charter was very popular because people saw that the changes would be beneficial towards them, it was especially popular with the Chartists, who were its biggest supporters.
On May 1839,Thomas Attwood presented the petition the Chartists had made to be presented to Parliament. It held 1,280,958 signatures, but the number seemed too high to be possible.
However, the Chartists would not let their six reforms go unnoticed, and continued push their campaign by producingtwo more petitions to Parliament.
Equal representation
Prior to the changes made in equal representation in the Parliament, some of the different areas elected more members from their zone than others, which was obviously unfair. This difference was noticeable when the north was compared to the rural areas, because by that time, the north has industrialised, and there weren’t many MP’s.
The reform act that was proposed by the movement regarding equal representation meant that the United Kingdom could be separation into 300 districts for electoral reasons. These districts usually consisted of the same number of people. Only one representative from each district was allowed to be in Parliament.
Payment of members
The MP’s were not payed, so that resulted in only the wealthy being MP’s. The People’s Charter requested for MP’s to receive the payment of £500 for their duties daily, so that not only the wealthy, but the middle class and the poor could become MP’s.
Annual parliaments
Annual parliaments would allow governments that the public disliked to be replaced by a government that was superior.
Vote by secret ballot
There was no secrecy with voting before; elections were made by a show of hands at the hustings(which was a platform that was made on a temporary basis, for candidates who were nominated to stand.)
The lack of secrecy meant that employees and tenants were put under pressure by their employers and landlords to vote for the people they wanted elected. This meant that votes were not fair, as people were threaded and influenced to make decisions that they didn't want to make. By 1871, voting was made by secret ballot.
No property qualification
The number of people allowed to stand for election was cut short by the property qualification. It required people to own a piece of land in order to stand for election, but in those days only the wealthy were able to afford land.
When the requirement was taken away, candidates from all classes were fair game.
Universal suffrage (the right to vote)
Excluding the mentally unstable and those who have commited serious crime, universal suffrage allowed all males over the age of 21 to vote. Formerly in 1838, when the Charter was written only 18 per cent of the adult-male population of Britain could vote (before 1832 just 10 per cent could vote).
Websites on 'The Peoples Charter' http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/struggle/chartists1/historicalsources/source4/peoplescharter.html
On May 1839,Thomas Attwood presented the petition the Chartists had made to be presented to Parliament. It held 1,280,958 signatures, but the number seemed too high to be possible.
However, the Chartists would not let their six reforms go unnoticed, and continued push their campaign by producingtwo more petitions to Parliament.
Equal representation
Prior to the changes made in equal representation in the Parliament, some of the different areas elected more members from their zone than others, which was obviously unfair. This difference was noticeable when the north was compared to the rural areas, because by that time, the north has industrialised, and there weren’t many MP’s.
The reform act that was proposed by the movement regarding equal representation meant that the United Kingdom could be separation into 300 districts for electoral reasons. These districts usually consisted of the same number of people. Only one representative from each district was allowed to be in Parliament.
Payment of members
The MP’s were not payed, so that resulted in only the wealthy being MP’s. The People’s Charter requested for MP’s to receive the payment of £500 for their duties daily, so that not only the wealthy, but the middle class and the poor could become MP’s.
Annual parliaments
Annual parliaments would allow governments that the public disliked to be replaced by a government that was superior.
Vote by secret ballot
There was no secrecy with voting before; elections were made by a show of hands at the hustings(which was a platform that was made on a temporary basis, for candidates who were nominated to stand.)
The lack of secrecy meant that employees and tenants were put under pressure by their employers and landlords to vote for the people they wanted elected. This meant that votes were not fair, as people were threaded and influenced to make decisions that they didn't want to make. By 1871, voting was made by secret ballot.
No property qualification
The number of people allowed to stand for election was cut short by the property qualification. It required people to own a piece of land in order to stand for election, but in those days only the wealthy were able to afford land.
When the requirement was taken away, candidates from all classes were fair game.
Universal suffrage (the right to vote)
Excluding the mentally unstable and those who have commited serious crime, universal suffrage allowed all males over the age of 21 to vote. Formerly in 1838, when the Charter was written only 18 per cent of the adult-male population of Britain could vote (before 1832 just 10 per cent could vote).
Websites on 'The Peoples Charter' http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/struggle/chartists1/historicalsources/source4/peoplescharter.html