1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class. The production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 1: fry Back. Its seventeen, which was not all that long ago, really. 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,159 Speaker 1: We did an episode on the Cato Street conspiracy that 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: happened in eighteen twenty and it was a failed plot 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: to assassinate the entire British Cabinet. In that episode, we 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: very briefly mentioned the Peterloo massacre, which had happened in 9 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: eighteen nineteen, so the year before that was part of 10 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: the context for this whole conspiracy, and several folks back 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: at that time let us know they were really excited 12 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: to hear that. Peter Lou mentioned I've gotten a few 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: listener requests for the massacre over the years as well, 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: and this month is it's two anniversary, so it seemed 15 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: like a good time to finally move it up to 16 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: the top of the list. So the Peterloo Massacre took 17 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: place during a peaceful protest for parliamentary reform in Manchester, Lancashire, England, 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: and there was a lot feeding into why people in 19 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: Britain and specifically in the region around Manchester thought that 20 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: this reform was needed. The Napoleonic Wars in the War 21 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: of eighteen twelve had both ended in eighteen fifteen, and 22 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: people had hoped that would mean a period of common prosperity. 23 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: But as has happened in so many topics that we've 24 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: covered following other wars, it felt like the opposite was happening. 25 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: The Napoleonic Wars had disrupted grain imports into Britain from 26 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,559 Speaker 1: the European continent, and this had worked out pretty well 27 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: for Britain's large grain farmers. Because of the supply shortage, 28 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: they could sell their corn and other grains for much 29 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: higher prices than normal. But then as these wars were ending, 30 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: prices started falling. People were going to have access to 31 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: that imported grain again. Prices dropped almost fifty percent between 32 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: eighteen thirteen and eighteen fifteen. So in eighteen fifteen Parliament 33 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: passed a corn law which prohibited the import of various 34 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: grains and held their prices for domestically grown crops rose 35 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: up to a specific level, and that exact price depended 36 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: on the type of grain that was being sold. This 37 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: did contribute to price increases, but not as much as 38 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: landowners had been hoping for. Still, the corn Law was 39 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: obviously meant to protect the financial interests of wealthy planters 40 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: and landowners. Ordinary working people, on the other hand, had 41 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: been struggling to pay for grain and had welcomed the 42 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: drop in price. In response to the passage of the 43 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: corn Law, protests and food riots broke out all over Britain. 44 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,639 Speaker 1: Another issue was taxes. The British government had tried to 45 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: pay for the wars with an assortment of taxes and duties. 46 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: An income tax in particular had been passed in and 47 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: it was supposed to be a temporary wartime measure. Annual 48 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 1: incomes over two hundred pounds were taxed at ten percent, 49 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: and incomes between sixty and two hundred pounds were taxed 50 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: on a sliding scale from one percent to ten percent. 51 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: A lot of working class people had an income of 52 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: less than sixty pound the years, so they weren't being 53 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: taxed at all. The British people thought that once the 54 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: wars were over, at least some of these taxes would 55 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: be abolished, especially the income tax, but roughly two decades 56 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 1: of warfare had left Britain deeply in debt. So in 57 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: the spring of eighteen sixteen, Prime Minister Robert Banks Jenkinson, 58 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,799 Speaker 1: second Earl of Liverpool, and Chancellor Nicholas van Sattart announced 59 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: a plan to keep the income tax in place. So, 60 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: like we just said, there was this whole sliding scale 61 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: going on, and that meant the way the income tax 62 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: was structured, wealthier people were paying the vast majority of 63 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: the tax, and when they found out the tax was 64 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: not going away, they naturally were outraged. People protested and 65 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: they signed petitions, and on March eighteenth, eighteen sixteen, the 66 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: House of Commons voted to abolish the income tax. Allegedly, 67 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: then all the tax records were gathered up and burned 68 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: in the old Palace yard in Westminster. But that wartime 69 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: debt was still there and it was huge. The government 70 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: still had to bring in money somehow, and ultimately the 71 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: government raised taxes on a variety of consumer goods, including tobacco, tea, 72 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: sugar and beer. While the income tax had mainly affected 73 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: affluent people, Britain's poorer people were most affected by these 74 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: taxes on consumer goods, So people who were already struggling 75 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: to pay for necessities were now also