View source for Corn Laws

{{short description|19th-century trade restrictions on import food and grain in Great Britain}}
{{for|the British-Canadian trading act|Canada Corn Act}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

[[File:1815 Corn Law, An Act to amend the Laws now in force for regulating the Importation of Corn.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|The 1815 Corn Law, officially "An Act to amend the Laws now in force for regulating the Importation of Corn"]]

The '''Corn Laws''' were [[tariff]]s and other [[trade restriction]]s on imported food and [[grain|corn]] enforced in the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn''<!-- do not wikilink because the 'corn' article is a redirect to 'maize' --> in [[British English]] denotes all cereal grains, including [[wheat]], [[oat]]s and [[barley]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/corn|title=CORN &#124; English meaning – Cambridge Dictionary}}</ref> The laws were designed to keep corn prices high to favour domestic farmers, and represented British [[mercantilism]].{{efn|According to David Cody (English Faculty, [[Hartwick College]]), they "were designed to protect English landholders by encouraging the export and limiting the import of corn when prices fell below a fixed point. They were eventually abolished in the face of militant agitation by the [[Anti-Corn Law League]], formed in [[Manchester]] in 1839, which maintained that the laws, which amounted to a subsidy, increased industrial costs. After a lengthy campaign, opponents of the law finally got their way in 1846{{mdash}}a significant triumph which was indicative of the new political power of the English middle class."<ref>{{cite web|author= Cody, D | date= 1987 | url=http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist5.html | title=Corn Laws | website= The Victorian Web: literature, history and culture in the age of Victoria| access-date= 16 September 2007}}</ref> }} The Corn Laws blocked the import of cheap corn, initially by simply forbidding importation below a set price, and later by imposing steep import duties, making it too expensive to import it from abroad, even when food supplies were short. The House of Commons passed the corn law bill on 10 March 1815, the House of Lords on 20 March and the bill received [[royal assent]] on 23 March 1815.

The Corn Laws enhanced the profits and political power associated with [[land ownership]]. The laws raised [[food prices]] and the costs of living for the British public, and hampered the growth of other British economic sectors, such as manufacturing, by reducing the disposable income of the British public.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Williamson|first=Jeffrey G|date=1990-04-01|title=The impact of the Corn Laws just prior to repeal|journal=Explorations in Economic History|volume=27|issue=2|pages=123–156|doi=10.1016/0014-4983(90)90007-L}}</ref>

The laws became the focus of opposition from urban groups who had far less political power than rural areas. The first two years of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine in Ireland]] of 1845–1852 forced a resolution because of the urgent need for new food supplies. The prime minister, [[Robert Peel|Sir Robert Peel]], a [[Tories (British political party)|Conservative]], achieved repeal in 1846 with the support of the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]] in Parliament, overcoming the opposition of most of his own party.

