L3 civilization Suggested text commentary

Here is the document you had to comment on in the classroom test, and a suggested commentary, below it. There are many other ways to do this commentary, of course.
Spend some time checking out which questions you did not really answer, and at which points you could have demonstrated your knowledge but didn't. Check back on this blog in a few days time because there will be some more links for you to be working on while I am ill.

The document:

I was glad to attend the meeting at Newcastle, because some misunderstanding was commencing in the Radical ranks, and I availed myself of that opportunity of pointing out the necessity of Union, and of advising them upon the very first appearance of a dispute to expel the disputants from their body.

An attempt was made to get up a paper in opposition to the Northern Liberator , one of the best papers in the world, and that I hope I prevented. I was very ill on my return from the meeting, and was obliged to have a person sitting in my room all night; however, the spirit prevailed, for I awoke and got up at half-past five, started eighty miles on my way to PETER BUSSEY's dinner, at Bradford, which took place on Monday last, a report of which will be found in the Star .

On Monday, I travelled from York to Bradford, 34 miles, and had the honour to preside as Chairman, at one of the most splendid public entertainments I have ever witnessed. On Tuesday morning, I left Bradford for Leeds, to beat NEDDY BAINES and the Whigs; which, let them say what they may, I did most effectively. After the meeting, I returned to Bradford, thence to Queenshead, where a dinner was given to me by the virtuous mountaineers of that district, the whole village was a dinner party, for every house was full, and 1,000 would have dined if accomodation could have been procured. I left them at eleven o'clock, and the only drunken man which I had seen in my tour was a manufacturer, lying in the middle of the road, with his horse standing over him. He is one of the electors.

Thus, Gentlemen, ends my eight days tour, during which time I attended nine public meetings, travelled over seven hundred miles, slept, upon an average, three hours a night, and once again united the Scotch and English Radicals in a union more lasting than brass, and one which, I trust, even your malicious ingenuity will not be able to break. I have not been able, in the space allotted, to do justice to my subject; however, I trust that I have said enough to prove the impossibility of successfully attacking our ranks.

And now, Gentlemen, although you have put me to considerable trouble and expense, I thank you. From the 18th of December to the 15th of January, I have attended in London, Bristol, Manchester, Queenshead, Bradford, Leeds, Newcastle, Carlisle, Glasgow, Paisley, and Edinburgh, 22 large public meetings, and have travelled over 1,500 miles; and I can say that your moral philosophy has been the greatest enemy to our cause. You are advocates of Moral Force.

I have set you an example of what Moral Force can affect, and to you many of whom are more wealthy than myself, but who, nevertheless, travel for the people as post horse for their masters, at so much a mile, to you, Gentlemen, I say, "Go and do likewise;" and then all thought of physical force will vanish.'
Feargus O'Connor, Northern Star , Vol.2, No.62 (19th of January, 1839),

Suggested text commentary on the above article.

The document is a newspaper article written by one of the main leaders of the Chartist movement, Feargus O Connor. O Connor was a very popular orator and played a key role.

In the debates which animated Chartist circles, he was generally identified with the arguments of “physical force” - the idea that persuasion would not be sufficient to win the six demands of the charter (universal male suffrage, the secret ballot, payment for MPs, annual parliaments, fair division of constituencies, and the end to property qualifications for MPs). But this identification is not simple - O Connor himself often insisted that “Moral Force” was his priority, though he may not have had the same interpretation of the term as others.

O Connor was very dedicated to the movement’s aims, and would spend many months in prison because of articles he has written. In the present document we see he works energetically despite his illness and severe lack of sleep. After 1842, he was to launch the Chartist Land Plan, a mass movement based on the idea of re-establishing a class of small farmers in order to escape from the difficult situation of industrial workers.

Early in the movement O Connor founded, in Yorkshire, the weekly newspaper “The Northern Star”, from which this article is taken. Although not the official organ of the Chartists, The Northern star was one of its most successful and influential newspapers. It would be read by supporters of the Charter, and sold to their contacts, and its letters page featured all the many debates on strategy and tactics which were characteristic of the movement.

The article was published at the beginning of 1839, thus in the early stages of the movement. That is to say, it is written before the presentation to parliament, later in the year, of the first chartist petition, and of course before key moments in the movement such as the Newport uprising, which will to some extent test the tactic of armed uprising, or the 1842 strike, the most powerful action of the movement. At this moment, in early 1839, debates continue about appropriate methods. In some towns military preparations are being made by a minority of chartists; other chartists are insisting that Moral Force can persuade the elite to give the charter, and that more forceful methods are unnecessary. Finally, large sections of the chartists are talking of the need for a “Grand National Holiday” or “sacred month” - a general strike.


