Corn Laws

The Beginning of the Corn Laws

The Corn Laws were passed in 1815 due to the immensely growing population from the 1750s and also due to Britain’s involvement in the Napoleonic Wars from 1799 to 1815. The growing population led to the situation that Great Britain reluctantly turned from a food exporter to a food importer. Moreover, the Napoleonic Wars led to an immense rise in domestic prices because Great Britain was isolated by the French through blockade (or at least the attempt to do so). As a result of this, British production became very much prestigious because it was protected from all foreign competition. (www.britainexpress.com)

Postwar

British government was highly afraid of an economic collapse after the war had ended in 1815 (Kramer, 153). Consequently, it introduced the Corn Laws to protect domestic agriculture from foreign import. According to the Corn Laws, grain under 10 shillings per bushel was subject to banned imports (Alborn in O’Gorman, 64).

Consequences

This system was soon criticized because it strengthened the nobility and landowners. It maintained the high rents that landlords were enabled to charge during the Napoleonic Wars. The system encouraged the rigid hierarchical system, benefitting those at the top of the hierarchy (Alborn in O’Gorman, 64). The working class was significantly disadvantaged. The rocketing prices led to poverty because they now worked to survive from the rest of money left after paying their rent (www.britainexpress.com).

Measures

The Corn Laws were slightly weakened in 1828 by government under the Duke of Wellington. He revised the law to the extent that grain could be imported without paying duty when the domestic price was at least 73 shilling/quarter (www.victorianweb.org).

Result

The Corn Laws resulted in many critic and protests, and after the potato famine in Ireland, started in 1845 and ended in 1849, they were repealed (Kramer, 153; www.britannica.com).

Bibliography

Alborn, T. "Conceiving Companies: Joint-Stock Politics in Victorian England." The Cambridge Companion to Victorian Culture. ed. Francis O’Gorman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 61-79.

Bloy, Marjie. The Victorian Web. The Corn Laws. Last updated: 18 November 2010. URL: http://www.victorianweb.org/history/cornlaws1.html

Encyclopedia Britannica Corporate Site. Britannica Academic Edition. Irish Potato Famine. Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. URL: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/294137/Irish-Potato-Famine

Kramer, Jürgen. Britain and Ireland: A Concise History. New York: Routledge, 2007.

Ross, David. Britain Express. English History. The Corn Laws. London, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: Britain Express Limited. URL: http://www.britainexpress.com/History/victorian/corn-laws.htm