Economic historians see the repeal of the Corn Laws as a decisive shift towards [[free trade]] in Britain.<ref>{{Cite journal|first1=Ronald|last1=Findlay|last2=O'Rourke|first2=Kevin H.|date=2003-01-01|title=Commodity Market Integration, 1500–2000|url=https://www.nber.org/chapters/c9585|journal=NBER|pages=13–64}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-cambridge-economic-history-of-modern-britain/trade-discovery-mercantilism-and-technology/A0D309440D728FC14CC299FACB7A5876|title=The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain|pages=175–203|language=en|access-date=2017-06-27|doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521820363.008|chapter=Trade: Discovery, mercantilism and technology|year=2004|last1=Harley|first1=C. Knick|isbn=9781139053853}}</ref> According to one 2021 study, the repeal of the Corn Laws benefitted the bottom 90% of income earners in the United Kingdom economically, while causing income losses for the top 10% of income earners.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Irwin|first1=Douglas A|last2=Chepeliev|first2=Maksym G|date=2021|title=The Economic Consequences of Sir Robert Peel: A Quantitative Assessment of the Repeal of the Corn Laws|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueab029|journal=The Economic Journal|volume=131|issue=640|pages=3322–3337|doi=10.1093/ej/ueab029|issn=0013-0133|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Origins==
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Corn Act 1772
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of Great Britain
| long_title            = An Act to regulate the Importation and Exportation of Corn.
| year                  = 1772
| citation              = [[13 Geo. 3]]. c. 43
| territorial_extent    = [[Great Britain]]
| royal_assent          = 10 May 1773
| commencement          = 1 January 1774{{efn|Section 1.}}
| repeal_date           = 15 November 1791
| repealing_legislation = [[Importation and Exportation (No. 2) Act 1791]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| original_text         = https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WrmXQpgmfMAC&pg=PA61
| collapsed             = yes
}}
As a staple of life, as well as an important commodity of trade, corn and its traffic was long the subject of debate and of government regulation – the Tudors legislating against speculating in corn, and the Stuarts introducing import and export controls.{{sfn|Sutherland|2008|pp=535, 552}} Import had been regulated as early as 1670;{{sfn|Sutherland|2008|p=543}} and in 1689 traders were provided [[Export subsidy|bounties]] for exporting [[rye]], [[malt]] and [[wheat]] (all classified as corn at the time, the same commodities being taxed when imported into England).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stevenson|first1=John|editor1-last=Fletcher|editor1-first=Anthony|title=Order and disorder in early modern England|date=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521349321|pages=230–231}}</ref> In 1773, the '''{{visible anchor|Corn Act 1772}}''' ([[13 Geo. 3]]. c. 43), "An act to regulate the importation and exportation of corn" repealed Elizabethan controls on grain speculation; but also shut off exports and allowed imports when the price was above 48 [[shilling]]s{{efn|About £{{inflation|UK|2.4|1773}} today}} per [[quarter (unit)#Volume|quarter]]{{efn|A 'quarter' was a unit of volume rather than of weight but a 'quarter of wheat' weighed about {{convert|224|kg|abbr=on}}. (The density of wheat is 0.770,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/foods-materials-bulk-density-d_1819.html | title= Bulk densities of some common food products | website= engineeringtoolbox.com | access-date = 19 January 2020}}</ref> and a quarter by volume (64 gallons) equates to 291 litres, multiplied by 0.770 gives 224&nbsp;kg).}} (thus compromising to allow for interests of producers and consumers alike).{{sfn|Sutherland|2008|p=543}}<ref>{{cite book|last=MacPherson|first= David|title=Annals of Commerce, Manufactures, Fisheries, and Navigation with Brief Notices of the Arts and Sciences Connected with Them: Containing the Commercial Transactions of the British Empire and Other Countries, Volume III|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YPQ_AAAAcAAJ|pages=537–538|publisher=Nichols and Son|location=London|date=1805}}</ref> The issue however remained one of public debate (by figures such as [[Edmund Burke]]) into the 1790s;{{sfn|Sutherland|2008|pp=554–555}} and amendments to the 1773 act, favouring agricultural producers, were made in both 1791 and 1804.