Growth of popular protests

• What were the problems at the end of the Napoleonic Wars

  • High taxes - pay off £861 million of war debt
  • Economic depression - trade affected from war debt of countries
  • Corn laws - rising price of corn due to tariffs and taxes
  • Luddism - against pay cuts, unemployment & mechanisation
  • Falling agricultural prices - overflooded markets, prices and wages cut
  • Unemployment - 300,000 demobilised soldiers looking for jobs
• What were the main reasons for popular protests after 1810

  • Economic distress
  • End of Revolution & Napoleonic Wars
  • Industrialisation
  • Population growth & poverty
  • Government Policy
  • Radical Press
  • Hampden clubs & unions
  • Henry Hunt
• What were the Hampden Clubs

  • Founded by Major John Cartwright and William Cobbett  (Early campaigner after American Revolution) in 1812
  • 1816, Hampden clubs emerged all over the country - Manchester, Oldham, Middleton (industrial centres)
  • Manchester leaders Invited Hunt, Cartwright, Richard Carlile to speak at Peterloo
• Who was Henry Hunt 


  • Dynamic, influential, middle class orator (mass following)
  • Organised mass meetings to intimidate authorities 
  • Hoped to discredit ruling elite 
  • Spent 2 years in prison after Peterloo
• What were the Weaknesses of alternative methods (1810s)

  • Limited parliamentary representation 
  • Joined protests as a default after the banning of Trade Unions 
  • Workers seen as disposable due to increasing population 
  • Joined peaceful protests in response to luddism
• Luddism 1811 - 1817 


  • Highly skilled workers driven by fear of technological unemployment
  • ‘Determined resistance to technological progress’ 
  • Broke machines to sabotage newly mechanised factories 
  • Gov responded by giving the death penalty to machine-breakers
• Spa field Riots 1816 


  • Demands for parliamentary reform & relief for the poor (fuelled by social & economic unrest)
  • Mass meeting help in spa field turned violent against authorities advocating for demands 
  • Suppressed but added to growing pressure for political reform
• March of the Blanketeers 1817 


  • Peaceful protest against economic hardship and lack of parliamentary representation 
  • 4.500 ‘Blanketeers’ to present a petition to the Prince Regent to ask for relief 
  • Highlighted need for reform as 1 member shot dead and several being wounded by Yeomanry
• Pentrich Rebellion 1817 


  • ‘First example of attempted revolution exclusively from the Working Classes’ - E.P. Thompson
  • Attempted revolution triggered by economic hardships and political discontent 
  • Plans to march to Nottingham to join an uprising but government spies had infiltrated their ranks, making authorities aware of their plots 
  • Leaders were rounded up and executed by authorities and 30 members were transported
• Peterloo 1819 


  • Peaceful protest, mothers, children and families dressed in their sunday best, to advocate for Political reform and representation 
  • Many talented radical speakers were invited to speak 
  • Yeomanry soldiers rode into the already cramped, hot and panicked protesters and killed members of the meeting using, pre-sharpened, sabres
• Cato Street Conspiracy 1820 


  • Radicals, from the spa field riots, planned an assassination of several government ministers 
  • Convinced that it would start a larger uprising to overthrow the government 
  • Spy agents reported to the government of these plans and, while 1 police officer had been killed, 5 leaders were sentenced to death and another 5 sentenced to life transportation
• Queen Caroline Affair 1820


  • George 4th attempted to divorce his wife after his succession to the throne but was opposed by both parliament and the country 
  • He attempted to remove her rights to the title of queen and annul their marriage 
  • Whig politicians & the public supported Caroline as she was a ‘wronged woman’ 
  • Allowed the public to criticise the regime without being openly anti-monarchical
• The impact of industrialisation & the increasing population

  • Dynamically changing society due to mechanisation 
  • Redefined the role of workers positions (traumatic for many)
  • Population growth, 1821 48% population were under 15, young more attracted to radicalism
  • Fluctuations in food prices burdened wage earners (higher number of dependants)
  • High birth rates & decrease in age of marriage (1750 - 26.2, 1850 - 23.4)
• In 1821 what percentage of the population were under 15


  48%
• The impact of the end of the wars with France

  • Propaganda showed radicals as unpatriotic & treacherous but had less stigma after the war 
  • Revival in radical movements 
  • Demobilisation worsened the unemployment issue as men returned looking for work
• The impact of government policy (1812 - 1820)

  • Liverpool’s government were indignant to the concerns of protesters 
  • Lacked imagination on how to deal with the problems
  • Policy favoured traditional agrarian interests & ignored middle/working classes 
  • Banning of trade unions 
  • Corn laws 
  • Abolition of income tax
• Impact of the emerging radical press

  • 1816, William Cobbet started republishing the lead article of the ‘Weekly Political Register’ as ‘two-penny-trash’ so that working class could afford to read his radical ideas 
  • 1817, Thomas Woller’s journal, ‘Black Dwarf’ 
  • Large public appeal for the news due to no media or communication technology 
  • People circulated older copies amongst each other and read articles in pubs and coffee houses to discuss the ideas broadly
• What repressive measures were introduced by Liverpool 1812-20

  1817, Suspension of Habeas Corpus

  1817, Seditious meetings act

  1819, The Six Acts
• When did Liverpool suspend Habeas Corpus

  1817
• When did Liverpool introduce the Seditious Meetings Act

  1817
• When were the Six Acts Introduced

  1819
• What were the Six Acts

  allowed magistrates to seize arms

  outlawed public meetings

  faster prosecution & trials

  stamp duty on papers

  seizure of seditious literature

  banned military training
• What were the Corn Laws (1815)

  • Kept prices high to help British farmers
  • Urban working class were reliant on cheap grain
  • Didn't make sense economically
• What were the Game Laws (1816)

  • Only landowners could hunt game so set mantraps
  • Enclosure system removed common land (used to hunt food)
  • If caught with a net at night you were transported for 7 years 
  • Poachers attacked gamekeepers if risking getting caught to avoid transportation
• How successful was Liverpool in dealing with popular protests (1812-22)

  • No police so used army & spies to keep order
  • Agent provocateurs disrupted & prevented protests
  • Legal measures were meant to be Temporary
• How limited was Liverpool's success in dealing with popular protests (1812-22)

  • Failure to deal with social & economic causes 
  • Impact of Corn Laws & indirect taxation 
  • No resources to deal with poverty 
  • Severity of game laws 
  • Gov were insensitive to issues
• Who was George Canning 


  • Supported Catholic rights 
  • MP for Liverpool (1812) but didn’t want to serve under Castlereagh (fought duel)
  • Became foreign minister after Castlereagh’s suicide (1822)
• Who was William Huskisson 


  • Leading economist, joined Gov in 1814 and put in charge of Corn Laws (protect farmers)
  • 1823, became MP for Liverpool representative of mercantile interests 
  • Supported Catholic emancipation