Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Artisans
- 2 Radicalisms
- 3 Trade unionism
- 4 Work and radicalism
- 5 Socialism
- 6 Co-operation
- 7 Class and radicalism
- 8 Political action and organisation
- 9 Education and civilisation
- 10 Religions and philosophy
- 11 The culture of radical clubs
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Select bibliography
- Index
1 - Artisans
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Artisans
- 2 Radicalisms
- 3 Trade unionism
- 4 Work and radicalism
- 5 Socialism
- 6 Co-operation
- 7 Class and radicalism
- 8 Political action and organisation
- 9 Education and civilisation
- 10 Religions and philosophy
- 11 The culture of radical clubs
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Select bibliography
- Index
Summary
We are on the eve of great changes. The present system is worn out, and must give way. Every reasoning man admits this. Ask any one whose station or experience gives him the means of knowing what is going on in society, and he will tell you, that the present order of things cannot continue.
Radicalism at the start of our period was characterised both by the confidence aroused by two epoch-making events, the July Revolution in France in 1830 and the Reform Crisis in Britain in 1831–2, and by bitter disappointment at the outcome, when the looked-for reforms had not occurred, and the people, whose action had made the changes possible, had been betrayed. Self-seeking politicians had used them to gain power and then turned against them.
I saw a man pretend to be
The advocate of Liberty –
I see him, in his power elate,
Uphold the evils of the State.
Both the National Union of the Working Classes and Others in London (1831–5) and the Society of the Rights of Man in Paris (1832–4), fully expressed these feelings, and announced the appearance of labour, of the working classes, in politics and society. The sense of combining political action and popular grievances was conveyed at an early meeting of the National Union of the Working Classes by the respected veteran radical and trade union organiser, the shipwright John Gast:
Adverting to the destitute and hopeless condition of the working classes, he enquired, how it could be otherwise, seeing they were in no way represented in Parliament?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Radical Artisans in England and France, 1830–1870 , pp. 8 - 21Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997