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.math.grin.edu/~simpsone/Teaching/Romantics/ellen.html |title=The corn laws |access-date=15 August 2018 |archive-date=28 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128210330/http://www.math.grin.edu/~simpsone/Teaching/Romantics/ellen.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1813, a [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] committee recommended excluding foreign-grown corn until the price of domestically grown corn exceeded 80 shillings{{efn|or £4, about £{{Inflation|UK|4|1813|r=-1}} today, Inflation between 1775 and 1815 was substantial, so 80s in 1813 was actually worth less than 44s in 1773.}} per quarter (8 [[bushel]]s),<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Morgan|first1=Augustus|author-link=Augustus De Morgan|title=The Elements of Arithmetic |url=https://archive.org/details/elementsarithme02morggoog |date=1830 |publisher=Taylor |location=London |oclc=22852767|page=[https://archive.org/details/elementsarithme02morggoog/page/n52 100]|edition=1st}}</ref> or the equivalent in 2025 prices of around £1,100 per [[tonne]] of wheat.{{efn|Price comparisons between this period and modern times are mainly based on the work of economists [[Henry Phelps Brown]] and Sheila Hopkins, published in 2004.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=O'Donoghue|first1=Jim|last2=Goulding|first2=Louise|title=Consumer Price Inflation since 1750|journal=Economic Trends|date=March 2004|issue=604|page=38}}</ref> For comparison, international wheat prices from 2010 to 2018 have been in the range of £100–£225 per tonne. (Where a value given in this article is preceded by the word 'about', this indicates that the modern equivalent value has been arrived at by reference to the general index of consumer prices rather than a specific index for grains). £1,102 in 2004 is about £{{inflation|UK|1102|2004|fmt=c|r=-2}} today. }} The political economist [[Thomas Malthus]] believed this to be a [[fair price]], and that it would be dangerous for Britain to rely on imported corn because lower prices would reduce labourers' [[wages]], and manufacturers would lose out due to the decrease of purchasing power of landlords and farmers.{{sfn|Woodward|1962|p=61}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Importation Act 1815
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to amend the Laws now in force for regulating the Importation of Corn.
| year                  = 1815
| citation              = [[55 Geo. 3]]. c. 26
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = [[United Kingdom]]
| royal_assent          = 23 March 1815
| commencement          = 23 March 1815{{efn|name=aopca|The [[Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793]].}}
| repeal_date           = 15 July 1828
| amendments            = [[Importation Act 1822]]
| repealing_legislation = [[Importation of Corn Act 1828]]
| related_legislation   = {{ubli|[[Customs Act 1826]]|[[Importation Act 1846]]}}
| status                = Repealed
| original_text         = {{GBurl|85taAAAAYAAJ|page=50}}
| collapsed             = yes
}}
With the advent of peace when the [[Napoleonic Wars]] ended in 1815, corn prices decreased, and the [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]] government of [[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Lord Liverpool]] passed the '''{{visible anchor|Importation Act 1815}}''' ([[55 Geo. 3]]. c. 26) (officially ''An Act to amend the Laws now in force for regulating the Importation of Corn'')<ref name="BritainTomlins1816">{{cite book|author1=Sir Thomas Edlyne Tomlins|author2=John Raithby|author3=Nicholas Simons|author4=Charles Dacres Bevan|author5=Sir George Kettilby Rickards|title=The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85taAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA50|year=1816|publisher=Printed by G. Eyre and A. Strahan, printers to the King|pages=50–51}}</ref> to keep bread prices high. This resulted in serious rioting in London.<ref>Hirst, p. 15.</ref>

