Lord Liverpools response to radical discontent/protest in the period 1812-27 (tries reactionary period)

Question 1

How does Lowe describe the aims of the Tory party in passing repressive legislation in this period?

Answer 1

the main concern of the Tory government was “to stem the violence and keep order rather than to remove the causes of grievance”.

Question 2

What was the The Importation Act (Corn Laws)?
(economic)

Answer 2

kept corn prices high by removing foreign competition, protecting agricultural or landowning

Question 3

when was the The Importation Act (Corn Laws)?

Answer 3

1815

Question 4

what was the Income Tax Repeal?
(economic)

Answer 4

gov repealed income tax which was used to fund the Napoleonic war but instead increase indirect taxation on popular items such as beer and sugar.

Question 5

when was the Income Tax Repeal?

Answer 5

1816

Question 6

what were the game laws?
(social, economic)

Answer 6

made poaching and possession of a net for catching rabbits punishable with imprisonment of up to 7 years or transportation. this was a reaction to increase in poaching after the corn laws pushing WC to starvation. aristocratic protectionism stoping hunting on Lords land.

Question 7

when were the game laws?

Answer 7

1816

Question 8

how did E.P. Thompson describe the game laws?

Answer 8

after the introduction of the corn laws, the game laws were “as much a sign of the continued ascendancy of the landowners as was the protection of the corn law itself”.

Question 9

what was the Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act?

Answer 9

took away the right to a fair trial temporally which allowed the government to hold someone suspected of radical or anti-government behaviour without trial for an indefinite period.

Question 10

when was the Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act?

Answer 10

1817

Question 11

what was the Seditious Meetings Act?

Answer 11

made it illegal to hold a meeting of more than 50 people and imposed the death penalty for mutiny (disobey orders) in the armed forces.

Question 12

when was the Seditious Meetings Act?

Answer 12

1817

Question 13

what were the six acts?

Answer 13

government response to prevent any further disturbances after the Peterloo Massacre:
- Forbade drilling and military exercises (being trained & armed) by private individuals.
- Prohibited the possession of fire arms.
- Gave magistrates the right to search premises for seditious literature.
- Limited the right to hold and attend public meetings, could only involve people from the parish in which it was taking place.
- Allowed magistrates to try people charged with political offences immediately, without waiting for local assizes where they would have been tried by a judge and jury. This was because jurors were reluctant to convict.
- Increased stamp duty on newspapers and pamphlets, which reduced the impact of such radical papers as Cobbett’s Political Register.

Question 14

when were the six acts?

Answer 14

december 1819

Question 15

what were agent provocateurs and how did the gov use them?

Answer 15

Men such as William J. Oliver pretended to be radicals in the hope of bringing radicals out in the open and arresting them.

Question 16

how did Maslow describe the effectiveness of the six acts

Answer 16

Marlow suggests that the Six Acts were a “watertight blanket” over the radical movement.