The Corn Laws Flashcards
What year did the Corn law get passed
1815
What was the price that gone corn needed to reach in order to be allowed to import foreign corn?
80 shillings a quarter
Who dominated most of Parliament and main source of income is from land?
The landowning elites
Whos interests was the passing of the Corn law in?
Domantly in the interest of the landowning aristocracy that in this case use parliament to protect themselves.
Landowners and farmers did well in the war (with napoleon) what caused the sudden increase in imported corn?
They suffered from a poor harvest in 1813 which caused a dramatic fall in prices which was then followed by another poor harvest.
Since the poor harvests what made up the shortfall?
Foreign imported corn.
Why did foreign corn begin to flood the market?
Becuse it was cheap and undercut the prices of English corn and since the blockade ended it become much easier to import.
Despite the act protecting the land owning elite how was it also in the interest of the land owning elites?
It was not intended to be a perminate solution but avoid the worst effects of a post war slump in prices.
Why was the government able to ignore the protest against the Corn Laws?
Becuse they believed they were acting in the long term interest of the population.
What was the consequence of the Corn law?
. It pushed the price of bread up, the staple of the labouring poor.
. The government seemed to ignore the adverse impact the policy had on the majority of the population.
. There was a huge outcry against the Corn law, petitions were presented to parliament and serious rioting broke out. This contributed to a period of unparalleled civil unrest to which the government responded with harsh measures.
What are more consequences of the Corn law?
. The fury against the Corn law extended to powerful commercial and industrial unrest, who complained they would have to raise wages and curtail further investment and expansions into new markets.
What did landowners claim?
Landowners claimed to represent all agricultural interests, but with less ground under cultivation, as it was no longer viable, many agricultural labours were made redundant.
What happened to the price of corn?
Corn prices stayed high but never reached the price obtained during the war and poor harvests contuined to plauge producers and interfere with their profits. The price of Wheat fell from 71 shillings 6pence in March 1815 to 52 shillings 10 pence January 1816.
Who still struggled despite the Corn law?
Small farmers.
