The people's charter

The People’s Charter was written following a public meeting of the London Working Men’s Association at the Crown and Anchor tavern on the Strand in 1837. The text of the Charter was drafted by William Lovett and Francis Place. Although Chartism drew its strength from industrial areas in the north of England, its intellectual origins lay among London’s radical artisans.

The Charter was launched in 1838 and contained six key points: universal male suffrage for over 21s, 300 constituencies of equal size, abolition of property qualifications for MPs, annual parliaments, elections by secret ballot and an annual salary of £500 for MPs.

Mass meetings were held in Glasgow, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield and local groups were formed across the country to campaign for the Charter. A meeting was held in London at New Palace Yard at which delegates were elected to the Chartist National Convention including Lovett, Henry Hetherington and Bronterre O’Brien. The Convention was inspired by that formed during the French Revolution.

Chartism was a mass movement that embraced people with different political views. Some favoured peaceful means, others the use of physical force to bring about democratic change. Although the People’s Charter gathered over 1.2 million signatures, the petition was rejected by Parliament in 1839. In the wake of the rejection an uprising occurred in South Wales which was put down by the army. Severe government repression followed and Chartist leaders Feargus O’Connor and Bronterre O’Brien were imprisoned. The movement recovered and launched a national newspaper, The Northern Star. Two subsequent petitions were made in 1842 and 1848 but both were rejected by Parliament.