The Corn Laws

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Some Political BackgroundParliament: Had been a developing institution in England since the 12th Century. After the English Civil War in the 17th Century, it was the Legislative & Executive basis of a constitutional monarchy.

House of Commons (Lower House): In 1800 there were 465 Members of Parliament (MPs) from England, 48 from Wales, 45 from Scotland and 100 from Ireland. Responsible for all financial bills.

House of Lords (Upper House): Made up of the Lords Spiritual (two Archbishops, 24 Diocesan Bishops) and the Lords Temporal which were divided into three groups: hereditary peers, granted peers granted peerages, and the Law Lords, who were recruited from the ranks of Britain's High Court Judges. House of Review. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Pcommons.htm, visited 22 February 2005

House of Commons—1808

Rudolf Ackermann-House of Commons-1808, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Pcommons.htm, visited 22 February 2005

Parties at the Time

Whigs—first formed in 17th Century & by 19th Century favoured reformLiberals—Uncomfortable with aristocratic origins of Whigs, many Whigs started to refer to themselves as Liberals, a term that became official after 1868.

Tories—tended to favour traditional political structures and opposed parliamentary reformConservative—What Tories started to call themselves after 1824-1834

Chartists-The London Workingman’s Association drew up a charter of radical political demands in 1836 and became known as the Chartists.

Labour Based Parties—Started to become a major force after 1867 Reform Act. Included Fabian Society, Independent Labour Party, Social Democratic Federation, who together became the Labour Party in 1906.

Corn Laws

Britain imported wheat.

First Corn Law instituted in 1804, at behest of wealthy landowners who dominated Parliament. Required a duty to be paid on imported wheat (or more generally “corn” or cereal) products.

Napoleon’s Continental System drastically cut imported wheat, leading to increased food prices and increased land brought under farming.

After the War in 1815, farmers feared that prices would greatly fall This fear was justified and the price of corn reached fell from 126s. 6d. a quarter in 1812 to 65s. 7d. three years later.

Corn Laws Continued…

Following pressure from landowners, Parliament passed a law that allowed the import of foreign wheat free of taxes or duty only when the domestic price reached 80 shillings per quarter (8 bushels).

The corn laws were hated by average workers who saw it as the reason why they paid so much for bread. Bad harvests and higher prices led to industrial unrest including strikes and food riots, as workers demanded higher pay.

Early Attempts to Overturn Corn Laws

The Corn Laws had an important political impact on Manchester, a major industrial centre.

Moderate middle class reformers—John Potter

Also radical reformers who saw Corn Laws as a symptom of a lack of universal representation, and wanted universal suffrage to help end the stranglehold of landed interests who controlled Parliament.

Peterloo

In Manchester.

Radical reformers organized demonstration at St. Peter's Field on 16th August, 1819.

Petition Parliament for repeal, of corn laws and parliamentary reform.

Things went bad…

Peterloo

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRmap3.htm, visited 23 February 2005

What can you gather from the map details?

Peterloo—The Aftermath

A cavalry charge by inexperienced Manchester yeomanry led to 11 deaths and 400 injuries.

The subsequent whitewash helped fuel more support for the reform movement.

St. Peter’s Field became Peterloo in the public imagination.

The government responded by increasingly draconian legislation, such as the Six Acts, which made public assembly more difficult and increased penalties for sedition. .

The Anti-Corn LeagueFormed in 1838 and based in Manchester

Led by Richard Cobden & John Bright (both industrialists).

Supported by industrialists & entrepreneurs who believed that higher bread prices kept wages higher than they should otherwise have been;

Also, they saw that their goods to foreign markets were blocked by the taxes placed on British goods going there in retaliation for British taxes on wheat.

Laboured for seven years to get law overturned, getting 24 MPs in House of Commons, but ultimately not succeding.

Potato Famine

The corn laws were finally abolished due to impetus of Irish Potato Famine and lack of success.

Free traders saw it as an opportunity to attach a moral claim to the laws’ abolishment—namely the starving thousands in Ireland who needed wheat to replace the potato failure, and who couldn’t get cheap wheat because of the higher costs associated with import duties.

Peel, the Tory Prime Minister, went against his own party, split it, and got the laws repealed with the help of the opposition. He resigned after this.

Were the Corn Laws Effective?

There is debate as to how effective the corn laws were. It is true that often times that prices fell way below 80 shillings—sometimes as low as 35 shillings per quarter.

Prices did not change much four years after the corn laws were repealed.

It did increase responsiveness of price changes. It did hurt profitability of landed gentry. It corrected an imbalance in British economy, which became more firmly export oriented.