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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Chartists
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Supporters of the People's Charter, which was drawn up in London in 1838 and which made six specific demands for political reform. The hard economic conditions of the following ten years caused Chartism to develop into the first nationwide working-class political movement. But agitation, occasional violence and a petition with 3 million signatures failed to move parliament to action, and after the repeal of the *Corn Laws in 1846 the immediate pressure for reform dwindled. Nevertheless only one of the six demands in the Charter (for a *general election every year) has not since been met. The others all now seem an indispensable part of democracy: a vote for all adults (males only in the Charter), constitutencies of roughly equal size, a secret ballot, payment for MPs and no property qualification to become an MP.
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