paying higher taxes 76 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: on those necessities as well. Yes, so they mostly went 77 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: from not being taxed at all or or taxed only 78 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: a little bit on their incomes too being taxed a 79 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: whole lot more on things they needed to buy. And 80 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: that was really just the beginning. In eighteen sixteen was 81 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: the year without a Summer, which we've talked about on 82 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: a previous episode of the show. Crops failed all over 83 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: Europe because of unusually wet cold weather, and that made 84 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: things even harder for people who were already being affected 85 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: by the corn laws and the tax increases. Britain's textile 86 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 1: industries were shifting and becoming more mechanized, with traditional hand 87 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: looms being replaced by machines. People were losing their jobs 88 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: and wages were falling for people who still had jobs. 89 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: We talked about this more in our previous episode on 90 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: the Luddite Rising, which took place in the earlier eighteen teams, 91 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: so just a little bit before all this was happening, 92 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: All of this was disproportionately affecting the people who were 93 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: least able to afford it. Many working class families were 94 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: affected by all of this at once, with shortages of 95 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: food they needed, higher prices on what they could get, 96 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: additional taxes and reduced wages, all at the same time 97 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: and overwhelmingly. These same people also did not have the 98 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: right to vote. In most of Britain, only men who 99 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: paid certain taxes or who owned property had the right 100 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: to vote, and this meant that less than five percent 101 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: of people in England and Wales had the right to vote. 102 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: In the rest of Britain, the percentage was even smaller. 103 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: Even the people who could vote couldn't necessarily do so freely. 104 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,840 Speaker 1: Ballots weren't necessarily kept secret. Some burrows were known as 105 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,559 Speaker 1: pocket burrows because one person or family dictated how people 106 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: should vote. One example was Boroughbridge, who was electorate was 107 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: in the pocket of the Duke of Newcastle. On top 108 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: of that, parts of Britain weren't really represented in parliament. 109 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: More than half of MP's were elected from southern England, 110 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: while other parts of Britain weren't represented by a member 111 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: of Parliament at all. As the population of Britain had shifted, 112 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: it was common for small boroughs which were controlled by 113 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: the gentry, to have representation in Parliament, while growing cities 114 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: did not. This was true for Manchester, which had no 115 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: MP even though its population had grown to more than 116 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: one hundred thousand people by eighteen fifteen. Meanwhile, other areas 117 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: known as rotten boroughs sent two MPs to Parliament even 118 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: though they only had a handful of voters living there. 119 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: Old Saram, for example, had seven voters and two MPs. 120 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: So working people and poor people in Britain, some of 121 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: whom were both working and poor, understandably felt like they 122 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: were not being represented in the government and that the 123 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,679 Speaker 1: government didn't understand or care about their interests are well being, 124 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,599 Speaker 1: and in places like Manchester, this was heightened by just 125 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: not having any representation in Parliament at all. A movement 126 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: for parliamentary reform had started to grow in Britain in 127 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: the late eighteenth century in response to both the American 128 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: and French Revolutions and Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man, 129 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: which had also influenced the French Revolution. Reform groups founded 130 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: in the late seventeen hundreds in early eighteen hundreds focused 131 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: on changing how MPs were elected and on the idea 132 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: of universal manhood suffrage, meaning that all men or all 133 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: working men would get the right to vote. There were 134 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: also female reform societies that were a big part of 135 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: this movement, and there were some organizations that included women's 136 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: suffrage among their goals. Female reform societies and women's suffragists 137 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: were really heavily criticized and their members were satirized in print, 138 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: with critics implying that there was something questionable about their virtue. 139 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: We are going to get into how this movement developed, 140 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: but first we're gonna pause for a sponsor break. The 141 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: movement for parliamentary reform in Britain was really focused on 142 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: the idea of showing the government that massive numbers of 143 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: people supported these proposed reforms. This included petitioning and holding 144 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: mass meetings, and the first of these mass meetings was 145 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: held in November of eighteen sixteen in Spa Fields in London. 