The Corn Laws were tariffs and restrictions on imported grain, in force in Britain from 1815, that protected domestic landowners by keeping food prices high. Prime Minister Robert Peel, converted to free trade partly by the Irish Famine's exposure of the human cost of dear bread, pushed repeal through Parliament in 1846 over the opposition of his own Conservative Party's landed interest, splitting the party for a generation. Repeal is treated as the decisive practical victory of classical free-trade economics over mercantilist protection in nineteenth-century Britain.
Facts
Connections
Associated With
Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage supplied the intellectual case free traders used against the Corn Laws.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Associated With School
Ricardo's comparative-advantage case for free trade was the classical school's central argument for repeal.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Wikipedia's Manchester Liberalism article documents Manchester as the Anti-Corn Law League's headquarters from 1839, and states the movement grew directly out of the League's campaign against the Corn Laws; this is the event's first direct edge to Manchester School, the movement whose campaign produced the 1846 repeal.
Source Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases
Same As
Also in History Atlas: the same subject.
Located In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Great Depression
Corn Laws, infoboxQuote, Corn Laws, infobox
Royal assent 26 June 1846
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.- Corn Laws
- Associated With School: Classical Economics
- Associated With: David Ricardo
View the Source 3. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationCorn Laws
Royal assent 26 June 1846
Passage section
On 25 June the Duke of Wellington persuaded the House of Lords to pass it, and it became the Importation Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 22).
Associated With School: Manchester School, Manchester Liberalism, History section
Manchester became the headquarters of the Anti-Corn Law League from 1839. The League campaigned against the Corn Laws, which it said would reduce food prices and increase the competitiveness of manufactured goods abroad. Manchester Liberalism grew out of that movement.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.