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AQA: Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885 FULL REVISION NOTES (Achieved 99%)
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Government and a Changing Society, 1812-18327) Government: Lord Liverpool; the Corn Laws and other legislation; attitudes
to reform and repression; the economy; the repeal of the Combination Acts.
Lord Liverpool: (Robert Jenkinson) – Longest serving PM, 15 years
● Came from a family of country gentry.
● In 1790 he became an MP aged 20.
● Before becoming PM, he held the 3 great offices of state:
● 1801-1803: Foreign Secretary under Addington.
● 1804-1806: Home Secretary under Pitt.
● 1809-1812: Secretary for War and Colonies under Spencer Perceval.
● Liverpool admired Pitt and his balance system of government.
● Liverpool was often regarded as mediocre, but he exercised firm control over major
decisions.
● He was a high flyer and competent. Essentially he was a safe pair of hands.
● He was reliable and had high moral standards but lacked charisma.
● Served as PM from 1812-1827.
Lord Liverpool’s Administration:
● Lord Liverpool formed a Tory government. These were known as the repressive Tories.
● He initially hoped for Whig support, but formed a purely Tory government when it
was evident that this was not forthcoming.
● Liverpool was not the first choice of the Prince Regent, but after several failed attempts to
appoint a Whig administration, the Prince Regent had to accept him.
● Liverpool relied on a small inner cabinet whom we could trust.
● Lord Sidmouth (Henry Addington) was a reactionary, and was Home Secretary.
● Lord Eldon (another High Tory) was Lord Chancellor.
● Nicholas Vansittart was Chancellor of the Exchequer.
● J.F. Robinson was President of the Board of Trade.
● Lord Castlereagh was Foreign Secretary and Leader of the Commons.
● Liverpool would have included the talented and flamboyant George
Canning, but for Canning’s refusal to work alongside his political arch-enemy
Lord Castlereagh.
● Out of a cabinet of 13, 9 sat in the Lords.
,Division within the Tory Party:
● The basic division within the Tory party was between the High and Liberal Tories:
● High Tories (Ultras): Resisted reform wherever it happened.
● Against parliamentary reform.
● Against extending the political rights of Catholics (Catholic Emancipation)
● Against reform of the penal code.
● Against reform of the administrative and legal system.
● Against tariff reform and free trade.
● For the Corn Law.
● Liberal Tories:
● Against political reform.
● Did however want to get rid of corruption in political system.
● Prepared to countenance Catholic Emancipation.
● For free trade.
● Wanted moderate administrative and legal reform.
● Against Corn Law.
Liverpool’s Political Opinions:
● Liverpool was a moderate Tory – neither a ‘liberal’ nor an ‘ultra’.
● Liverpool saw himself as a King’s minister. He wanted to serve national politics.
● He is a government, not a party man.
● Liverpool was opposed to parliamentary reform.
● Liverpool opposes Catholic Emancipation, but allows those who are for it in his government.
● He was therefore able to hold together both the Liberal and High Tories.
● Liverpool was a convinced Free Trader.
● Followed Adam Smith’s doctrine.
● However, argues that Corn Law is necessary.
● Liberal tories begin the removal of certain tariffs with Huskisson. The move to free
trade is not completed until 1860. Liverpool as PM supports this.
● In 1828 version of the corn laws is subtle and flexible.
● By the 1830s they stay in opposition and when they come back with Peel in 1841
and there is a significant change in removing tariffs. There remains one tariff left
which is the corn laws. This is so important because the roots are in land and wealth
- yet the Conservatives are for this.
● 1846 sees Peel make the biggest move for the conservatives and repeal the corn
laws.
The Monarchy:
● The power of the King was still significant.
● The monarchy remained the most important influence in the choice of Prime
Minister, and the opposition of the King could still affect legislation.
● However, overall, the powers of the King were in decline.
, ● George III’s health had been in decline since the late 18th century and in 1811 he was
declared unfit to govern and Prince George became Regent.
● Became King George IV in 1820.
● The Regent was selfish and indolent and preferred pleasure to work.
● He often behaved overly extravagantly and as a result, the popularity of the
monarchy was low.