146 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: It drew a crowd of about ten thousand people along 147 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: with a large number of spectators. Another more radical meeting 148 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: followed at the same place on December two, eighteen sixteen. 149 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: There's more detail about that one in our Cato Street 150 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: conspiracy episode, but in brief, some of the leaders of 151 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: that meeting used it to try to start a revolution. 152 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: One person was killed and it came to be known 153 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: as the Spa Fields Riots. The British government began to 154 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: find this movement threatening. Some of it was just about 155 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: the potential loss of political power if more people had 156 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:01,319 Speaker 1: the right to vote, or seats in Parliament were reapportioned 157 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: to try to more consistently represent all of Britain. But 158 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: this wasn't just about power. There had been violent incidents 159 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: beyond just the Spa Fields riots. Some of the movement's 160 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: leaders were radical and used violent rhetoric in their speeches. 161 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: The French Revolution and the Reign of Terror were also 162 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: still in the recent past, and it happened just on 163 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: the other side of the Channel, so there were fears 164 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,679 Speaker 1: that something similar could happen in Britain. So the government 165 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,319 Speaker 1: started taking steps to try to discourage this reform movement 166 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: and the math meetings that were associated with it. Parliament 167 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: renewed wartime laws that banned seditious speech, and in March 168 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: of eighteen seventeen they suspended the Habeas Corpus Act. I'm 169 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: putting in this definition of habeas corpus here because I 170 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: feel like it's a term people are familiar with but 171 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: might not actually understand what it means. It's a Latin 172 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: term that has a slightly different legal nuance depending on 173 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: the jurisdiction, but it roughly translates to you may have 174 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: the body, meaning that if you satisfy the right legal procedures, 175 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 1: Authorities have to produce a person that's being detained or incarcerated, 176 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: usually to bring them to a court appearance, and that 177 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: court appearance is often meant to determine whether the person 178 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: is being held justly or unjustly. So the concept of 179 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:18,719 Speaker 1: Habeas corpus is meant to protect people from being unlawfully imprisoned. 180 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: The suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act meant that people 181 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: lost that protection and could be arrested and held indefinitely 182 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: without being charged with anything. This didn't stop the protests though. 183 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: In March of eighteen seventeen, a group called the Manchester 184 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: Radicals gathered in St Peter's Field planning to march to London. 185 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: They wanted to protest the suspension of Habeas Corpus and 186 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: draw attention to the issues facing textile workers in Lancashire. 187 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,679 Speaker 1: These marchers carried blankets and reform petitions with them, so 188 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: this demonstration was nicknamed the March of the Blanketeers. When 189 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: authorities tried to disperse these marchers. Hundreds of people were arrested. 190 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: Nearly thirty were imprisoned for random peeriods of time, most 191 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: of them never being charged with anything or brought to trial. 192 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: A volunteer force called the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry was 193 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,319 Speaker 1: also formed in response to the March of the Blanketeers, 194 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 1: another unrest that happened the same year. Parliament repealed the 195 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,680 Speaker 1: Habeas Corpus Suspension Act in January of eighteen eighteen, but 196 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: the government was still focused on trying to break up 197 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: the reform movement. By March of eighteen eighteen, Home Secretary 198 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: Lord Sidmuth had said quote, the country will not be 199 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: tranquilized until blood shall have been shed, either by the 200 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: law or the sword. As a summer approached in eighteen eighteen, 201 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: reformers started planning a mass meeting in Manchester. One of 202 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: the speakers was to be Henry Hunt, who had been 203 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: a speaker at those previous meetings that spa Fields that 204 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: we mentioned a few moments ago. He had become one 205 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,079 Speaker 1: of the most visible people within this movement. He was 206 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: a flamboyant speaker who usually wore a very recognizable white hat. 207 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: He was able to draw and motivate large crowds. A 208 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: lot of articles about him today are extremely critical, but 209 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: they also draw a lot of sources for people who 210 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: hated him, so it's not totally clear how much of 211 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: that is accurate. He was widely satirized in cartoons and articles, 212 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: and the anti reform side gave him the nickname Oorritor, 213 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: which was meant to be disparaging, but today people pretty 214 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: much always just call him or Itt or Hunt. The 215 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: idea was that on August eighteen nineteen, people would march 216 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: from towns all around Manchester, gathering together at St. Peter's Fields. 