B8: Bourgeois Revolution (Parliament, documents, democratic trends)

In 1639 Scotland started a war against England. Charles I had to call Parliament to compel the army. The commons began to attack him for bad governing during the previous 11 years, and the King dissolved it again. This was called Short Parliament. The Scots marched deep into the country, and the Parliament was summoned again. This was Long Parliament that lasted on for 19 years. It had puritan majority and was radical. In 1641 the puritans issued Grand Remonstrance – the document consisting of 204 articles enumerating the things that that king had no power to do. When the Independents were in power, 2 parties of extreme revolutionaries appeared in the army. The Levelers’ demands were for a secular republic, abolition of the House of Lords, equality before the law, the right to vote for all, free trade, the abolition of censorship, freedom of speech and the absolute right for people to worship whatever religion (or none) that they chose. This programme was published as ‘The Agreement of the People’ written by John Lilburn. The Levelers were mainly skilled workers and peasants and the ‘petty bourgeoisie’. The Diggers got their name, because they occupied open areas of land, settled there and grew corn and other crops. They defied the landlords, the Army and the law for over a year. Their main propagandist was Gerard Winstanley who produced the clearest statement of Digger ideas in ‘The Law of Freedom in a Platform’ published in 1652. They were opposed to the use of force and believed that they could create a classless society based in secularism and radical democracy.

B9. The English Industrial Revolution (IR) is the sudden acceleration of technical and economic development that began in Britain in the second half of the 18th century. The traditional agrarian economy was replaced by one dominated by machinery and manufacturing, made possible through technical advances such as the steam engine. This transferred the balance of political power from the landowner to the industrial capitalist and created an urban working class. From 1830 to the early 20th century, the IR spread throughout Europe and the USA and to Japan and the various colonial empires. The term `IR’ has been criticized on the grounds that it implies a sudden and dramatic change. It should be understood in the context of the continuing social and political changes, agricultural innovations, accumulation of capital, and expansion of trade which had taken place in the 17th century and earlier. Britain exhibited a combination of favourable circumstances for such a change: an increasing population creating a larger workforce; natural resources, especially a plentiful and accessible supply of coal; raw materials from its colonies; expanding markets in its increasing population and its colonies; a strong middle class and comparatively stable political system; and a sound monetary system and cheap capital as a result of low interest rates, essential for the high levels of investment required in the new technology.

Technological, political, and social change. The IR brought many changes. New materials, basically iron and steel, were used as well as new energy sources, such as coal and the steam engine, and most obviously new machinery, particularly in the textile industry. Transport systems were revolutionized by steam trains, canals, and better roads. As cottage industries were replaced by the factory system, new methods of labour organization were employed, bringing specialization, the division of labour, and new relationships between employer and employee.The new working conditions led to political changes as wealth moved away from the land and towards the new manufacturing classes and there were massive social changes brought about by internal migration, a rising population, and the growth of urban areas.

Textile industry.The textile industry saw most of the early benefits of these innovations. The flying shuttle was invented 1738, rendering the old process of carrying the weft through the threads of the warp obsolete and enabling the weaver to double output. This in turn led spinners to seek mechanical aids to meet the increased demand for yarn. These innovations were swiftly followed by others, notably James Hargreaves's `spinning jenny’ about 1764, Richard Arkwright's water-frame spinning roller 1768, and Samuel Crompton's `spinning mule’, a combination of Hargreaves's jenny and Arkwright's water-frame, 1779. Edmund Cartwright's power loom was not perfected for another 25 years but by that time his Doncaster factory was equipped with a steam engine and a year or two later hundreds of his looms were selling to Manchester firms. Gradually the power loom began to be used in the woollen industry as well as the cotton trade for which it had been invented.

Steam power. Perhaps the most obvious single enhancement was the general replacement of water power by steam, made possible by James Watt's steam engine. Watt's various patents were taken out 1781-85, after which time the change from water power to steam made rapid progress and mills and factories were set up near the coalfields, where fuel was cheaper. Later the ironmasters began to investigate the use of coal as a smelting fuel, and with improved production methods the output from their furnaces increased rapidly.

B 10. Chartism was a movement established and controlled by working men in 1836 to achieve parliamentary democracy as a step towards social and economic reform. TheCharter made six political demands but the organisation was Utopian and naive in the belief that constitutional reform would automatically provide socio-economic betterment. It was an emotional reaction against a changing economy and society. Chartism was a product of industrialisation, but was also part of the radical tradition, which dated back to the mid-18th century. Chartism represented the fundamental belief that economic exploitation and political subservience could be righted by parliamentary means. Great social, political and economic changes took place between 1830 and 1850, speeded up by railways. The balance shifted from old 18th century values to new commercial values; agriculture declined as industry flourished. Chartism was a paradox because it reflected this society. It attracted its support from all those with a sense of grievance and took in old-fashioned outlooks/philosophies and fears of craftsmen as well as new outlooks, fears of factory workers and the growth of Socialism. Chartism's strength peaked in times of depression and unemployment, i.e. 1838-39; 1842; 1847-48. To a great extent, Chartism was a "knife and fork, a bread and cheese question" as Joseph Rayner Stephens said on 24 September 1838 when he spoke at Kersal Moor, in favour of universal suffrage. Chartism was the first specifically working-class movement, although 'Chartism' and 'working class' are both terms that cover regional variations and all types of working men. English society was still predominantly agricultural although the industrial sector was growing rapidly.

Chartism was strongest in

• centres of old decaying industries e.g. textiles and stocking-making in towns like Nottingham and Leeds

• single industry towns like Stockport.

Chartism was predominantly an urban and industrial phenomenon, strongest in London, Birmingham, Tyneside, south Wales, Glasgow and the industrial towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It was weak in agricultural areas and the south-west. Each area had its own grievances, leaders and priorities. National unity was more apparent than real. The movement was held together by local leaders, rallies and by its press. Chartism's strength was derived from its ability to encompass the dissatisfactions and discontents of most working-class people.

The Significance of Chartism

• It was important in the long-term: 5 of the 6 Points have become law:

• Abolition of the property qualification for MPs

• Universal manhood suffrage

• Secret ballot

• Equal electoral districts

• Payment of MPs

Relations between the government and Chartism were of mutual hostility. Chartists denounced Whigs and Tories as 'tyrannical plundering' governments. Politicians of both parties saw Chartists as enemies of property and public order.

Basic reasons for the failure of Chartism

The main problem was how to achieve a revolutionary goal by constitutional means.

• It failed to obtain parliamentary support for the Charter.

• The middle-classes either ignored, shunned or condemned Chartism.

• Chartists were divided among themselves.

• Government handled the movement firmly and calmly.

• Chartist demands were too drastic.

• There was too much diversity in the intellectual and ideological aims of Chartism.

• Other movements offering more immediate and tangible benefits attracted chartists.

• The socio-economic position improved after 1842. Prosperity eliminated mass support.

• Chartism and the Chartists were made to look ridiculous after Kennington Common, and the failure of the Land Plan.

• The changing sociology of England after railways fragmented the 'unity' of the working classes.

• Chartism tore itself apart