● As a result, the political authority of the crown declined even further.
The Decline in Political Patronage:
● Pitt had begun reducing sinecures as a money-saving device after 1783 and the process
continued so that appointments to key administrative posts were related to duties and not
influence.
● Liverpool got rid of 1800 sinecure offices between 1815 and 1822.
● The decline in patronage led to a decline in royal influence and stimulated the
development of party politics.
Political Difficulties:
● Liverpool faced several political difficulties and had to apply his skills as a mediator to bring
together the strongly differing views and personalities among his ministers and to make a
constant effort to overcome Whig opposition in the Commons.
● Luckily, the Whigs’ numbers were limited. Even when the government was most
unpopular, the Opposition could not muster more than 150 votes.
● The Whigs disagreed on a series of important issues such as how to respond to
social distress and popular unrest, as well as parliamentary reform.
● The party leadership was weak. The Party’s nominal leader, Lord Grenville was
increasingly alienated from the party on the issue of parliamentary reform. Grey
then emerged as the Party’s leader.
● Whilst MPs were increasingly becoming tied to parties, a significant number still saw
themselves as independent of Party, and considered it their duty to represent their
constituents.
● The opposition made much of the situation that developed over the ‘Queen’s affair’ in 1820,
but failed to unseat Liverpool.
● Caused mass agitation in London and a large mobilisation of public opinion.
● George IV dragged down the government through a scandalous attempt to divorce
his wife, Caroline of Brunswick.
● Liverpool had to deal with the unsavoury attempt by George to exclude her from the
throne.
● This tarnished Liverpool’s own reputation, increased the government’s unpopularity
and roused popular demonstrations for Caroline, which created a serious threat to
constitutional stability.
Corn Laws:
, ● The Corn Laws imposed restrictions and tariffs on imported grain. They were designed to
keep grain prices high to favour domestic producers.
● They kept corn prices at a high level. This measure was intended to protect English farmers
from cheap foreign imports of grain following the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
● In an ideal world, Liverpool would have wished to see complete free trade in all products,
including corn, but the landed interest within Parliament was too powerful to ignore.
The Corn Law of 1815:
● In February 1815, Parliament passed a Corn Law that stipulated that no foreign corn could
be imported until the home price reached 80 shillings a quarter.
● When the price of corn went above 80 shillings, there would be completely free
imports of corn but when it went below, all corn imports were prohibited.
● The landowning classes dominated both Houses of Parliament and land was their main
source of income. Therefore, the passing of the Corn Law has generally been regarded as the
dominant landed interest in Parliament protecting themselves.
● Landowners and farmers had done well during the war as demand was high, but suffered
from the result of a very productive harvest in 1813, which caused a dramatic fall in prices.
● The following year they also suffered as a poor harvest led to the import of foreign
corn to make up the shortfall. The problem was that foreign corn was cheap and
undercut the price sought by the English farmers.
● After the trading blockade was lifted at the end of the French wars, foreign corn flooded the
market. The landed interest wanted protection from foreign competition, so that they
could rely on demand for grain, whatever the price.
● However, the government wasn’t acting solely in the interests of the landowners +farmers
● The Corn Law of 1815 was never intended to be a permanent solution, but was
introduced to avoid the worst effects of a post-war slump in prices.
● The government were able to ignore the popular protests, believing that it was acting in the
longer term interests of the population.
Bad Consequences of the 1815 Corn Law:
● The Corn Law caused social distress. Bread was staple diet for labouring poor.
● Although it didn’t keep average prices of bread high, there were still problems of
scarcity of bread in periods of bad harvest because of the provision that imported
corn could only be sold if the price averaged above 80 shillings for three months.
● Therefore, even if wheat was scarce and prices high, 3 months would have to elapse
before imported corn became available.
● Huge public outcry, petitions presented to government and serious rioting.
● This contributed to a period of unparalleled civil unrest to which the government
responded with harsh measures (see chapter 11).
● The fury against the Corn Law extended to powerful commercial interests and
industrial interests, who complained that they would have to raise wages.
● The Corn Law failed to guarantee high prices.
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