government repression

• Response to Protest 1815-1820:

  • machine breaking was a capital offence (hung) --> apart of the bloody code -> 600 crime punishable by death
  • spies and agents provocateurs were used by the government
  • 1817 -> Habeas Corpus was suspended again --> held without trial
  • 1819 ->raft of measures were enacted -->similar to Pitt's gagging acts
• The Use of Spies:

  • organised agitation in radical groups
  • details were given to Lord Sidmouth
  • agent provocateurs -> encouraged violence within the reformers
  • W.J. Richards (Oliver) was notorious -> planned events such as the Brandreth's Derbyshire Rising
• William J Richards:

  • there was no official police force during this time so spies were key to find out about revolts
  • he requested an interview with Lord Sidmouth. In April he was introduced by Pendrill and other reformers to Joseph Mitchell
  • used alot to find out information
• The Game Law of 1816:

  • stamp out poaching due to the corn laws (previous year)
  • poaching and possession of a net was illegal -> couldn't catch partridges, hares, pheasants
  • punishment was 7 years transportation to Australia -> very few were transported
  • of all those transported -> 3% were poachers
  • very severe as many were starving --> couldn't kill animals who were eating their grain
  • juries didn't want to sentence people as they deemed it too harsh
• Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act 1817:

  • the law was originally passed in 1679 --> written order for prisoners to attend court
  • protect people from being in prison for along time
  • after the suspension -> held indefinitely
  • Spa Fields -> prompted the suspension also for seditious meetings
  • nicknamed "The Gagging acts"
• The Six Acts 1819:

  1. magistrates could search houses with warrants to find illegal firearms
  2. drills and military training by individuals were banned
  3. political meetings to present petitions had to involve magistrates
  4. magistrates can search homes without warrants for seditious literature
  5. magistrates could try people for political offences immediately
  6. stamp duty on pamphlets and newspapers (6d) -> price people out
• How severe was the government response?

  • still possible to voice opposition -> Tuppenny Trash
  • measures were harsh
  • endorsed by parliament
  • no police force to apply measures
  • very few were affected by the laws
• Two Penny Trash by William Cobbett

  • prominent campaigners for parliamentary reform and democratic rights in the nineteenth century
  • made it cheap so those from a working class background could afford it
• Was there a danger of revolution after 1812:

  --> Yes

  • economic discontent
  • government had limited resources to use against those who wished to revolt
  • existence of armed gangs = seen as smaller groups of radicals
  • civilians ready to take arms against the government

  --> No

  • strong central government
  • peaceful non-conformists
  • London was restless but not a great threat
  • middle +working class weren't aligned
  • effective legal powers
  • traditional influence of landowners was strong
• Reasons for the Corn Law (1815):

  • it was a measure designed to guarantee that British Wheat growers didn't face unfairly low prices from abroad
  • protect the interest of agriculture -> largest employer in Britain
  • legislation on wheat wasn't new -> most recent 1804
  • the idea was to keep a balance to allow grain to not be too expensive but not too cheap
  • British farmers invested heavily during the French Wars -> increase yield
  • 1813 -> wanted to exclude foreign corn until British corn reached 80s -> fear that agriculture would collapse from competition
• Reactions to the Corn Laws:

  • effectively, it only represented the landowning elite -> kept prices high for normal people
  • fear that high bread prices meant a higher labour cost
  • seemed like Britain was uncompetitive + outdated
  • poor relief increased as it was linked to the price of bread -> middle class had to pay more tax
  • became a symbol of class domination
  • against pre-war trade ideas
• We’re the protests justified:

  • the corn laws certainly made it hard to survive for a large number
  • low bread prices would’ve caused a fall in wages disrupting agriculture the most
  • Britain was still largely agricultural -> had to be supported -> lots of investment during the war
  • less money in circulation as urban wages would’ve shrunk too
  • if Liverpool didn’t introduce the laws -> political suicide -> had to follow the elite
• Selfish piece of legislation:

  • abolition of income tax -> increase in purchase tax
  • Game Laws 1816 -> increased hatred and starvation
  • thousands of individual enclosure acts passed
  • landlords feare the rise of new manufacturing methods
  • passed by selfish land owners who dominated parliament
  • as population was growing unprecedentedly -> working class struggled to feed their families
• Did people over-react:

  —> Yes

  • Prices fell after 1819 -> 1820s were years of cheap food
  • Price of wheat never went bone 80s
  • continuation of the 1804 policy
  • sliding scale introduced in 1828

  –> No

  • limited the food supply
  • limited the potential of manufactured good
  • very low wages affected heavily