Lord Liverpool and the Tories Wheat prices were high, though not at the level of 1812.
A rising population and much larger industrial workforce were
Pitt died in 1806 and he was succeeded by Grenville, Portland and then vulnerable to trade fluctuations.
Spencer Perceval in 1809. These supporters of Pitt were widely known Demand for British trade fell due to the end of the war. Trade was
Tories in 1812 and the Tories kept the Whigs out of office until 1830. low and there were no longer the demand for armaments hitting
Perceval was assassinated (the only PM to ever have been so) in 1812 by Britain’s iron industry which had expanded greatly during the war.
John Bellingham, a merchant who had incurred business debts in Russia. The very large levels of government expenditure fell when peace
He had tried to recover compensation from the government for his losses returned taking up to 40 million out of circulation which had
but was refused. He therefore, sought revenge on a representative of major effects on the demand for manufactures such as textiles and
government. Liverpool was actually called Robert Banks Jenkinson (1770- metal products.
1828) and was the son of an advisor of George III and a half Indian Overseas trade was slow in getting back to normal as Europe
mother. He was first elected to Commons in 1790 and served as home adjusted to the end of French domination causing unemployment
secretary before becoming PM in 1812 so he had administrative and which was particularly severe as more people were completely
political experience. dependent on industry for their livelihoods.
As unemployment rose the supply of labour also increased as the
Boyd Hilton says that ‘When in the end Liverpool the Prince Regent
population rose but this was made worse by the return of 300,000
(future King George IV) turned to Liverpool, it seemed that far from being
soldiers and sailors who looked for work.
the first choice he was the last resort. Despite this he started his time in
Discontent deriving from poverty had traditionally been expressed
office with some advantages. He was an experienced politician, entering
by local protests against working conditions or harsh landlords and
parliament in 1790 at age 20 and he had served as Pitt’s commissioner at
employers, including riots and economic crime. However, after
the Board of Control (1793), Master of the Mint (1796) and served in
1815 political demands were being made more frequently. The
Cabinet from 1801. He also held all three senior secretary ships: Foreign
radical tradition had not died out with the repression of the 1790s
Secretary (1801-1803), Home Secretary (1804-1809 with a break from
and the ideas of the American and French revolutions, that the
1806-1807) and Secretary for War and the Colonies (1809-1812). In
people should have some say in the running of the country, were
addition to this, he represented continuity because his administration was
still alive.
essentially a continuation of Perceval’s which endeared him to the Prince
Regent. He was the choice of his colleagues and presented by them to the The nature of the reform movement was varied. Some aimed at slowing
Prince Regent as their preferred choice. industrial change, some hoped that parliamentary change would be the key
to further reforms, some wanted the elitist tradition, and some saw
The radical threat to Liverpool
revolutionary violence as the key to a new society. The reform movement
Causes for popular unrest in 1815 faced by Liverpool was more varied and on a larger scale than Pitt.
, Luddism protests largely died down by the end of 1813 despite a few more in 1814.
Many saw these Luddite outbreaks as a warning that workers could
In 1811 an outbreak of protest against the new machines of the industrial organise themselves and that when they did, protests was difficult to
revolution began. Though machine breaking was not new, the scale of the control. On the other hand, they may not have posed any radical threat
disturbances, which began in 1811 in Nottingham and spread to other because they were due to hardship and not driven by political philosophy.
industrial areas, was greater than before. This movement known as
Luddism were dominated by traditional craftsmen, the handloom weavers. The Hampden Clubs
By 1812 the situation was serious enough for the Government to make
machine breaking an offence punishable by death. The problem was made A leading radical was Major John Cartwright who in 1776 (American
worse by a decline in trade brought about by economic warfare. Since Revolution time) had written about giving the vote to all men in a secret
November 1806 the French had tried to wage war on Britain’s economy in ballot with annual elections. Although a large landowner, Cartwright
what was called the Continental System, which forbade British imports championed the rights of the people, and in London he met with other
into France and French controlled territories. The British had responded by pioneering radical agitators. They formed the Hampden Club in 1812 in
their own economic blockade. memory of John Hampden who had opposed Charles I’s rule without
parliament in 1630. Cartwright toured the country encouraging a union of
The expansion of machinery and the new factories threatened domestic upper and middle classes with the working class. There were other
industry. Rapidly growing cities depended on favourable trade conditions. Hampden clubs founded in Middleton, Oldham, Manchester, Rochdale,
The countryside faced the perennial problem of bad harvests and this Ashton Under Lyne and Stockport. They held meeting and published
threatened the cities as well because it drove prices sharply upwards. newspapers. The movement survived government attempts to suppress it
During the particularly severe drought of 1812, wheat prices rose to 126s a notably as in 1813 by the use of spies and informers.
quarter which was the highest price in the period 1783-1900 and war with
the USA from 1812-1814 disrupted trade further. The clubs inspired other organisations especially the Patriotic Union
Society in Manchester. On 16th August 1819 a meeting was organised by
Machine breaking spread to the cotton industry of Lancashire and Cheshire the radical leaders of this Union to which leading figures such as Henry
and was particularly violent in the woollen manufacturing areas of ‘Orator’ Hunt were invited to speak about reform. A large crowd was
Yorkshire. In West Riding the skilled riders known as croppers used very expected and turned up to St Peter’s Field in Manchester. Local
large shears to smooth the woollen cloth produced by weavers but a magistrates though that between 50,000 and 60,000 people were at the
machine was invented to do this which threatened their jobs. In April 1812 field and so they were concerned about riots. They had assembled over
there was an armed clash between 100 machine breakers and soldiers. On 1000 troops and recruited special constables. The magistrates who were in
April 28th a mill owner was shot dead in an ambush. Troops were brought a house overlooking the field ordered the arrest of the speak Henry Hunt
in and 17 executions took place in 1813. The government were worried and as the Yeomanry advanced, the crowd resisted. In the struggle, 15 died
and the state relied on stationing 12,000 troops in industrial areas. The
