Ema 01 Which Is More Important in Explaining the Public Support for Chartism: Economic Circumstances, or the Tradition of Radical Politics?

The Populist movement was a rising third party of angry farmers and factory workers. The idea behind this movement was to take the power away from bankers and business leaders. Baum was a supporter of William Jennings Bryan, presidential candidate for Democratic Party. Bryan supported the laboring class of the economy, his main concern was “adding silver to the nation’s gold standard” (49). They wanted money to be silver based since silver was available in the Mid-West and in doing so; the banks would no longer be able to manipulate the money supply. The goal of the participants of the party such as Baum was to break the power of the concentrated corporates. During the same time in 1890’s a severe depressions caused businesses to go bankrupt, farmers to sell their lands and factories were being shut down leaving workers unemployed. The Populist Party believed that switching to silver would pump money in the economy and would at least keep the businesses going.

There was a social change in which women also fought for suffrage. The populists were pretty much the victims of economic distress and their arguments were founded on the basis of progressive movements. One of the populist failure was that they lost the national election when the farmers united to insist on economic reform.

The Populist Party is often referred to as the party of and for the people, and is labeled as such because it was, very candidly, founded by the common people, such as farmers and other laborers. While this party was in power, they had many ambitions and ideas that they sought to spread to others, and aspired to achieve. To understand the topic completely, one requires a general knowledge of the formation of the populist party, the elemental beliefs, goals and ideals, and how the downfall of the party came about, as this will aid in the understanding of the populist party’s want of free coinage of silver and how it would have helped debtors initially, but would have had a comprehensive and unfavorable effect on the American economy

This illustrates that the Senate is controlled by big business, and how easily wealthy people had power over the government. Moreover, the railroad presidents were seen as kings, they could delay lawsuits, control the government and the people, corrupt communities, and control the press (DOC B). Important railroad companies dictated government policies because the legal system favored railroad interests. Further, trying to better the political system, the Populist Party made themselves known. Their platform demanded that the government be restored to the hands of the “plain people.” They wanted to end oppression, injustice, and poverty (DOC F). Evidently, they were dedicated to political and social reform, and urged that the government be strengthened and take responsibility of the people.

While the Populists were able to inspire some more government involvement in the economy with their currency concerns, the Progressives both reformed the government into a less corruptible system and called for more government participation in reducing the growing power of certain industries. Similarly, although the Populists managed to bring attention to the plight of the workers, the Progressives, with their wider range of supporters due to their broader appeal, was able to pass workplace regulations and to organize institutes to help foreigners assimilate into American society. Finally, as the Populists failed to convince the nation to address most of their most basic beliefs and goals, the Progressives succeeded in obtaining government recognition of their side of a long-standing racial dissension. In conclusion, historians are correct in believing that the Populists were less successful than the Progressives in attaining their goals because of the vast differences between the two results of the groups’ reform

These events and conditions were the reason behind the foundation of the populist’s party and their platform. They declared “ that this republic can only endure as a free government while built upon the love of the whole people for each other and for the nation.”(Populist party platform, 1892) They believed that they would be able to correct the wrong and bring back the power of the government to the people, and put end to the poverty through the platform they issued. Through the platform, they provided solutions to both economical and political problems. To begin with, they called for creating unions to defend the producing class and the labor to protect them and giving them back their stolen rights. Also, they declared that “ wealth belongs to him creates it” and any other sources of income are counted as robbery. In addition, the populist’s party regarded the railroads as a public corporation not to be owned privately to prevent any monopoly or increase in the costs to protect these poor farmers from exploitation. They called for the a safe, flexible, national currency to be issued by the government as well as free coinage of silver and gold in a ratio of 16:1. Regarding the taxes they demanded it would not exceed the 2 percentile per year and it should be graduated according to the income, so the rich

At the end of the 19th century the United States were in a time called “The Gilded Age”, coined by Mark Twain; a time of mass immigration, Western settlement, and industrialization. Out of these times emerged a political party named the Populist party, later changed to the People’s party. This party stood for the working man, like farmers and factory laborers. Though this party meant well, it did not last long. Surviving until 1896, the Populist party eventually merged with the Democratic party. With this being said, the Populist party was a short lived dream and failure.

