What were the main aims of the Chartists?

The Chartists were a working class political organisation that was prominent during the 1830s and early 1840s. Their main aim in a very simplistic sense was an improved British political system. However this manifested itself in several key aims which overlapped and stemmed from different aspects of the current political system. The Chartists began following the 1832 Great Reform Act and as such their aims were greatly influenced by the failure of this act. One of their key aims for example was the removal of the property qualification; a measure which had been introduced with the Reform Act. Furthermore, the Chartists also aimed to introduce things that the Act had overlooked, for example, secret ballots, the lack of which enabled MPs to buy votes off of workers and damaged the democratic process. Similar to this there was also demand for equal representation and annual parliamentary elections, both of which it was hoped would help to crack down on rampant corruption within the parliamentary system. Perhaps most important to the Chartists was universal (male) suffrage. The current system only allowed Upper and Middle class men to vote and increasingly throughout the 19th century this was perceived as undemocratic. The Chartists were one of the several political movements throughout the century to demand votes for working men. It was this which formed the main crux of the Chartists' political demands and was most associated with the Chartist movement.