Option 2 (History)

Write an essay responding to the following:

Which is more important in explaining the public support for Chartism:

economic circumstances, or Chartism’s cultural community?

Chartism was the first mass working class labour movement in the world. Beginning in 1838, Chartists called for political reform in the United Kingdom. The nature of their proposed reforms were laid out in the six point People’s Charter of 1838, and it is from this, that Chartism took its name. The Chartist movement is seen by historians as a continuation of the fight against corruption in British politics, and as a new phase in demands for democracy in the world’s first industrialised society. The sheer extent of support which …show more content…

In conclusion, it seems only sensible in recognising that along with economic distress, which was the main reason, other factors also go some of the way in explaining the popular appeal of the Chartist movement. From its outset, the movement was conceived as working class, it called for political reform, and Chartism developed from numerous small local groups, into a massive, organised crusade. Chartism was born from the acute economic distress felt by a large proportion of British society, but it evolved into so much more than just another radical protest group; it became a living, cultural community.

(1,003 words)

References.

Attwood, T (1836) Birmingham Journal, 12 November; reproduced in Briggs, A. (ed.) (1959), pp. 20-1, Chartist Studies, London, Macmillan cited in Making Sense of the Arts – Resource Booklet 1, (2011) Milton Keynes, The Open University, p. 29.

O’Day, R., Hardy, W., Marsh, G., Padley, S. and Perryman, L.A. (2011) Making Sense of the Arts, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

Task 2

1 Past: give at least one example of a way in which your learning skills have improved during this module.

Over the course of this module, my note taking skills have improved from being virtually non-existent, into something that now passes as acceptable. When I attended school, I was extremely