Combination Acts 1799 and 1800 Flashcards
Define combination in restraint of trade
A legal phrase used to describe a form of strike action that aims to interfere with the normal course of trade. It was illegal in 18th century Britain, but was occasionally used by tradesmen to persuade their masters to give them higher wages
What was an artisan?
A skilled manual worker
Define journeyman
A man who has completed his apprenticeship and is competant in his trade
Define trade societies
The forerunners of trade unions, they represented the interests of skilled artisans, dealing with employers to ensure a fair wage and also to protect them from unskilled workers taking their job. They kept them in touch with the job market and provided them with help in times of sickness or unemployment
Describe friendly societies
They had existed for centuries and were formed when a group of men with a common interest, like the same trade, contributed to a mutual fund that allowed them to secure benefits in a time of need. There was no government welfare and in distressed circumstances they would have otherwise had to have depended on charity or poor relief
What was the friendly societies act?
Passed in 1793, it gave members legal rights to hold meetings and have their funds protected
What does historian Henry Pelling say about friendly societies?
‘the dividing line between friendly societies and combiantions for wage-bargaining was in doubt’. Friendly societies were sometimes used as a cover for organising strike action
What caused trade societies to develop at this time?
There was a steady movement of people to northern industrial centres from people seeking employment. This meant that, for the first time, large numbers of workers were employed in the same location, instead of in small, scattered local industries. This gave working men a greater opportunity to exchange ideas and air and share grievances. The new capitalist employers were less likely to know the workforce personally and were more interested in making a profit than listening to grievances
Where and why did corresponding societies crop up?
They sprung up in London and various industrial towns in the wake of the French Revolution
What were corresponding societies?
They were akin to the working men’s social clubs of a later era, but their meetings were alive with talk of events in France and exciting ideas of freedom and democracy. They were normally joined by artisans and journeymen
What was the government response to the growth of corresponding societies?
They grew nervous about the potential for republican plots and amde corresponding societies illegal on the basis they were ‘unlawful combinations’
What prompted the first combination act?
A petition presented to the house of commons in 1799 by the master of a London millwrights, complaining about threats of strike action from their journeymen
What was the 1799 combination acts?
Brought together legislation already on the statute books that prohibited worker combinations that were ‘in restraint of trade’. They made all associations of working men illegal
In what ways were the combination acts enforced?
Anyone caight on suspicion of breaking the law could be dealt with by magistrates without recourse to atrial by jury
Why did the bill receive little opposition in parliament?
Even Fox’s whigs, who supported basic liberties, feared the new radicalism that had developed
