corn Law

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reason for Corn Law

1815 Corn Law- guarantee foreign competition would not out beat British wheat growers (causing low prices)

if price too low not worth farmers to grow wheat, prices too high the poor could not afford bread

House of Common 1813 recommended to exclude foreign corn until British corn was 80s

economic thinkers believed lower food price=depress wages

other disagree siding with Adam Smith theology of freer trade

lower corn Price not good for the landowners and MP- Liverpool was pressured into the protection bill as they supported him politically

Napoleonic war foreign grain fell and Britain had a bad harvest which caused the price to raise- expectation would fall to feed the poor + bring down cost of living- landowner fear low price so it did not fall

Reaction to Corn Law

price of bread was too high for majority of population

Corn Law viewed to benefit the rich- example for corruption, the landowner hold benefit in high price also support those in parliament

fear high bread price would keep wages high, leading to high cost in labour and threating trade prices

price of corn effect the poor relief in urban areas as it linked to price of bread- emotional raised as the poor starved

Corn Law contradicts pre-war free trade- inferring market dominated by rich

Corn Law appropriate to smaller population and not for industrialised society

made Britain uncompetitive as result of outdated parliamentary system

cause for political agitator

distress on countryside- during war plots of land were ploughed to conpensate lack of import, investment in farming wheat

high price of bread (cost of living) and low wages meant less money circulating- internal unrest

increase in population, Britain not self-sufficient in corn production

What was wrong with the Corn Law

benefit the rich

price corn did not rise

bad harvest in UK

1820 years of cheap food

1828 modified legislation which allowed restriction but also allowed foreign port as domestic corn raise

symbol older Britain threatened by new one