Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The Peterloo Massacre occurred on August 16, 1819 in Manchester, England. A group of approximately 60,000 workers gathered in a peaceful political protest and the local magistrates, fearing a riot, sent cavalry into the crowd to disband them, causing chaos and leading to the massacre. Since the French Revolution in 1789 the British government had been uneasy about the presence of radical political movements in the country. Parliament passed repressive laws to limit the rights and influence of radical groups, though they continued to grow in size and number. The great fear was that Britain would have its own violent revolution and overturn the state. Britain at the time was in the midst of an industrial revolution, causing substantial social and economic change and creating a volatile political environment where radical ideas often found a welcoming audience. By 1815 the urban working class faced many hardships: food prices were high, labor was harsh, wages were low, and the workers had no political power. They began to turn to protest to effect reform, feeding the fears of the conservative British government. The response was not reform but further repression. Seditious meetings were outlawed, habeas corpus was suspended, and the government increasingly used informers and spies to root out radicals. The protests and gatherings continued, though they were held more cautiously. ... log in or subscribe to read full text