In the history block of this module, you learnt about three explanations for Chartism’s support – a reaction to economic pressure, national political movement and an inclusive cultural community.

To what extent was the growth of Chartism the most significant development in the popular protest in the period 1815-1848?

Chartism was a working-class political movement calling for the extension of the franchise that emerged in the mid-1830s. Motivated by a sense of ‘betrayal’ by the actions of the Whig government and the impact of a deep economic depression between 1837 and 1842, it saw political reform as essential if the living and working conditions of working people were to be improved. The power of the spoken and written word played a central role in Chartism and the foremost demagogue of the movement was Feargus O’Connor, whose rhetoric in all its ambiguity and exaggeration was published in his newspaper, The Northern Star. His speech at York, reported in the Star on 6 July 1839, was in favour of a motion that: “every male adult of the kingdom

There were a few major ideas or movements that became increasingly popular in Europe in 1848. These ideas were very important in the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx with the help of Frederick Engels. The first idea was socialism, which could be defined as: “an economic system based on collective ownership of the means of production, economic planning, and the equal distribution of goods and services.” In this new way of thinking, agriculture and manufacturing satisfied essentially all of humans wants and needs. According to the Manifesto, this new economic structure would lead to a shift in ownership of production from the bourgeois to the proletariat party. There would be no longer be a need for any set positions or responsibilities. Instead, there would be an emergence of the working class.

In an article entitled, “Hurrah for the Blackshirts” published in one of his publications, The Daily Mail on January 15th, 1934 Viscount Rothermere delivered a rousing defense and declaration of support for Mosley’s “Blackshirts.” Rothermere wrote “if our own system of government were reorganized in the same way [as Italy or Germany], and a full scope accorded to the energy and enterprise of the British youth, this country would soon regain its old position of world pre-eminence.” He would continue, “at this next vital election Britain’s survival as a Great Power will depend on the existence of a well-organised Party of the Right, ready to take over responsibility for national affairs with the same directness of purpose and energy of method

It is an error to simply define radical tendency in movement is a kind of character that claims aggressive reforms (Thelma Herman Mccormack, p.1). The main point of sociological context is shall not be ignored as it contents the original development of the behavior (p.1). Stuart A. Rice in his view has emphasized the importance of the sociological context in defining the radical movement. He believed that in order to find out the real meaning of radical in movement is best by referring directly to the radical or reformist behavior itself (Rice, Stuart. A, p.1). According to his view, the radical or reformist behavior is actually characterized by two variables which are the "circumstance" and "motives" (p.1). The contextualization of radical

2 & 7). According to an article in the Leeds Mercury, Chartists put together social gatherings including balls and tea parties – which are not very revolutionary-like at all – possibly to mimic the middle class and to try and get rid of their perceived revolutionary beliefs (Doc. 6). An article in the Chartist, the newspaper directed towards the “moral force” Chartists, on the Chartists who wanted to use violence said that while the British do in fact have the right to rebel, it is not necessary for this movement (Doc. 3). A letter from Lord John Russell, the Prime Minister, to Queen Victoria in 1848 described the deliverance of a petition by the Chartists. There was no violence, and even O’Connor was more than grateful towards the Commissioner of Police for allowing the march to happen (Doc. 10). Chartists usually either tried using petitions, some of over 3 million signatures, or strikes, which were usually very peaceful, to try and get what they wanted.

He first depicts the elements which constituted Chartism such as the value of the petition: “this petition does not tell us to inquire. […] It directs us to pass a law word for word, and to pass it without the smallest delay” (l.7 to 9). Through this quotation, Macaulay criticises the didactic aspect of the petition, which brings the idea of violence. The actions of the Chartists also share this idea of violence: “barbarism” (l.37) “a class which would not be likely to respect that institution” (l.42-43). The mention “class” refers to the working class. Macaulay represents the working class as violent because of the mass meetings and the violence that happened after the failure of the first petition. Consequently, Macaulay shows that People’s Charter is not a reliable