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Chartism: A new history
Chartism, the mass movement for democratic rights, dominated British domestic politics in the late 1830s and 1840s. It mobilised over three million supporters at its height. Few modern European social movements, certainly in Britain, have captured the attention of posterity to quite the extent it has done. Encompassing moments of great drama, it is one of the very rare points in British history where it is legitimate to speculate how close the country came to revolution. It is also pivotal to debates around continuity and change in Victorian Britain, gender, language and identity.
Chartism: A New History is the only book to offer in-depth coverage of the entire chronological spread (1838-58) of this pivotal movement and to consider its rich and varied history in full. Based throughout on original research (including newly discovered material) this is a vivid and compelling narrative of a movement which mobilised three million people at its height.
The author deftly intertwines analysis and narrative, interspersing his chapters with short ‘Chartist Lives’, relating the intimate and personal to the realm of the social and political. This book will become essential reading for anyone with an interest in early Victorian Britain, specialists, students and general readers alike.
Chartism: A New History is the only book to offer in-depth coverage of the entire chronological spread (1838-58) of this pivotal movement and to consider its rich and varied history in full. Based throughout on original research (including newly discovered material) this is a vivid and compelling narrative of a movement which mobilised three million people at its height.
The author deftly intertwines analysis and narrative, interspersing his chapters with short ‘Chartist Lives’, relating the intimate and personal to the realm of the social and political. This book will become essential reading for anyone with an interest in early Victorian Britain, specialists, students and general readers alike.
432 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 6, 2026
It was my first "adventure" into Chartism movement and made me realise how little I knew about it. This book by Malcolm Chase is widely regarded as the most comprehensive narrative history of the Chartist movement yet published. The very first chapters made me feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of individuals participating in the movement and details of events surrounding them. Nevertheless, I persisted and strengthened my view that such important social movement should be better known to all interested in basic rights and democracy. My three stars reflect my difficulty in absorbing the information rather than contents of the book, which should make at least four stars.
Anyway, the book provides a chronological narrative of Chartism from 1838 through to the early 1850s, integrating both political events and social context. Each chapter details particular stage of the movement, starting in May 1838 and concluding with the end of the mass movement in 1852.
The development of Chartism revolved around a call for six reforms to make the political system more democratic: a vote for every man aged twenty-one and above, the secret ballot, no property qualification for Members of Parliament, salary for Members, equal constituencies, securing the same amount of representation instead of allowing less populous constituencies to have as much or more weight than the larger ones, and finally annual parliamentary elections to check for corruption among the representatives.
Despite the fact that none of the Chartism objectives were accepted by the English parliament, the later developments in of social conscience succeeded in adopting all by the last one of its demands.
Chartism was a uniquely British contribution to European republicanism: a mass, working-class, non-insurrectionist experiment in civic virtue under adverse constitutional conditions. Its importance lies not in overthrowing a regime, but in demonstrating that democratic moral agency can be cultivated without rupture, martyrdom, or myth.
Chartism never produced a single dominant leader because its social composition, moral self-understanding, and organisational ecology actively resisted personal sovereignty. This was not merely a failure of charisma or circumstance; it was a structural and ethical outcome of the movement itself.
Among so many individuals who developed and contributed to Chartism mass organisation a few need to be listed:
- Feargus O’Connor (1796–1855) - indispensable popular leader of Chartism, founder and editor of the Northern Star, Chartism’s most influential newspaper, gifted orator who connected elite reform ideas to working-class grievance. He helped turn Chartism into a genuinely national mass movement. Championed the Land Plan, reflecting a moral vision of independence through property.
- William Lovett (1800–1877) - He was the principal author of the People’s Charter and the most consistent advocate of moral force. He believed political reform must rest on self-improvement and education. Championed temperance, literacy, and disciplined organisation. Imprisonment (1839–40) reinforced his belief in lawful, ethical protest.
- Thomas Attwood (1783–1856) - Leader of the Birmingham Political Union and first Chair of the National Convention. Gave Chartism early middle-class credibility. Advocated peaceful pressure through mass petitioning. Withdrew when movement threatened disorder.
- John Frost (1784–1877) - Leader of the Newport Rising in 1839. Transportation turned him into a powerful moral symbol.
Anyway, the book provides a chronological narrative of Chartism from 1838 through to the early 1850s, integrating both political events and social context. Each chapter details particular stage of the movement, starting in May 1838 and concluding with the end of the mass movement in 1852.
