Editing Chartism (section)

==Leadership==
[[Dorothy Thompson (historian)|Dorothy Thompson]] argues that, "Chartism was a movement whose members, supporters, and most of its leaders, were working men. A few were shopkeepers, innkeepers or marginal members of lesser professions." [[Ernest Charles Jones|Ernest Jones]] (1819–1869), was born into the landed gentry, became a barrister, and left a large documentary record. "He is the best-remembered of the Chartist leaders, among the pioneers of the modern Labour movement, and a friend of both Marx and Engels."<ref>Dorothy Thompson, ''The Dignity of Chartism'' (2015) chapter 9 p. 115</ref>

According to Thompson, [[Feargus O'Connor]] the proprietor of the ''Northern Star'' was the "most well-loved man" of the movement: <blockquote>For the Chartists ... O'Connor was the acknowledged leader of the movement. Abler men among the leadership there certainly were and men with a clearer sense of direction in which a working-class movement should go, but none of them had the appeal which O'Connor had nor his ability to win the confidence and support of the great crowds who made up the Chartist meetings in their heyday. Over 6 ft (183 cm) tall—he was almost the tallest man in the House of Commons—and with a voice which could easily carry an open-air meetings of tens of thousands, with a handsome appearance, a quick wit and a rich vein of scurrility when it came to abusing his opponents, Connor possessed all the qualities of the first rate popular orator.<ref>Dorothy Thompson, ''The Dignity of Chartism'' (2015) chapter 9 p. 109</ref> </blockquote>

Many of the early historians of Chartism attributed the failure of Chartism at least in part to O'Connor. He was accused of egotism and of being quarrelsome. In recent years, however, there has been a trend to reassess him in a more favourable light.<ref>Dorothy Thompson: ''The Chartists'', p. 96.</ref>

According to  Thompson, [[George Julian Harney]]: <blockquote> is a particularly good figure to take as central to the study of Chartism. For five years (1845–50) he was the editor of the ''Northern Star.'' He was one of the few leading figures who entered the movement in its earliest days—coming in straight from an active part in the dramatic and principled fight against the stamp duties on newspapers which is one of the highlights of 19th century radical action—and remained active throughout the years of its mass influence.<ref>Dorothy Thompson, ''The Dignity of Chartism'' (2015) chapter 9 p. 111</ref> </blockquote>

According to Tristram Hunt:<blockquote>George Julian Harney, Chartism's enfant terrible ... was firmly on the radical side of the movement, advocating the use of physical force and enjoying riling his conservative comrades by flaunting the red cap of liberty at public meetings. In and out of jail, endlessly feuding with fellow Chartists, and ultimately expelled from the party, the Robespierre-admiring Harney remained convinced that insurrection was the surest route to achieve the demands of the charter.<ref>Tristram Hunt, ''Marx's General: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels'' (2009), p. 90.</ref></blockquote>