Explain the Causes of Popular Protests Between 1815 and 1822

Although the problems in the city were a large cause of popular protests, the situation in the country was also a contributing factor because of enclosure, this was the method in which strips of land that was owned by individuals was bought by someone else and then that person was able to buy more and more land with his profits until he owned a few strips in which he enclosed to form a field.  This meant that the original owners of the land had to become workers for this land owner which meant that they were no longer self sufficient and worked for a very poor wage on someone else’s land.  Another factor which also increased discontent was the Speenhamland system which meant labours would get money from the government as poor relief but this meant that labours wages were cut as land owners thought that this cut would be supplemented by this poor rate.  These changes in the country led to riots such as Little Pot and Ely.

The aftermath of the war also presented a reason for popular protests as there was a fall in corn prices which meant farmers weren’t getting a decent price for their corn, also national debt meant that the government increased taxes on the average worker to keep up payments on their massive war debt.  When the war finished the government cancelled their orders for weaponry and uniforms this forced the closure of half the blast furnaces in Britain and many uniform factories which left many people without employment, this cause riots such as the march of the blanketiers.

 However the government made a bad situation worse by introducing the corn law which meant that cheap corn from abroad was not allowed to be imported which forced the price of bread up so the average person made to pay a higher rate for their basic food supplies. Another measure introduced by the government to try and stop popular protests were the six acts which included such things as no drilling and no meetings over fifty people, this restricted peoples freedom and encouraged their need to rebel againsed the authorities.  The combination acts of 1799 also helped in the repression of the workers by banning trade unions which made them even more determined to force reform and riot as was shown in the attempt to kill the cabinet in the Cato Street Conspiracy.

Another cause of these protest may be the fact that people felt that they couldn’t express them selves and chose who they wanted to run government as they didn’t have the vote and perhaps the only way they could enforce their views was to riot.  These are just some of the causes of popular protests, I believe that the fear and repression of the public through these measures played a major part in causing these uprisings againsed the government.