ABSTRACT
The short semi-revolutionary Charter strike of August 1842 represented a revolt of industrial workmen against the continuous fall of wages which had been going on unchecked during nearly five years of depression. Though the authorities immediately declared war upon the Executive’s manifesto and its authors, the document did not remain without effect, possibly because Chartists took the opportunity of reading it in the newspapers. The newspaper situation, indeed, was during a short period of reaction from the Chartist alarms an uncomfortable one for Radicalism of every kind. The Tory Press led by The Times blamed the Anti-Corn Law Radicals for the long inflammatory agitation which, it was claimed, had created a revolutionary temper in the factory districts. Unfortunately for the prospects of Radicalism in the ensuing years, the middle-class Radicals failed to move the Chartists from their whole-hearted loyalty to the People’s Charter.
