What were the leading radical events of the time and how did the government react to them? (Liverpool) Flashcards
When did the Luddite Riots occur?
- 1811 - 1817
What happened in the Luddite Riots?
- peaked in 1812
- english workers destroyed machinery as it threatened their jobs
- specifically textile workers
What was the government’s response to the Luddite riots?
- government deployed thousands of troops to settle the uprising
- many more rioters were arrested and sent to australia
- in 1812: Frame Breaking Act
- 1813: 17 people were executed
What was the 1812 Frame Breaking act?
aimed at increasing the penalties for Luddite behaviour in order to discourage it
When did the Spa Field riots happen?
2 December 1816
What happened in the Spa Field Riots?
- rioters aimed to go to the Prince Regent’s house and deliver demands for parliamentary reform
- Henry Hunt was supposed to be the leader but was delayed by a gov agent
- rioters broke windows, had a tri-coloured flag, mirroring the storming of bastille/ french rev
How did the government respond to the Spa Field Riots?
- gov used riot as an excuse to not deal with radicalism
- main leaders of riot eventually acquitted
- gov had to backdown due to use of agents
- public sympathy for ringleaders pressured
gov
What did the Spa Field Riots mark the beginning of?
mass anti-government meetings
When did the Blanketeers happen?
March 1817
What happened with the Blanketeers?
- protest about economic hardships in weaving industry
- dressed in blankets from Lancashire to London
- originally 5000, only 1 arrived into London
How did the government respond to the Blanketeers?
- deployed troops to prevent the march to London
- influenced the Six Acts
- demonstrators arrested then released from prison
What did the Blanketeers evoke within government?
- fear of radicalism amongst the working class
When was the Pentrich rising?
- 9th-10th June 1817
What happened in the Pentrich rising?
- armed men, no clear strategy
- aimed to overthrow the gov and remove national debt
- aimed to shoot ministers
- marched through the streets
What was the government’s response to the Pentrich Rising?
- stopped by a gov spy
- 3 leaders were hanged and beheaded
- Habeas Corpus suspended
- 45 tried for high treason
- many sentenced to transportation
When did the Peterloo Massacre occur?
- 16th August 1819
What happened during the Peterloo Massacre?
- in St Peter’s Fields, Manchester
- culmination of a series of political rallies
- led by Henry Hunt
- 60,000 attended
- magistrates alarmed by the size and ordered local militia to arrest protesters
- militia used violence
- 500 injured
- 18 killed
What was the government’s response to the Peterloo Massacre?
- short term: 1819 six acts
- Liverpool justified this reactionary response by blaming the rioters when it wasn’t true
- Hunt arrested for two years
- long term: paved the way for the 1832 reform act, which gave parliamentary reform by expanding the franchise and getting rid of rotten boroughs
What is Henry Hunt’s nickname? Why?
- the ‘orator’
- known for his speeches on universal suffrage
When was the Cato Street Conspiracy?
23rd February 1820
What happened during the Cato Street Conspiracy?
- plot to assassinate the cabinet and PM
- aimed to start a revolution
- 5 main leaders and 27 conspirators
- due to previous political uprisings and the gov’s response
What was the government’s response to the Cato Street Conspiracy?
- prevented by government agents
- plotters were captured
- 5 sentenced to death
- 5 transported for life
