First Chartist Petition rejected

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Domains

Electoral Reform
Riots and violent protests

Dates

Date of occurrence 1839-07

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Out of the depressed economic state and terrible living conditions of the manufacturing towns of the north of England, a radical movement developed that demanded reforms to extend political rights to working-class men. In the 'People's Charter' they drew up, which gave them their name of Chartists, they called for universal manhood suffrage, more frequent General Elections, and the introduction of a secret ballot. In 1839, they put together a petition, which was signed by over 1.28 million people, making it the largest ever petition at the time, and was almost three miles long. It was processed through London on a carriage, and delivered to Parliament on 14 June. It was presented in the House of Commons by MP Thomas Attwood, but it was r…

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164 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "First Chartist Petition rejected". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4800, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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First Chartist Petition rejected

Domains

Dates

Places

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