14 August 1842
The plug strikes

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In protest against wage reductions and appalling working conditions, strikes are called in mines, mills and factories. Workers remove plugs from factory boilers, forcing the factories to close. During the summer of 1842, the strikes spread across 23 counties of England, Scotland and Wales.

Chartist leaders (see 1838 The People's Charter) are involved in many of the strikes, and on 14 August, they declare the actions a general strike for the Charter. The National Charter Association – which has seen its second petition to Parliament turned down earlier in the year – endorses the strike. But its leaders do so reluctantly, fearing that matters are now out of their control.

These fears prove to be well founded: by winter, the authorities have arrested many of the strike leaders, and hunger forces most of the strikers back to work. In spring 1843, Chartist leader Feargus O'Connor and 58 others are tried for plotting against the government, but are acquitted on a technicality.

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