In this series of blog posts we are showcasing the work from GCSE and A-Level students who have worked with the Citizens Project to research and write blog posts on key moments of protest and reform throughout British history. In this blog post Calum Laurie, a pupil at Cambourne Village College, explores the reasons behind the 1819 Peterloo Massacre.
“THE Boroughreeves and Constables of MANCHESTER and SALFORD MOST EARNESTLY RECOMMEND The peaceable and well-disposed Inhabitants of those Towns, As much as possible, To remain in their Own Houses, During the whole of This day Monday, August 16th instant And to keep their Children And Servants Within Doors”.[1]
The Peterloo Massacre is well known for its violence towards unarmed men, women and children and it has recently had its 200th anniversary commemorated. But what caused the events at St Peter’s field to unfold in the way they did on 16th August 1819?
After the Napoleonic wars (1803-1815) life was very difficult for ordinary people. There was a large economic slump which was caused by lots of soldiers and sailors suddenly having to look for work and the drop in demand for manufacturing uniforms and weapons needed for war. People looked towards the government to help them, but were used to the ruling classes turning their backs on them. An important example of this were the Corn Laws, which were passed in 1815. These laws made the price of corn, which was used to make bread, unaffordable for working-class people and as a result there was widespread starvation.
People rallied in St. Peter’s fields in 1819 to protest about these hardships, and to ask for universal male suffrage and parliamentary reforms, including a secret ballot. They also wanted the removal of rotten boroughs and more MPs in larger industrial towns, such as Manchester, which despite having a large population didn’t have the opportunity to send any MPs to Parliament.
Henry Hunt was a radical political reformer and a very famous speaker who travelled the country giving speeches and convincing people that Parliament needed to change. Hunt was against the traditional way Parliament was run and he believed in universal suffrage no matter gender or economic status.
On the day of the massacre itself (August 16th 1819) men, women and children gathered in St. Peter’s fields for a peaceful protest and to listen to Henry Hunt speak. They dressed in their Sunday best, some even carrying picnics, which shows that there was no intent for the protest to turn violent. They also carried banners calling for universal suffrage and parliamentary reform.
However, Manchester’s magistrates saw this peaceful demonstration as a threat and they decided to stop it. They sent in a mounted military unit with sabres in hand to go and disperse the crowd which resulted in the death of 18 and the injury of more than 700 people. The popular press immediately started publishing about the event and named it the ‘Peterloo Masacre’, comapiring it to the scene at Waterloo four years earlier.
After the massacre there was lots of support from the English public and many spoke out in defence of the protesters. More petitions were signed calling for reform in Parliament and artists depicted what happened that day so no one could forget.
However, shortly after Peterloo, Parliament put more laws in place limiting people’s ability to protest by limiting the number of people that could attend a public meeting to less than fifty. Laws were also passed to limit what the media could publish and the price of newspapers increased so that most people couldn’t afford to read the news.
The Peterloo Massacre happened because the workers and ordinary English people were fed up of being unable to have the same rights and liberties as the ruling classes and they wanted to make a change. It only turned violent when the Manchester magistrates tried to intervene in the only way they knew how – by sending in the yeomanry. The governing classes went from fighting a war in another county to fighting a war with their own workers.
[1] Printed by C. Wheeler and Sons, Newspaper, August 15th, 1819.
By Calum Laurie. Calum is a Year 11 pupil at Cambourne Village College and is currently studying for his GCSEs.