217 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: Some were coming from as far as thirty miles or 218 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: forty eight kilometers away, and some of these groups were 219 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: going to be very large, numbering hundreds or thousands of people. 220 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,199 Speaker 1: Organizers wanted to make sure they arrived in an orderly 221 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: organized way, so many practiced their marching in the moors 222 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: around their towns and villages in the weeks leading up 223 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,199 Speaker 1: to August sixteen. A lot of people also made banners 224 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: to carry on the day, which were decorated with the 225 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,439 Speaker 1: name of the society that was carrying the banner, or 226 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: a slogan like you Night and be Free or liberty 227 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: and fraternity, or taxation without representation is unjust and tyrannical. 228 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: So a lot of people were carrying banners while they 229 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: were practicing as well, since they were going to have 230 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: to carry them all that way on the sixteenth. This 231 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: was also at the same time of year that many 232 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:18,560 Speaker 1: of these communities carried out a tradition of rush bearing. 233 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 1: This came from the practice of annually replacing the layer 234 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: of rushes that covered the church's stone floor, and had 235 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: gradually become more of a parade in which participants carried 236 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: rushes to the church, wearing their Sunday best, carrying banners, 237 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,439 Speaker 1: and pulling elaborately decorated rush carts. So people had logical 238 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: reasons for practicing their marching before this event, and it 239 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: was all going on at a time when it was 240 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: pretty normal in these communities for people to parade from 241 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: one place to another. But authorities worried that there was 242 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: some kind of military purpose behind the drilling, and that 243 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: organizers were really conspiring to pull off something more violent 244 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: than a march to a meeting. By August twelve, local 245 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 1: magistrates were writing to each other with their concerns that 246 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: all of this might really be a pretext to some 247 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: kind of armed revolution. As people living in and around 248 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: Manchester prepared to march to the meeting and spend the 249 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 1: day listening to speeches and rallying for reform, the magistrates 250 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: prepared to make them disperse. Chief Magistrate William Holton instructed 251 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry and the neighboring Cheshire Yeomanry 252 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: to remain at the ready, although many of them reportedly 253 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: did so by spending the morning at Manchester's taverns. The 254 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: magistrates recruited three hundred people for the Manchester Special Constabulary 255 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: and armed them with truncheons. British Army regulars from the 256 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: Regiment of Foot and the fifteen King's Hussars were called 257 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: in as well. The magistrates had rocks and stones removed 258 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: from the ground so they could not be used as weapons, 259 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: and planned to arrest Henry Hunt as soon as he 260 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: began speaking. We'll talk about how this all played out 261 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: on the day after one more quick sponsor break. The 262 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: crowd that arrived at St Peter's Fields in Manchester on 263 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: August nineteen was festive and excited. Sixteenth was a Monday, 264 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: so people who worked in the region's textile factories would 265 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: have been at work for the day, but while power 266 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: loom factories were growing in Lancashire, the majority of textile 267 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: workers in that area we're still working at home on 268 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: hand looms, and they typically worked on Saturdays and took 269 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: Monday off. Many communities female reformer societies were marching together, 270 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: all dressed in white on the sixteenth, although there were 271 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 1: also lots of women there who weren't specifically associated with 272 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: the society. Children were in attendance with their families, and 273 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: sources vary on the estimates of how many total people 274 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: were there. Most say at least sixty thousand, Some go 275 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: as high as a hundred and fifty thousand or more. 276 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: It's really kind of all over the place. It was 277 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: illegal gathering, and although there may have been some people 278 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: who brought a stick or some of their weapon, they 279 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: had been told to bring quote no other weapon but 280 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: that of a self approving conscience. Bishop Edward Stanley later 281 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: said of the gathering, quote, I saw no symptoms of 282 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: riot or disturbances before the meeting. The impression on my 283 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: mind was that the people were sullenly peaceful. I don't 284 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 1: know why. He says sullenly peaceful, when many of the 285 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: other accounts say it was more festive, kind of like 286 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: a fun, excited party. The Manchester Courier described it this way, 287 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: quote at half past eleven, My attention was first particularly 288 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: attracted by a crowd of people advancing to the ground 289 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 1: with flags and music. They came in a sort of 290 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: marching order, and were covered with dust, having, as I learned, 291 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: come from some town at a distance. A number of women, 292 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: boys and even children were in the procession, which had 293 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 1: from this circumstance more the appearance of a large village 294 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: party going to a merrymaking than that of a body 295 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: of people advancing to overthrow the government of their country. 