In 1838 Lovett drafted
what was called the 'People's Charter' and this was sponsored
by the L.W.M.A.. Almost simultaneously a similar document
called the National Petition was issued by the Birmingham
Political Union. That the demands and aims of both groups
were alike was not coincidence. They had independently made
a concise re-statement of earlier Radical ideas - ideas which
always had been the stock in trade of the reformer. Only the
presentation was new - the familiar 'Six Points'. Here
they are.(1) Manhood suffrage. (2) Vote by ballot. (3) Annual
Parliaments. (4) Abolition of the property qualification of
MPs. (5) Payment of members. (6) Equal electoral districts.
[This last was not put forward by the Birmingham Political
Union].The heady old wine of Radicalism proved very much to the
public taste when served up in new bottles. Clubs and associations
throughout the country were formed to advocate the 'Six
Points'. Soon it became a national movement and by 1839 was
strong enough to hold a Convention in London - a sort of 'Parliament
of the Industrious Classes' as suggested by uwen in
1834. There was to be no guillotine and Tricolour about this
meeting. Great care was taken to see that it was a legal
assembly and that by coming together the members did not
contravene any existing legislation. What was behind all
this? Well, at least it would provide a rallying point for
various shades of radical opinion and enable a programme of
political action to be drawn up, Of course the more violent
elemental hoped that somehow or other this Convention might yet
become the de facto Government of the country.This Convention marks the real start of Chartism. It
went through many vicissitudesm often becoming very violent in
character, and suffered a major defeat in 1848. But it was a
complex movement full of inherent contradictions. As the
movement in Scotland is examined, something of its real nature,
its virtues and failings, should emerge. Chartism as such
petered out in a welter of froth and frustration; yet four of
those 'Six Points' are at the very foundations of modern
society. This is not coincidence. Chartism set in motion
forces the full effects of which have still to be felt