In 1816, the [[Year Without a Summer]] (caused by the [[1815 eruption of Mount Tambora]] in Indonesia) caused famine by disastrously reducing crop harvest. Reduced standard of living and food shortages led to riots.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-36276197|title=Littleport's hunger riots: Descendants mark 200th anniversary|publisher=BBC News|date=28 May 2016|access-date=28 May 2016}} including the [[Ely and Littleport riots of 1816]]</ref> But the ceiling price of 80 shillings a quarter for domestic grain was so high that, between 1815 and 1848, it was never reached. [[David Ricardo]], however, espoused [[free trade]] so that Britain could use its capital and population to its [[comparative advantage]].{{sfn|Woodward|1962|p=61}}

==Opposition==
{{Further|Anti-Corn Law League}}
{{hatnote|This article gives prices in the pre-decimal notation for [[pound sterling|sterling]] as used at the time: £x/y/z, y/z, or y/–. For an explanation of this notation, see [[£sd]].}}
[[File:1846 - Anti-Corn Law League Meeting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|right|A meeting of the [[Anti-Corn Law League]] in [[Exeter Hall]] in London in 1846]]

In 1820, the Merchants' Petition, written by [[Thomas Tooke]], was presented to the House of Commons. The petition demanded free trade and an end to protective tariffs. The prime minister, Lord Liverpool, who claimed to be in favour of free trade, blocked the petition. He argued, speciously, that complicated restrictions made it difficult to repeal protectionist laws. He added, though, that he believed Britain's economic dominance grew in spite of, not because of, the protectionist system.<ref>Hirst, p. 16.</ref> In 1821, the [[president of the Board of Trade]], [[William Huskisson]], composed a Commons committee report which recommended a return to the "practically free" trade of the pre-1815 years.{{sfn|Schonhardt-Bailey|2006|p=9}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Importation Act 1822
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to amend the Laws relating to the Importation of Corn.
| year                  = 1822
| citation              = [[3 Geo. 4]]. c. 60
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = [[United Kingdom]]
| royal_assent          = 15 July 1822
| commencement          = 15 July 1822{{efn|name=aopca}}
| repeal_date           = 15 July 1828
| amends                = [[Importation Act 1815]]
| repealing_legislation = [[Importation of Corn Act 1828]]
| related_legislation   = [[Customs Act 1826]]
| status                = Repealed
| original_text         = {{GBurl|XKFUAAAAcAAJ|page=PA785}}
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Importation of Corn Act 1828
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to amend the Laws relating to the Importation of Corn.
| year                  = 1828
| citation              = [[9 Geo. 4]]. c. 60
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = [[United Kingdom]]
| royal_assent          = 15 July 1828
| commencement          = 15 July 1828{{efn|name=aopca}}
| repeal_date           = 29 April 1842
| amends                = 
| replaces              = {{ubli|[[Importation Act 1815]]|[[Importation Act 1822]]|[[Average Price of Corn Act 1827]]}}
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = [[Duties on Corn Act 1842]]
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = Repealed
| original_text         = https://books.google.com/books?id=VpZFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA481
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The '''{{visible anchor|Importation Act 1822}}''' ([[3 Geo. 4]]. c. 60) decreed that corn could be imported when the price of domestically harvested corn rose to 80/– (£4) per quarter but that the import of corn would again be prohibited when the price fell to 70/– per quarter. After this act was passed, the corn price never rose to 80/– until 1828. In 1827, the landlords rejected Huskisson's proposals for a sliding scale, and during the next year Huskisson and the new [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]], the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]], devised a new sliding scale for the '''{{visible anchor|Importation of Corn Act 1828}}''' ([[9 Geo. 4]]. c. 60) whereby, when domestic corn was 52/– (£2/12/–){{efn|about £{{inflation|UK|2.60|1828}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}}} per quarter or less, the duty would be 34/8 (£1/14/8),{{efn|about £{{inflation|UK|1.73|1828}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}}} and when the price increased to 73/– (£3/13/–),{{efn|about £{{inflation|UK|3.65|1828}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}}} the duty decreased to one shilling.{{sfn|Schonhardt-Bailey|2006|p=10}}{{efn|about £{{inflation|UK|0.05|1828}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}}}

[[File:Robert Peel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Robert Peel]] became Conservative Prime Minister in 1841, and his government succeeded in repealing the tariffs.]]
The [[British Whig Party|Whig]] governments, in power for most of the years between 1830 and 1841, decided not to repeal the Corn Laws. However the Liberal Whig MP [[Charles Pelham Villiers]] proposed motions for repeal in the House of Commons every year from 1837 to 1845. In 1842, the majority against repeal was 303; by 1845 this had fallen to 132. Although he had spoken against repeal until 1845, [[Robert Peel]] voted in favour in 1846. In 1853, when Villiers was made a [[Privy Counsellor]], ''[[The Times]]'' stated that "it was Mr Charles Villiers who practically originated the Free Trade movement".

In 1838, Villiers spoke at a meeting of 5,000 "working-class men" in Manchester. In 1840, under Villiers' direction, the Committee on Import Duties published a [[United Kingdom National Accounts – The Blue Book|blue book]] examining the effects of the Corn Laws. Tens of thousands of copies were printed in pamphlet form by the [[Anti-Corn Law League]], founded in 1838. The report was quoted in the major newspapers, reprinted in America, and published in an abridged form by ''[[The Spectator]]''.

In the [[1841 United Kingdom general election|1841 election]], Sir [[Robert Peel]] became Prime Minister and [[Richard Cobden]], a major proponent of free trade, was elected for the first time. Peel had studied the works of [[Adam Smith]], [[David Hume]] and [[David Ricardo]], and proclaimed in 1839: "I have read all that has been written by the gravest authorities on political economy on the subject of rent, wages, taxes, tithes."<ref>Semmel, p. 143.</ref> He voted against repeal each year from 1837 to 1845. In 1842, in response to the Blue book published by Villiers' 1840 Committee on Import Duties, Peel offered a concession by modifying the sliding scale. He reduced the maximum duty to 20/– if the price were to fall to 51/– or less. In 1842,{{sfn|Schonhardt-Bailey|2006|p=10}} Peel's fellow-Conservative [[Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton|Monckton Milnes]] said, at the time of this concession, that Villiers was "the solitary [[Robinson Crusoe]] sitting on the rock of Corn Law repeal".

