Chapter 7: Repressive Legislation Flashcards
What do Historians regard the Liverpool era as?
Repressive until the reshuffle of 1821-23, and then largely reformist.
What happened in 1816?
Income tax was abolished, as a result of pressure from mps, who argued successfully against the Government that it was a special measure for war and had no place in peacetime.
What did the abolition of income tax result in 1816?
The Government raised indirect taxes on commodities such as candles, beer, sugar and salt, which adversely affected the ‘lower orders’. The poor were reduced to supplementing their diet by poaching.
In 1816, what did the Government tighten on?
The already severe penalties for breaking the Game Laws.
What happened in 1817?
Habeas Corpus was suspended after a worrying attack by the mob on the Prince Regent’s coach.
What was passed in 1819?
Six Acts, to deal with the exceptionally high level of unrest which lde to demonstrations such as St. Peter’s Fields in Manchester
What did the Six Acts entai?
Outlawed unofficial military training, seditious meetings, seditious libel; introduced stamp duties on newspapers to put them out of reach of most working men; gave magistrates special pwers to search homes for weapons and sped up the judicial process in the law courts.
What was the purpose of the Six Acts?
The authorities aimed to silence public opinion and the Six Acts were introduced to safeguard the position and authority of the ruling classes.
What was the Truck Act?
- Attempted to curtail the underhand practice of employers paying wages in kind to factory workers.
What was the Factory Act?
- Intervened in conditions of employment. It legislated against the employment of children under nine in cotton factories and restricted working hours to 12 hours a day for young people. It was an importnt early step in state intervention and caused resentment among factory owners.
What measures did Lord Liverpool introduce against repression?
Truck Act, Factory Act, Relief Acts for Dissenters and a Toleration Act for Unitarians that permitte greater religious freedoms; the Poot Employment Act made money available for local corporations to develop public works.
When and why were the Combination Acts repealed?
In 1824, the Combination Acts were repealed after pressure from the skilled artisan class led by Francis Place, a leading Radical journeyman. Trade was expaning, unemplyoent had fallen and Place’s argument to the government commission was that by allowing trade unions to have legal status, mebmers would rject violence and work towards greater productivity and their own prospecrity.
What did the short trade boom 1822-24 mean?
Led to a rise in living costs, followed by recession, creating hardship again. There was a subsequent burst of strike action and the Government pulled back on their reforming position and passed an Amending Act in 1825, which put obstacles in the way of further strike by making it illegal to ‘molest’ or ‘obstruct other workers.
What did Robert Peel do from 1822?
Home Secretary from 1822, Robert Peel re-codified the English crominal law with the aim to simplifiy and consolidate the existing system, inclding removal from the statute book of many relatively minor offences which carried the death penalty e.g pick pocketing.
What were the Gaol Acts?- Peel
Attempted t regularise and standardise the provision of goals across the country.