296 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: John Benjamin Smith later became a liberal politician and part 297 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: of the Anti Corn Law League, but at the time 298 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: he was twenty five and he had not planned to 299 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 1: go to the meeting. His aunt asked him to accompany 300 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: her to a friend's house nearby so that she could watch, 301 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: and he wrote of it quote, there were crowds of 302 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: people in all directions, full of good humor, laughing and 303 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 1: shouting and making fun. It seemed to be a gala 304 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 1: day with the country people, who were mostly dressed in 305 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: their best and brought with them their wives. And when 306 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 1: I saw boys and girls taking their father's hand in 307 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:32,200 Speaker 1: the procession, I observed to my aunt, these are the 308 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: guarantees of their peaceable intentions. We need have no fears. 309 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: Magistrates met at a home that was adjacent to the 310 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: meeting at about eleven in the morning, and sources differ 311 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 1: about what happened there when Hunt started speaking and authorities 312 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: moved into arrest him. Officials maintained that Chief Magistrate William 313 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: Holton read the Riot Act before ordering the Yeomanry to 314 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: make the crowd disperse. So here in the US, most 315 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: people know the phrase read the Riot Act as a 316 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,639 Speaker 1: figure of speech, basically meaning giving someone a very stern 317 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: lecture for some sort of misbehavior. But the Riot Act 318 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: is a real act, first passed by Parliament in seventeen 319 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,919 Speaker 1: fourteen after a series of riots had swept through Britain, 320 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: and its full title was an Act for preventing tumults 321 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: and riotous assemblies and for the more speedy and effectual 322 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: punishing of the rioters. The Act made it illegal for 323 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: twelve or more people to quote unlawfully assemble and disturb 324 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: the public peace. Local authorities had the right to approach 325 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,120 Speaker 1: such a group and order them to disperse, and failure 326 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: to do so was a felony. The Act remained on 327 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 1: the books until the mid to late twentieth century, so 328 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: under the terms of the Riot Act, someone who was 329 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: authorized to do so had to approach the unlawful assembly 330 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 1: as closely as they safely could, call for silence or 331 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: otherwise quote cause to be commanded silence, and then an 332 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: allowed voice they had to read this statement and its 333 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,959 Speaker 1: entirety quote, our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth 334 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 1: all persons being assembled immediately to disperse themselves and peaceably, 335 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: to depart to their habitations or to their lawful business, 336 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:14,679 Speaker 1: upon the pains contained in the Act made in the 337 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: first year of King George, for preventing tumult and riotous assemblies. 338 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 1: God save the King. Once that statement was read, then 339 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: the crowd had an hour to disperse. Accounts differ in 340 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:29,160 Speaker 1: whether authorities in Manchester that day read the Riot Act, 341 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: with the reports that it was read mostly coming from 342 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: magistrates and members of the military, but if it was read, 343 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: it probably was not heard by the vast majority of 344 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: the people there. They definitely were not given a one 345 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: hour window to disperse. The Yeomanry came down on the 346 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: crowd within minutes of Hunt's beginning to speak. The British 347 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 1: Army later blamed the Yeomanry for what happened next. The 348 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,239 Speaker 1: crowd was very tightly packed into St. Peter's fields, and 349 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,440 Speaker 1: the yeoman Red quickly broke form as they charged in, 350 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 1: leaving the members of the Womanry in very small groups 351 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: surrounded by marchers who were packed in too tightly to disperse. 