O Connor’s article represents a sort of activist’s journal. It presents his week’s activity, a rapid succession of public meetings and journeys from town to town. He expresses his satisfaction at the week’s activities, and particularly at the fact that he has been able to reunite diverging forces within the movement, into “ a union more lasting than brass”. Finally he mocks certain “gentlemen” who, he believes, have been involved in attempts to split the movement.

The first paragraph, his account of the meeting in Newcastle, shows he tried to stop the appearance of a new rival to the “Northern Liberator”, a radical Newcastle newspaper. We see that O Connor both defends “the necessity of union”, and the need for discipline against “disputants” whom he wants to see expelled. This event highlights the permanence of internal debate within nineteenth century social movements - debate which can turn to conflict and/or turn personal (as later conflicts involving O Connor were to do). It shows the difficulty of both encouraging debate (as the Northern Star certainly tried to do), and preventing acute internal conflict which could divide the movement.

In the second paragraph there are two points of note. Firstly the rather triumphal tone (“to beat Neddy Baines and the Whigs... which I did most effectively” l. 13). This tone will continue to the end of the article. This tone shows us the need for enthusiasm and inspiration to build a mass movement in very difficult circumstances. It might also be seen as somewhat self-centred - O Connor was later to be accused of being excessively authoritarian.

Secondly, an important reference is made to alcohol. (l.17) O’Connor claims that despite the huge party given for him in Queenshead, the only drunken man he saw was factory owner ( a “manufacturer”) who already had the right to vote and therefore was not part of the chartist movement. O’Connor no doubt mentions this drunken man because many of those who opposed chartism claimed the “lower classes” were too ignorant and obsessed with alcohol to deserve the right to vote. This argument carried so much weight at the time that a few years later a section of the chartists - “temperance chartists” - inisted that the first step to the charter was to persuade large numbers of people to promise never to drink alcohol again. Such an act was supposed both to strengthen the determination of the chartists themselves and to impress sections of the elite.

In the last paragraph, O Connor adresses himself to certain “gentlemen” who he accuses of wishing to divide the chartists deliberately (l. 22). He identifies these men as saying they believe in “moral force” (l. 29), but he accuses them of in fact being paid representatives (“at so much a mile”, l 32) of the elite (“masters” l 32). He says that their attempts to divide the chartists will not be successful (l. 22, l 24). In the last sentences he contests their definition of “moral force” : he claims that the real “moral force” is the energy to go round the country organizing people as he does, and he (ironically) invites the “gentlemen” to do the same. If they were to do this, he claims, “physical force” would no longer be necessary.

The argument about the “real” meaning of “moral force” and “physical force” in the last paragraph is characteristic of the chartist movement. These two concepts are considered to be in competition, but in fact there is not agreement on their exact meaning - there is continual negotiation about their meanings. Many chartists will of course be involved both with “moral force” methods and with “physical force” methods. It is perhaps interesting that the concepts chosen are not clearer. A debate about “armed insurrection” and “peaceful persuasion” might have been simpler, although the dangers of repression, among other elements, often oblige leading chartists not to speak too clearly about the tactics they are recommending.

The work of Feargus O Connor, speaking and writing, will contribute to the success of the first Chartist petition, which will contain a very large number of signatures. The rejection of the petition and the arrest of many chartist leaders will give rise to the use of other tactics, such as armed uprising. O’Connor will remain a chartist leaders for some years, notably involved in the setting up of the Land Plan.

The chartist movement will not achieve its aims, but the nature of O’Connor’s work as a fulltime activist will be similar to future movements - trade unionism or women’s suffrage for example. O’Connor will be an inspiration for some, even if the first historians of chartism emphasize some negative points of his legacy.

[NOTES
1. There are a hundred ways of writing a good commentary on this document. This is only one of them. However, all of them remain centred on the document, as well as demonstrating your knowledge of the historical processes at work..
2. I am hoping you can find within my commentary answers to the following questions : Who is writing, when, why, how, in what context..
3. Notice how it is important to find the link between the document and what you want to prove you know about the movement in general.
4. I would not really expect in L3 you to find the notion of “negotiated meanings”, though later this is essential to political history. Words such as “violence”, “terrorism”, “suffragette”, “Christian”, “extremist”, “radical”, and many others, will all be subject to permanent negotiation and re-negotiation of meaning.]