Chartism

The Chartist movement led the struggle of working people and the underprivileged to achieve democratic political reform in Britain from 1837 to 1855, but was most active from 1838 to 1848. In order to understand Chartism it is important to consider the long and frustrating history of demands for political reform in Britain, and how these demands were quashed after the revolution in France in 1789. This article places Chartism with the context of seventy years of radical activity in Britain.