352 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,959 Speaker 1: The yeoman Read didn't have much training, and a lot 353 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: of them were reportedly intoxicated, and when they found themselves 354 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,640 Speaker 1: trapped and kind of cut off from each other by 355 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,440 Speaker 1: this crowd, they started knocking people away with the flats 356 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: of their sabers. In some accounts, things escalated when demonstrators 357 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,160 Speaker 1: started throwing rocks, although some eyewitnesses said they did not 358 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: see any evidence of rock throwing or any other retaliation 359 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: from the Crown. The Yeomanry sabers were also freshly sharpened, 360 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:35,199 Speaker 1: something that many sources conclude is evidence that they had 361 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 1: intended to use them, or to at least do as 362 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: much harm as they could if they accidentally or intentionally 363 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: struck someone with the edge. Rather than the flat Yeah. 364 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: This has been described as one of the most documented 365 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,000 Speaker 1: events of the nineteenth century. There's something like three hundred 366 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: and fifty different eyewitness accounts, and a lot of them 367 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: contradict each other in details like this. The Army regulars 368 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,400 Speaker 1: arrived at the field at about two pm, fired down 369 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,680 Speaker 1: streets to encourage people to disperse, and the fifteen hussars 370 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 1: charged into the crowd. But Lieutenant Colonel Guiless Strange realized 371 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: that the crowd had formed kind of a bottleneck and 372 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: it was partly blocked in by the infantry. They couldn't disperse, 373 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: they had nowhere to go, so he pulled his force back. 374 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: Here's how John Benjamin Smith described the scene at that 375 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,159 Speaker 1: point quote it was a hot, dusty day. Clouds of 376 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: dust arose which obscured the view. When it had subsided, 377 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: a startling scene was presented. Numbers of men, women and 378 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: children were lying on the ground who had been knocked 379 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: down and run over by the soldiers. I noticed one 380 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: woman lying face downwards, apparently lifeless. A man went up 381 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:46,360 Speaker 1: to her and lifted one of her legs. It fell 382 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,679 Speaker 1: as if she were lifeless. Another man lifted both her 383 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 1: legs and let them fall. I saw her sometime after, 384 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,679 Speaker 1: carried off by the legs and arms as if she 385 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: were dead, and the end eleven people were killed there 386 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 1: on the day, five of them from saber wounds and 387 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: the rest from being trampled or crushed by people or horses. 388 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: The day's first fatality is usually cited as William Fields, 389 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 1: who was a baby knocked out of the arms of 390 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,199 Speaker 1: his twenty three year old mother and then trampled. At 391 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,719 Speaker 1: least seven more people died of their injuries. Later, two 392 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: constables were killed, likely by soldiers and probably by accident. 393 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: This took about twenty minutes between when the yeoman recharged 394 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 1: in and when the field was cleared. It seems as 395 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 1: though the yeomanry and soldiers focused on people with banners 396 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,680 Speaker 1: and on women. Of the six d fifty four recorded injuries, 397 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,639 Speaker 1: at least one hundred sixty eight were women. Four of 398 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: those women died of their injuries. Roughly half of those 399 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: reported injuries came from sabers or other weapons, as opposed 400 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 1: to being crushed or trampled. Based on the recorded numbers, 401 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 1: about one eighth of the marchers were women, but women 402 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: made up about one third of the injuries. There were 403 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 1: also probably a lot more injuries that went unreported. People 404 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: were really afraid to seek medical care out of fear 405 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:04,679 Speaker 1: that they would be arrested or faced some kind of 406 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: other consequences for having been at the meeting. Twenty five 407 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,399 Speaker 1: year old James Lees, who was a veteran of the 408 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: Battle of Waterloo, died of injuries after being turned away 409 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: from the Manchester infirmary. He was reportedly turned away because 410 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,439 Speaker 1: he refused to agree not to participate in such meetings 411 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,239 Speaker 1: in the future. He was quoted as saying, quote, at 412 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 1: Waterloo there was man to man, but here it was 413 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: downright murder. Henry Hunt was arrested and tried for seditious 414 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: assembly and was sentenced to thirty months in prison. Three 415 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: other speakers and organizers were sentenced to twelve months each. 416 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: Although people tried to raise funds to help the injured 417 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: and the families of the killed, most of this money 418 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: wound up going to Hunt's legal defense. Local journalist James 419 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: Rowe coined the term Peterloo massacre, combining St. Peter's Fields 420 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: where it happened with the Battle of Waterloo, which the 421 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: fifteenth Thustards had fought at four years before. Rose newspaper, 422 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 1: The Manchester Observer, was shut down in the wake of 423 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: his reporting on the incident, and he was charged and 424 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:10,479 Speaker 1: convicted with seditious libel. Afterwards, John Edward Taylor started the 425 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: Manchester Guardian and that's just the Guardian today. The massacre 426 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: temporarily united reformers across the political spectrum, with the more 427 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: radical and more moderate wings of the movement coming together 428 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: in outrage over what had happened, but this didn't help 429 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: propel the movement forward. The magistrates and other officials sided 430 