The development of Chartism revolved around a call for six reforms to make the political system more democratic: a vote for every man aged twenty-one and above, the secret ballot, no property qualification for Members of Parliament, salary for Members, equal constituencies, securing the same amount of representation instead of allowing less populous constituencies to have as much or more weight than the larger ones, and finally annual parliamentary elections to check for corruption among the representatives.
Despite the fact that none of the Chartism objectives were accepted by the English parliament, the later developments in of social conscience succeeded in adopting all by the last one of its demands.
Chartism was a uniquely British contribution to European republicanism: a mass, working-class, non-insurrectionist experiment in civic virtue under adverse constitutional conditions. Its importance lies not in overthrowing a regime, but in demonstrating that democratic moral agency can be cultivated without rupture, martyrdom, or myth.
Chartism never produced a single dominant leader because its social composition, moral self-understanding, and organisational ecology actively resisted personal sovereignty. This was not merely a failure of charisma or circumstance; it was a structural and ethical outcome of the movement itself.
Among so many individuals who developed and contributed to Chartism mass organisation a few need to be listed:
- Feargus O’Connor (1796–1855) - indispensable popular leader of Chartism, founder and editor of the Northern Star, Chartism’s most influential newspaper, gifted orator who connected elite reform ideas to working-class grievance. He helped turn Chartism into a genuinely national mass movement. Championed the Land Plan, reflecting a moral vision of independence through property.
- William Lovett (1800–1877) - He was the principal author of the People’s Charter and the most consistent advocate of moral force. He believed political reform must rest on self-improvement and education. Championed temperance, literacy, and disciplined organisation. Imprisonment (1839–40) reinforced his belief in lawful, ethical protest.
- Thomas Attwood (1783–1856) - Leader of the Birmingham Political Union and first Chair of the National Convention. Gave Chartism early middle-class credibility. Advocated peaceful pressure through mass petitioning. Withdrew when movement threatened disorder.
- John Frost (1784–1877) - Leader of the Newport Rising in 1839. Transportation turned him into a powerful moral symbol.
February 25, 2022
I read some history books because splendid writers tell interesting stories and some because I want specifically to know about a particular issue. Of course, there is a degree of overlap between the two categories, and my ideal book has both. Chase’s Chartists tends toward the latter category. It is strong on detail, but other than that it is not a compelling read. If you want Chartist history, this is probably a good starting point, if you are seeking an especially entertaining read, then perhaps choose a different book. Although this is not to say that Chase is a poor writer.
The book is a good blow-by-blow description of Chartism, and it strikes me that this rather amorphous movement is a difficult subject to wrote about.
I did detect a number of errors, and there may be more which I was not at all qualified to detect. The errors, if they are errors are:
The book implies that the Boston Tea Party occurred in 1776. This is, I believe incorrect.
The is an implication that the anglicisation of Erddig as Erthig continues to Earthrigg as an area in Trinidad located under the main runway of the airport. My simple Google searches find Chase as the only source for this. However, there is an Erthig as a district in Trinidad’s capital city.
Finally, Chase indicates that there was trouble between the Operative Anti Corn Law organisation and Chartists in 1839 in Manchester. Newspapers give very similar descriptions of trouble in Stevenson Square in Manchester (which correspond with all Chase’s details) in 1841.
For me this was an interesting read, and because I had a particular need to to understand Chartism very much a page turner. However, it lacks the dynamic sweep of less detailed popular histories.
The book is a good blow-by-blow description of Chartism, and it strikes me that this rather amorphous movement is a difficult subject to wrote about.
I did detect a number of errors, and there may be more which I was not at all qualified to detect. The errors, if they are errors are:
The book implies that the Boston Tea Party occurred in 1776. This is, I believe incorrect.
The is an implication that the anglicisation of Erddig as Erthig continues to Earthrigg as an area in Trinidad located under the main runway of the airport. My simple Google searches find Chase as the only source for this. However, there is an Erthig as a district in Trinidad’s capital city.
Finally, Chase indicates that there was trouble between the Operative Anti Corn Law organisation and Chartists in 1839 in Manchester. Newspapers give very similar descriptions of trouble in Stevenson Square in Manchester (which correspond with all Chase’s details) in 1841.
For me this was an interesting read, and because I had a particular need to to understand Chartism very much a page turner. However, it lacks the dynamic sweep of less detailed popular histories.
March 18, 2012
It's often asked why Britain never had a revolution in the 18th or 19th centuries, as so many other countries did. Chase's excellent book goes a long way to answering that. He describes in detail the rise and fall of Chartism, interspersing the story with accounts of individual Chartists' lives. The research is impeccable and Chase makes it all very readable. This should be required reading for would-be revolutionaries today.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews