Workers’ Organisation before 1843: Radical unionism and the Preston Cotton Martyrs The workers' struggles and damning poverty in Preston, Lancashire during the 19th Century have sadly…
Chartism and the multi-ethnic proletariat A short history on the influence of William Cuffay, a black tailor, and Irish Catholic workers in the Chartist movement and how the British…
The Story of William Cuffay, Black Chartist An excerpt from Peter Fryer's Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain on William Cuffay, black tailor and leader of the London…
16th August 1848 - the last attempted armed rising on English soil? A short history of the attempted armed uprising of Chartists at Seven Dials in London, which was…
Policing the Chartists In response to the growing Charist movement the government turned to the army and the police to maintain control of the northern districts. As a…
The Chartist Grand National Holiday: The General Strike of 1839 An article by Past Tense on the first attempted general strike called by the Chartist movement for August 1839. It also compares the ideas of the strikes main proponent, William Benbow with other theorists on Mass and General Strikes.
The general strike of 1842 A detailed, full-length history of the UK Chartist general strike of 1842 against pay cuts and for universal male suffrage, by Mick Jenkins with…
Riots in the Potteries in 1842 The Potteries represent the peak of the general strike of 1842. In addition to shutting down most mines mills and workshops in the area, groups…
Orange Tree Conspiracy: 1848 The page recounts how some London Chartists tried to organise an armed rebellion – known as the Orange Tree conspiracy – following the rejection…
Trafalgar Square Riots of 1848 This page reports how disgruntled workers took over a planned peaceful protest and set off a week of rioting in central London. It names more…
Ashton-under-Lyne rising of 1848 This account of the events of 14 August 1848, when an armed Chartist “National Guard” shot dead a police officer in the town of Ashton-under-Lyne…
The general strike of 1842 As many as half a million workers may have been caught up in a strike wave which linked demands for the Charter and an end to pay cuts. This page…