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,359 Speaker 1: with the Yeomanry and the regulars, including holding a meeting 431 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,160 Speaker 1: in secret to thank the Yeomanry for their work. There 432 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,159 Speaker 1: was no investigation into the behavior of the Yeomanry, the 433 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:44,080 Speaker 1: Special Constables, or the military units involved. In response to 434 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: the massacre, Parliament also passed legislation known as the Six 435 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,720 Speaker 1: Acts in November of eighteen nineteen. These were the Training 436 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: Prevention Act, the Seizure of Arms Act, the Seditious Meetings 437 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: Prevention Act, the Misdemeanors Act, the Blasphemous and Seditious Libel Act, 438 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: and the Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act. Together, these acts 439 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: restricted the freedoms of assembly, speech, and the press. They 440 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: specifically outlawed the kind of drilling people had been doing 441 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: in the moors leading up to the meeting. Meanwhile, nearly 442 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: five thousand people signed a petition denouncing the meeting that 443 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,680 Speaker 1: had been held, to thank the Yeomanry and condemning the violence, 444 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,840 Speaker 1: and that read, in part quote, we are fully satisfied 445 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: by personal observation on undoubted information, that the meeting was 446 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: perfectly peaceable, that no seditious or intemperate harangues were made there, 447 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 1: that the riot Act, if read at all, was read 448 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: privately or without the knowledge of a great body of 449 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: the meeting. And we feel it are bound in duty 450 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: to protest against and to express our uttered disapprobation of 451 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:47,400 Speaker 1: the unexpected and unnecessary violence by which the assembly was dispersed. 452 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: Many of the Special Constables and members of the Yeomanry 453 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,360 Speaker 1: were shopkeepers, and people boycotted those shops afterward. The massacre 454 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: and the government and other official response to it were 455 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: widely criticized and satur rised in print. An anonymous writer 456 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: created a pamphlet based on the children's rhyme who Killed 457 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: Cock Robin, with the robin being the people who were 458 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: hurt and killed. Somewhat similar political pamphlet was called The 459 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 1: Political House that Jack Built and was written by William 460 00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 1: Hone and illustrated with political cartoons like the Children's rhyme. 461 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,800 Speaker 1: Every line builds on the one before. So this is 462 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:24,119 Speaker 1: the house that Jack built. This is the wealth that 463 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: lay in the house that Jack built. These are the 464 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: vermin that plunder the wealth that lay in the house 465 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 1: that Jack built. This is the thing that, in spite 466 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,640 Speaker 1: of new acts and attempts to restrain it by soldiers 467 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: and tax will poison the vermin that plunder the wealth 468 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: that lay in the house that Jack built. The thing 469 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,719 Speaker 1: that's going to poison these vermin is a printing press, 470 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: and the vermin are an assortment of bishops, court officials, 471 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: the army, tax collectors, and the like. Percy bish Shelley 472 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: also wrote a lengthy poem called The Mask of Anarchy, 473 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: although it was not published until after his death, and 474 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: he sent that poem to Lee Hunt, who withheld its 475 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 1: publication for fear of political or legal consequence. Is and 476 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,719 Speaker 1: there were also lots of household goods like cups and 477 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: tea towels that were made to commemorate the massacre. But 478 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,199 Speaker 1: in spite of all this criticism and publicity. It was 479 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,919 Speaker 1: a really long time before any of the reforms that 480 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: this movement had been looking for came into being. The 481 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: Representation of the People Act of eighteen thirty two was 482 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,439 Speaker 1: the first act to include some of these reforms, and 483 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: it was past thirteen years later. It gave more men 484 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,840 Speaker 1: the right to vote and redistributed some seats in Parliament, 485 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,679 Speaker 1: which reduced the number of rotten boroughs and gave some 486 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,879 Speaker 1: places some representation that they had not previously had. Although 487 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: it was nicknamed the Great Reform Act, these changes were 488 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: far more moderate than what reformers had been working toward. 489 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 1: Additional reform acts followed in eighteen sixty seven and eighteen 490 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: eighty four, which continued to refine who could vote and 491 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: how communities were represented in Parliament. But it wasn't until 492 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:55,679 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen, almost a century after the Peterloo Massacre, that 493 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: the Representation of the People Act granted universal suffrage to men. 494 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:02,439 Speaker 1: All men over the age of twenty one could vote, 495 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: as could women over the age of thirty who owned property. Yeah. 496 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: By that point there had been entire other movements that 497 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: had come and gone in Britain, including like the Chartist movement, 498 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: was in that whole window, the whole lot. Ah, do 499 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: you have listener mail that's maybe not quite so sad. 500 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 1: I mean I do in a way, and it's it's 501 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: kind of connects to this because because like a lot 502 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: of the investigation into what happened at the time was 503 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: really focused on these martyrs and what they were up 504 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 1: to and whether they were up to something nefarious, and 505 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,640 Speaker 1: not on the people who carried out the actual killing. 