Sir Robert Peel, the Chartists, and free trade

At the general election of 1842 the Whigs returned in a minor­ity of seventy-six, and Lord Melbourne resigned. The queen was affected to tears to part with him; but the crisis had been fully expected and prepared for. Sir Robert Peel now became prime minister, and Tory appointments were made, which were agreeable both to the queen and to Robert Peel. The queen continued private correspondence with Lord Melbourne, but he used his influence sensibly. Prince Albert was nominated as president.

Thus, within ten years of the Reform Act, the reforms seemed to be exhausted. But, in fact, it was only the middle classes who had ceased to require the political changes. A movement was growing up among the working classes in the large towns which went far beyond that of 1832. This was the Chartist movement, so called from the "People's Charter", a document drawn up in 1838.

Chartism, political reform movement in Britain from 1838 to 1848. The word is derived from the People's Charter, the name applied to a legislative program submitted to Parliament in 1837 by the London Working Men's Association. The Chartist movement, which the association sponsored, resulted from widespread dissatisfaction with the Reform Bill of 1832 and the Poor Law of 1834, legislation that workingmen considered discriminatory.

The People's Charter contained six specific demands, including suffrage for all male citizens 21 years of age and over, annual parliamentary elections by secret ballot, payment of members, abolition of the property qualifica­tion for the members of Parliament, and equal electoral districts — so evident was it that the great Reform Bill had not satisfied popu­lar demands. The masses were suffering from the high prices of food and want of employment.

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