ABSTRACT
The month of August, 1842, will always be memorable in the annals of Chartism. It was the month in which the movement attained its zenith; it was the month of the general strike in the northern half of Great Britain and of the subordination of the trade unions to political Chartism. A conference of thirty delegates was held in Birmingham from September 5 to 8, 1843, in order to discuss a new plan of organisation, which proceeded from O’Connor, with the object of combining Chartism with agrarian reform. Indications of the disorganisation of Chartism became apparent even in the autumn of 1842 that is to say immediately after the collapse of the general strike. The great majority of the speakers were in favour of the Charter, but there was very little deliberation devoted to the means for carrying out the general strike.