506 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: This email is from you on I hope I am 507 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: saying your name correctly and Yuan Rights, Holly and Tracy. 508 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,719 Speaker 1: What a timely piece. Just last week, the Mercury News 509 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: printed a report on US Representative Mark to Sanier's amendment 510 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 1: to exonerate the Port Chicago fifty that passed the House. 511 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:59,520 Speaker 1: While I barely skim newspaper headlines these days, I devoured 512 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: the because I thought I had heard about the incident 513 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: from your show. That must be the Halifax explosion. Your 514 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 1: latest show added so much depth to my understanding about 515 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 1: the Port Chicago fifty. While listening, I can't help but 516 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: wondering where's the intellect of those Navy officers who looked 517 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 1: down on the quote lowest intellectual strata given the court 518 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: finding quote that the colored enlisted personnel are neither temperamentally 519 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 1: nor intellectually capable of handling high explosives. These officers who 520 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: ordered such personnel back to handling high explosives must be 521 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: there lacked the intellect to understand that conclusion, lacked the 522 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: intellect to integrate that conclusion into their decisions. Should they 523 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 1: pass the previous test or should they have possessed the intellected? 524 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: You both must have committed treason by attempting to further 525 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 1: sabotage the Navy port during the active war. This is 526 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: a good point, so um, thank you you on for 527 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 1: writing two things. Number one, A couple of people have 528 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:57,840 Speaker 1: gotten in touch with us about this. On July twelve, 529 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: the National Defense Authors Asian Act was passed by the House. 530 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 1: There was a concurrent resolution the day before, and there 531 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: is an amendment that's part of the authorization that would 532 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 1: um require the Secretary of the Navy to either exonerate 533 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: the Port Chicago fifty or to look into exonerating the 534 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,360 Speaker 1: Port Chicago fifty. I could not find the text of 535 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:24,560 Speaker 1: the actual amendment on the Congress website. That there are 536 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: a lot of amendments to this particular bill, and I 537 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: could not find it among them. So that currently has 538 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: passed the House. Um, there is not a similar bill 539 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: that has passed the Senate. It's not signed into law, 540 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: so like nothing is a sure thing yet. But this representative, 541 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: who I think represents the part of California that Port 542 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: Chicago is in, has been trying to get the Port 543 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: Chicago fifty exonerated. It's not the first time that there's 544 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 1: been an attempt to get them exonerated, but is ongoing. 545 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 1: We recorded that episode on July nights, so we recorded 546 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: the episode before any of those things had happened. And 547 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: regards in regards to a question at the end, yeah, 548 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:05,240 Speaker 1: that's just not a question that anybody was exploring at all, 549 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: and any of the hearings that happened at the time, 550 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: there were just a lot of examinations of the men 551 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: who were loading the munitions in Port Chicago and really 552 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,440 Speaker 1: no examination of the decisions that led them to be 553 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: doing that. So, um, that was one of the very 554 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 1: frustrating things, and that was a very uh astute way 555 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: of laying out the questions involved. So thank you you 556 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: want for this email and for the link to the 557 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: article about this defense bill amendment that may lead to 558 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: an exhoneration if it all continues on UH If you 559 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: would like to write to us about this or any 560 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 1: other podcast or a history podcast at how stuff Works 561 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 1: dot com. And then we're all over social media and 562 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: Missing History. That's where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, 563 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 1: and Pinterest. You can come to our website, which is 564 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: missing history dot com and find show notes for all 565 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: the episodes that Holly and I have worked on together 566 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 1: in a searchable archive of all of our episodes, and 567 00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, the 568 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 1: I heart Radio app, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. 569 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 570 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts for 571 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 572 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.