British Social History

The working class of Britain in the 1830s wanted political emancipation. Dorothy Thompson discusses her opinion of this British working class movement in her article "Chartism - Success or Failure?" Believing Chartism was successful, she parlays her opinion in a non-biased fashion posing the question of whether or not it really was successful because it did not gain in any area of political reform it was seeking. Although many believe, including Thompson, that Chartism began …

…achieve any of their original six points of reform. They may not have successfully completed their initial campaign but they gained significantly in that they were starting to have a voice in Parliament and subsequent decision-making. Almost all of the issues raised have now become law: manhood suffrage, the secret ballot, payment of MPs, the abolition of property qualifications for MPs and equal electoral districts. It also marked the rise not the beginning of class-consciousness.