According to historian [[Asa Briggs]], the Anti-Corn Law League was a large, nationwide middle-class moral crusade with a Utopian vision; its leading advocate [[Richard Cobden]] promised that repeal would settle four great problems simultaneously:

{{blockquote|First, it would guarantee the prosperity of the manufacturer by affording him outlets for his products.  Second, it would relieve the [[Condition of England question]] by cheapening the price of food and ensuring more regular employment. Third, it would make English agriculture more efficient by stimulating demand for its products in urban and industrial areas. Fourth, it would introduce through mutually advantageous international trade a new era of international fellowship and peace. The only barrier to these four beneficent solutions was the ignorant self-interest of the landlords, the "bread-taxing oligarchy, unprincipled, unfeeling, rapacious and plundering."<ref>Asa Briggs (1959), ''The Making of Modern England 1783–1867: The Age of Improvement'', p. 314</ref>}}

The landlords claimed that manufacturers like Cobden wanted cheap food so that they could reduce wages and thus maximise their profits, an opinion shared by socialist [[Chartism|Chartists]]. [[Karl Marx]]<ref>Marx, ''Capital'', Chapter X, "The Working Day"</ref> said: "The campaign for the abolition of the Corn Laws had begun and the workers' help was needed. The advocates of repeal therefore promised, not only a Big Loaf (which was to be doubled in size) but also the passing of the Ten Hours Bill" (to reduce working hours). In 1876, [[Thomas Carlyle]] commented on [[John Bright]], co-founder of the League along with Cobden: "as for that party, Bright, Cobden and Co., 'Cheap and Nasty' was their watchword. It was folly to suppose good things were to be had cheap. The nation had been deluded."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=David Alec |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.174678 |title=Carlyle in Old Age |last2=MacArthur |first2=David Wilson |date=1934 |location=London |page=386}}</ref>

The Anti-Corn Law League was agitating peacefully for repeal. They funded writers like [[William Cooke Taylor]] to travel the manufacturing regions of northern England to research their cause.<ref name="GM">''The Gentleman's Magazine'', 1850, pp. 94–96.</ref> Taylor published a number of books as an Anti-Corn Law propagandist, most notably, ''The Natural History of Society'' (1841), ''Notes of a tour in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire'' (1842), and ''Factories and the Factory System'' (1844). Cobden and the rest of the Anti-Corn Law League believed that cheap food meant greater real wages and Cobden praised a speech by a working man who said:

{{blockquote|
When provisions are high, the people have so much to pay for them that they have little or nothing left to buy clothes with; and when they have little to buy clothes with, there are few clothes sold; and when there are few clothes sold, there are too many to sell, they are very cheap; and when they are very cheap, there cannot be much paid for making them: and that, consequently, the manufacturing working man's wages are reduced, the mills are shut up, business is ruined, and general distress is spread through the country. But when, as now, the working man has the said 25''s'' left in his pocket, he buys more clothing with it (ay, and other articles of comfort too), and that increases the demand for them, and the greater the demand&nbsp;... makes them rise in price, and the rising price enables the working man to get higher wages and the masters better profits. This, therefore, is the way I prove that high provisions make lower wages, and cheap provisions make higher wages.<ref>Bright and Thorold Rogers, p. 129.</ref>}}

The magazine ''[[The Economist]]'' was founded in September 1843 by politician [[James Wilson (businessman)|James Wilson]] with help from the Anti-Corn Law League; his son-in-law [[Walter Bagehot]] later became its editor.

==Prelude to repeal==
In February 1844, the [[Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond|Duke of Richmond]] initiated the [[Central Agricultural Protection Society]] (CAPS, commonly known as the "Anti-League") to campaign in favour of the Corn Laws.

In 1844, the agitation subsided as there were fruitful harvests. The situation changed in late 1845 with poor harvests and the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in Ireland; Britain experienced scarcity and Ireland starvation.<ref>Hirst, p. 33.</ref> Nevertheless, Ireland continued to [[Great Famine (Ireland)#Food exports during Famine|export substantial quantities of food]] to Great Britain despite its domestic privations. The problem in Ireland was not lack of food, but the price of it, which was beyond the reach of the poor.{{sfn|Woodham-Smith|1991|p=165}} Peel argued in [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] that tariffs on grain should be rescinded by [[Order in Council]] until [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] assembled to repeal the Corn Laws. His colleagues resisted this. On 22 November 1845 the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]] [[Lord John Russell]] announced in an open letter to the electors in the [[City of London (UK Parliament constituency)|City of London]] his support for immediate Corn Law repeal and called upon the government to take urgent action to avert famine.<ref>''The Times'' (27 November 1845), p. 5.</ref><ref name="Morley, p. 344">Morley, p. 344.</ref>

