Changes

In 1815, the United Kingdom after the war with Napoleanic wars had vast wealth inequality with many areas very poor and receiving little to no representation in parliament. Voting was still relatively restricted to the wealthy and those who held land, who held virtually all the power in the country. In fact, one had to prove they owned a portion of land of a given value before they received the right to vote. The situation worsened as the country recovered from the war. Furthermore, constituencies that could be represented in parliament were based on Medieval maps and drawings of districts, leading to some areas which were virtually uninhabited having more representation than places that had large populations. This was known as the rotten boroughs, areas that had representation without proportional population. The textile industries were hardest hit at this point, with many workers losing their jobs after the wars. There were also tariffs passed, the so-called Corn Laws, which imposed tariffs on foreign grain, making it very expensive to buy food and the quality of British grain was much lower. Many people could not afford the higher food costs, leading to famine and with areas such as Lancashire being particularly hit hard. Henry Hunt became a leading agitator of this period, calling for the repeal of the Corn Laws and greater representation and rights for the working class. Protests and gathering had taken hold in Manchester and other places throughout 1819, leading up to the critical events. The government, meanwhile, having seen the French Napoleonic wars beginning with the period of the French Revolution, was fearful that protestors could try to overthrow the government and political system, which felt in jeopardy (Figure 1).<ref>For more on England and the United Kingdom after the Napoleonic wars, see: Riding, J., 2018. <i>Peterloo: the story of the Manchester massacre</i>. Head of Zeus, London.</ref>