Note 23 — Chapter VII · CHARTIST RISING IN MONMOUTHSHIRE IN 1839

Chartism was an excited, and, in some instances, violent political movement which occurred in Great Britain consequent upon the dire distress and poverty of the labouring classes in the thirties of the nineteenth century, and their disappointment with the results of the Reform Bill of 1832. In June, 1839, a monster petition was presented to the House of Commons with 1,280,000 names attached. Its unsympathetic reception fanned the rebellious spirit abroad among the working classes and led to an increase of unruly disturbances, and to the outbreak at Newport, here described. The movement collapsed in 1848, and with the development of the industrial prosperity of the country, largely due to the use of steam power in manufacturing centres, and the vast improvement of the economic and social condition of the people, together with greater political freedom, any return of the perfectly natural, if not even justifiable, spirit of discontent became impossible. (Ed.).