The appearance of Russell's letter spurred Peel and the free-traders in his cabinet to press ahead with repeal measures over the objections of their protectionist colleagues.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearce |first=Edward |title=The Diaries of Charles Greville |year=2000 |pages=237–238 |location=London |publisher=Pimlico }}</ref> On 4 December 1845, an announcement appeared in ''[[The Times]]'' that the government had decided to recall Parliament in January 1846 to repeal the Corn Laws. [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Lord Stanley]] resigned from the Cabinet in protest. It quickly became clear to Peel that he would not be able to bring most of his own party with him in support of repeal and so on 11 December he resigned as Prime Minister in frustration. The [[Queen Victoria|Queen]] sent for Russell to form a government but, with the Whigs a minority in the Commons, he struggled to assemble the necessary support. Russell offered Cobden the post of [[Vice-President of the Board of Trade]] but he refused, preferring to remain an advocate of free trade outside the government.<ref name="Morley, p. 344"/> On 21 December Russell informed the Queen that he was unable to accept office. Later that same day Peel agreed to carry on as Prime Minister but, with the majority of his own party opposing his proposals, he was now dependent on the backing of the Whigs to carry repeal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearce |first=Edward |title=The Diaries of Charles Greville |year=2000 |pages=238–240 |location=London |publisher=Pimlico }}</ref>

After Parliament was recalled the CAPS started a campaign of resistance. In the rural [[Counties of the United Kingdom|counties]] the CAPS was practically supplanting the local Conservative associations and in many areas the independent [[Freehold (English law)|free holding]] farmers were resisting the most fiercely.<ref>Coleman, p. 134.</ref>

==Repeal==
{{wikisource|Repeal of the Corn Laws (Duke of Wellington)}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Importation Act 1846
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to amend the Laws relating to the Importation of Corn.
| year                  = 1846
| citation              = [[9 & 10 Vict.]] c. 22
| introduced_commons    = Sir [[Robert Peel]]
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 26 June 1846
| commencement          =
| expiry_date           =
| repeal_date           = 6 August 1861 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation =[[Statute Law Revision Act 1861]] 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                =Repealed 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = {{GBurl|6SQPAQAAMAAJ|page=153}}
| collapsed             = yes
}}

In 1845 and 1846, the first two years of [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in Ireland, there was a disastrous fall in food supplies. Prime Minister Peel called for repeal despite the opposition of most of his Conservative Party. The Anti-Corn Law League played a minor role in the passage of legislation—it had paved the way through its agitation but was now on the sidelines.<ref>Mary Lawson-Tancred, "The Anti-League and the Corn Law Crisis of 1846." ''Historical Journal'' (1960) 3#2 pp: 162–183. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3020474 in JSTOR]</ref> On 27 January 1846, Peel gave his government's plan. He said that the Corn Laws would be abolished on 1 February 1849 after three years of gradual reductions of the tariff, leaving only a 1 shilling duty per quarter.<ref>Hirst, p. 35.</ref> [[Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield|Benjamin Disraeli]] and [[Lord George Bentinck]] emerged as the most forceful opponents of repeal in parliamentary debates, arguing that repeal would weaken landowners socially and politically and therefore destroy the "territorial constitution" of Britain by empowering commercial interests.<ref>Coleman, p. 135–136.</ref>

On the [[Reading (legislature)|third reading]] of Peel's Bill of Repeal on 15 May, [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs) voted 327 votes to 229 (a majority of 98) to repeal the Corn Laws. On 25 June the Duke of Wellington persuaded the [[House of Lords]] to pass it, and it became the '''{{visible anchor|Importation Act 1846}}''' ([[9 & 10 Vict.]] c. 22). On that same night Peel's [[Irish Coercion Bill]] was defeated in the Commons by 292 to 219 by "a combination of Whigs, [[Radicals (UK)|Radicals]], and Tory protectionists."{{sfn|Schonhardt-Bailey|2006|p=239}} Peel subsequently resigned as prime minister. In his resignation speech he attributed the success of repeal to Cobden:

<blockquote>
In reference to our proposing these measures, I have no wish to rob any person of the credit which is justly due to him for them. But I may say that neither the gentlemen sitting on the benches opposite, nor myself, nor the gentlemen sitting round me—I say that neither of us are the parties who are strictly entitled to the merit. There has been a combination of parties, and that combination of parties together with the influence of the Government, has led to the ultimate success of the measures. But, Sir, there is a name which ought to be associated with the success of these measures: it is not the name of the noble Lord, the member for London, neither is it my name. Sir, the name which ought to be, and which will be associated with the success of these measures is the name of a man who, acting, I believe, from pure and disinterested motives, has advocated their cause with untiring energy, and by appeals to reason, expressed by an eloquence, the more to be admired because it was unaffected and unadorned—the name which ought to be and will be associated with the success of these measures is the name of [[Richard Cobden]]. Without scruple, Sir, I attribute the success of these measures to him.<ref>Morley, p. 388.</ref>
</blockquote>

