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1842 general strike
The 1842 general strike in the United Kingdom, also known as the Plug Plot Riots, was a general strike that lasted from July to September 1842. The strike started among the miners in Staffordshire, England, and soon spread through Britain affecting factories, mills in Yorkshire and Lancashire, and coal mines from Dundee to South Wales and Cornwall.
The strike was influenced by the Chartist movement - a mass working-class movement from 1838 to 1848. After the second Chartist petition was presented to Parliament in May 1842, it was rejected by the House of Commons. The strike spread to involve nearly half a million workers throughout Britain and represented what historian Mick Jenkins called "the most massive industrial action to take place in Britain - and probably anywhere - in the nineteenth century".
The strike emerged from the intersection of severe economic conditions and political frustration. From 1841, Britain experienced a significant economic depression, with factory owners cutting wages by up to 25% between 1840 and June 1842. The cotton industry entered what economic historians describe as "a slump of unprecedented proportions" towards the end of 1841, with widespread unemployment.
The Industrial Revolution had created a new industrial working class consisting of approximately 350,000 textile workers, 120,000 coal miners, and 400,000 metal workers, mostly concentrated in Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and Staffordshire. These workers endured poor working conditions, unpredictable wages, and no job security.
The political catalyst came with Parliament's rejection of the second Chartist petition in May 1842. This petition contained over 3.3 million signatures and was physically massive - sheets of signatures were stitched into a single roll weighing six hundredweight (over 300kg). The petition demanded the implementation of the People's Charter, which called for universal male suffrage, secret ballot, equal electoral districts, payment of MPs, abolition of property qualifications for MPs, and annual elections. The House of Commons rejected the petition by 287 votes to 49.
The first continuous striking began on 18 July 1842, in Hanley, Staffordshire, when coal miners assembled and swore not to resume work until wages and working conditions were improved. The miners linked their economic demands with political ones, with a meeting passing a resolution stating that "nothing but the People's Charter can give us a fair day's wage for a fair day's work".
The strike intensified in South East Lancashire in response to demands for a 25% wage cut for cotton workers in Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge. On 7 August, mass meetings of workers from Ashton and Stalybridge were held Mottram Moor, where support was given for a "Grand National Turn-Out" to begin on 8 August. Support for the Charter was incorporated into the resolutions passed.
On 8 August, the turn-out began as workers left their factories and moved from workplace to workplace, "turning out" other workers to join them. The derogatory name "plug plot" derives from this period, as workers systematically pulled the plugs out of or pushed them into steam boilers, sending water onto the floor and steam into the air, bringing the engines to an instant stop.
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1842 general strike
The 1842 general strike in the United Kingdom, also known as the Plug Plot Riots, was a general strike that lasted from July to September 1842. The strike started among the miners in Staffordshire, England, and soon spread through Britain affecting factories, mills in Yorkshire and Lancashire, and coal mines from Dundee to South Wales and Cornwall.
The strike was influenced by the Chartist movement - a mass working-class movement from 1838 to 1848. After the second Chartist petition was presented to Parliament in May 1842, it was rejected by the House of Commons. The strike spread to involve nearly half a million workers throughout Britain and represented what historian Mick Jenkins called "the most massive industrial action to take place in Britain - and probably anywhere - in the nineteenth century".
The strike emerged from the intersection of severe economic conditions and political frustration. From 1841, Britain experienced a significant economic depression, with factory owners cutting wages by up to 25% between 1840 and June 1842. The cotton industry entered what economic historians describe as "a slump of unprecedented proportions" towards the end of 1841, with widespread unemployment.
The Industrial Revolution had created a new industrial working class consisting of approximately 350,000 textile workers, 120,000 coal miners, and 400,000 metal workers, mostly concentrated in Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and Staffordshire. These workers endured poor working conditions, unpredictable wages, and no job security.
The political catalyst came with Parliament's rejection of the second Chartist petition in May 1842. This petition contained over 3.3 million signatures and was physically massive - sheets of signatures were stitched into a single roll weighing six hundredweight (over 300kg). The petition demanded the implementation of the People's Charter, which called for universal male suffrage, secret ballot, equal electoral districts, payment of MPs, abolition of property qualifications for MPs, and annual elections. The House of Commons rejected the petition by 287 votes to 49.
The first continuous striking began on 18 July 1842, in Hanley, Staffordshire, when coal miners assembled and swore not to resume work until wages and working conditions were improved. The miners linked their economic demands with political ones, with a meeting passing a resolution stating that "nothing but the People's Charter can give us a fair day's wage for a fair day's work".
The strike intensified in South East Lancashire in response to demands for a 25% wage cut for cotton workers in Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge. On 7 August, mass meetings of workers from Ashton and Stalybridge were held Mottram Moor, where support was given for a "Grand National Turn-Out" to begin on 8 August. Support for the Charter was incorporated into the resolutions passed.
On 8 August, the turn-out began as workers left their factories and moved from workplace to workplace, "turning out" other workers to join them. The derogatory name "plug plot" derives from this period, as workers systematically pulled the plugs out of or pushed them into steam boilers, sending water onto the floor and steam into the air, bringing the engines to an instant stop.
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