<div align=center><U>Please circulate</U></div> <div><U></U> </div> <div> <FONT size=3> </FONT>THE NEXT MEETING OF THE RADICAL HISTORY OF NORTH LONDON <BR>IS AT 8PM. ON WEDNESDAY 14TH JUNE<BR>AT THE WOOD GREEN LABOUR CLUB, STUART CRESCENT, LONDON, N22<BR><BR>"1839: Chartism in London and the Struggle for the right to Vote Dave <BR>Black"<BR><BR>In Britain in 1839, out of a population of twenty five million, only <BR>seven hundred thousand were entitled to vote. The whole system excluded <BR>the bulk of the population who thus had no say in the parliament that <BR>made the laws. The Chartist movement began with agitation and William <BR>Lovett, leader of the London Working Men's Association drew up the <BR>People's Charter, which called for <BR><BR>• Right to vote for men only, ending the property qualification <BR>[finally "achieved" in 1867, but all women only got the vote in 1928] 1<BR><BR>• more
equal electoral areas for elections, to avoid corruption<BR><BR>• payment of MPs so that workers could get elected.<BR>• secret ballots at elections, to prevent intimidation<BR><BR>• annual parliaments [never achieved.]<BR><BR>The Charter was signed as a petition by millions of desperate <BR>protesting people, and presented to Parliament. This was done three times over <BR>nine years between 1839 and 1848. The rejection of the Petition by the <BR>House of Commons led to mass rioting, armed insurrections in South Wales <BR>and northern England, a first ever political general strike in 1842 and <BR>finally,., more unrest in the European year of revolutions in 1848. The <BR>capital was a one centre of the movement, which as largely based in the <BR>North. NE London especially was active, with several of the agitators <BR>coming from, or representing Finsbury. Many marches, meetings, <BR>assemblies or demonstrations took place in the Caledonian Road area. The black
<BR>Chartist leader, William Cuffay, was a tailor, based in London.<BR><BR>Eventually these reforms were more or less won in 1867, or 1884, and <BR>fairer elections have been held regularly since then. However, wider <BR>questions relate to the electoral situation today <BR><BR>• after a century of the politics of representational capitalism, why <BR>do so many people think the whole process is a waste of time Some <BR>advocate abstention ; does voting matter ?<BR><BR>• Can we ever achieve a fair deal through parliament? Do elected <BR>people keep promises?<BR><BR>• afternatively, is there ever likely to be a successful insurrection <BR>or <BR>revolution in this country?<BR><BR>In his talk David Black will focus on events in London in 1839, in <BR>particular, the founding of the Chartist National Convention, which acted <BR>as a "People's Parliament" because it actually represented more people <BR>than did the House of Commons. He will also discuss the
debates between <BR>Lovett's "moral force" [more moderate] supporters and the physical <BR>force" (outright miliant socialist] movement represented by George Julian <BR>Harney's London Democratic Association.<BR><BR>David Black is author of Helen Macfarlane, a Feminist Philosopher and <BR>Revolutionary Journalist in Mid~19th Century England. He is also co <BR>author, with Christopher Ford of a forthcoming book on 1839, the Year of <BR>the Chartist Uprisings. In addition. for this talk you may went to read <BR>David Goodway: London Chartism 1838 48 [1987, 333pp), or Mark O'Brien: <BR>Perish the Priviliged Orders a socialist history of the Chartist <BR>movement (1995 , 144pp).<BR><BR>Radical History Network of North-East London - PO Box 45155, N15 4WR<BR><BR></div> <DIV>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> South Place Ethical
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