C1700-C1900 Laws/Crimes

C1700-C1900 Laws/Crimes

1. Continuities

   • TREASON-still one of most serious crimes-after 1668 Glorious Revolution-Parliament has more power so treason is widened to all acts of rebellion against state
   • WITCHCRAFT-witchcrafters criminalized as confidence tricksters through Witchcraft Act 1735-no longer seen as a crime-growing influence of science-1662 Royal Society-and enlightment ideas end wide belief in supernatural.Last witch execution in 1716
   • VAGABONDAGE-continues to be a crime but punishable by House of Corrections and workhouses under Poor Law-social tensions between rich and poor continue

2. Changes

   • HIGHWAY ROBBERY-GROWTH-more people travelling in their own coaches/handguns became easier to obtain and became quicker to load and fire/horses cheaper/lonely areas outside towns where coaches ambushed/highwaymen hid+sold their loot in inns+taverns/no police force and local constables didn't track criminals across counties/after wars, demobilised soldiers found it hard to make a living
     • DECLINE-more banks,fewer travellers carried alot of money/stagecoaches introduced with regular staging posts where tired horses were changed and travellers rested overnight/road surfaces improved and coaches became more frequent as speeds increased/lonely areas built up as population expanded/mounted patrols set up around London and rewards offered for identification of robbers/local governments closed down inns&taverns where loot was sold/coaches travelled with armed guards
   • SMUGGLING-luxury goods(tea,wine,spirits,silk) brought in without import duties/import duties were one of main sources of government income/seen as serious crime against authority & punishable by death/1.4 tonnes of tea smuggled in each year/smugglers formed gangs of 50-100 & fought with custom officers-even seized back confiscated goods/government used army against large gangs/seen as a social crime-people disliked expensive goods-even ministers bought smuggled goods/provided unemployed with chance to make good money/locals who helped smugglers could make twice the average wage/fear of gangs deterred witnesses as they could be murdered/hard for gov to combat due to ineffective customs force/decreased after William Pitt(1780) and Robert Peel-reduced import duties-smugglers couldn't compete with gov's low cost goods
   • POACHING-regarded as threat to wealthy landowner's property/long term laws against poaching(Forest Laws,1671 Game Act)-consuming game restricted to larger landowners/many poachers trying to survive & improve their meagre diet/some gangs/seen as social crime-people believed law favoured rich landowners and punishments were too harsh/people lied in court to protect poachers & people in countryside saw poaching as their age-old right/gamekeepers were hated/Black Act 1723-made poaching capital crime but repealed in 1823 as plight of poor recognised
   • TOLPUDDLE MARTYRS
     • After French Revolution(1789) and Napoleonic Wars(1792-1815)-rich desired to safeguard their property and government was scared of a similar uprising/every protest was viewed as a potential uprising/gov particularly concerned about Grand National Consolidated Trades Union(GNCTU) which aimed to combine trade unions/employers and gov disliked idea of working class co-operating-believed it harmed their profits and interests/
     • Tolpuddle Martyrs were six farm labourers whose wages had been cut many times and they struggled to support their families
       • After a further cut to their wages-1833-set up a union-Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers/each man was blindfolded and swore an oath of support and secrecy
         • Authorities arrested the men using a law originally meant to prevent navymen taking secret oaths that could lead to mutiny/men were sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia to deter others from involvement in trade unions/trade union movement badly hit and GNCTU broken up
           • widespread outcry/men regarded as martyrs for union rights/campaign organised and petition signed for their return with 250,000 signatures/March 1836-government granted all six men a pardon but it was two years before they all returned home/workers continued to be scared of joining trade unions and it was 20 years before movement began to recover