As a result, the Conservative Party divided and the Whigs formed a government with Russell as PM. Those Conservatives who were loyal to Peel were known as the [[Peelite]]s and included the [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Earl of Aberdeen]] and [[William Ewart Gladstone]]. In 1859, the Peelites merged with the Whigs and the Radicals to form the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]. Disraeli became overall Conservative leader in 1868, although, when Prime Minister, he did not attempt to reintroduce protectionism.

==Motivations==
Scholars have advanced several explanations to resolve the puzzle of why Peel made the seemingly irrational decision to sacrifice his government to repeal the Corn Laws, a policy which he had long opposed.  Lusztig (1995) argues that his actions were sensible when considered in the context of his concern for preserving aristocratic government and a limited franchise in the face of threats from popular unrest. Peel was concerned primarily with preserving the institutions of government, and he considered reform as an occasional necessary evil to preclude the possibility of much more radical or tumultuous actions. He acted to check the expansion of democracy by ameliorating conditions which could provoke democratic agitation. He also took care to ensure that the concessions would represent no threat to the British constitution.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Michael |last=Lusztig |title=Solving Peel's puzzle: Repeal of the Corn Laws and institutional preservation |journal=[[Comparative Politics]] |year=1994 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=393–408 |doi= 10.2307/422226|jstor=422226 }}</ref>

According to [[Dartmouth College]] economic historian [[Douglas Irwin]], Peel was influenced by economic ideas in his shift from protectionism to free trade in agriculture: "Economic ideas, and not the pressure of interests, were central to Peel's conversion to favor repeal of the Corn Laws."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Irwin|first=Douglas A.|date=1989-03-01|title=Political Economy and Peel's Repeal of the Corn Laws|journal=Economics & Politics|language=en|volume=1|issue=1|pages=41–59|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0343.1989.tb00004.x|issn=1468-0343}}</ref>

==Effects of repeal==
The price of wheat during the two decades after 1850 averaged 52 shillings a quarter.{{sfn|Woodward|1962|p=124}} [[Llewellyn Woodward]] argued that the high duty of corn mattered little because when British agriculture suffered from bad harvests, this was also true for foreign harvests and so the price of imported corn without the duty would not have been lower.{{sfn|Woodward|1962|pp=124–125}} However, the threat to British agriculture came about twenty-five years after repeal due to the development of cheaper shipping (both sail and steam), faster and thus cheaper transport by rail and steamboat, and the modernisation of agricultural machinery. The [[prairie]] farms of North America were thus able to export vast quantities of cheap grain, as were peasant farms in the [[Russian Empire]] with simpler methods but cheaper labour. Every wheat-growing country decided to increase tariffs in reaction to this, except Britain and Belgium.{{sfn|Ensor|1936|pages=115–116}}

In 1877, the price of British-grown wheat averaged 56/9{{efn|£2/16/9, about £{{inflation|UK|2.8375|1877}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}}} a quarter and for the rest of the 19th century it never reached within 10 shillings of that figure. In 1878 the price fell to 46/5.{{efn|£2/6/5, about £{{inflation|UK|2.320833333|1878}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}}} In 1886, the wheat price decreased to 31/–{{efn|£1/11/–, about £{{inflation|UK|1.55|1877}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}}} a quarter. By 1885, wheat-growing land declined by a million acres ({{convert|1|e6acre|km2|disp=out}}, 28{{frac|2}}% of the previous amount) and the barley area had dwindled greatly also. Britain's dependence on imported grain during the 1830s was 2%; during the 1860s it was 24%; during the 1880s it was 45% (for wheat alone during the 1880s it was 65%).{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=116}} The 1881 [[Census in the United Kingdom|census]] showed a decline of 92,250 in agricultural labourers in the ten years since 1871, with an increase of 53,496 urban labourers. Many of these had previously been farm workers who migrated to the cities to find employment,{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=117}} despite agricultural labourers' wages being higher than those of Europe.{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=117}} Agriculture's contribution to the national income was about 17% in 1871; by 1911 it was less than 7%.<ref>E. J. Feuchtwanger, ''Democracy and Empire: Britain 1865–1914'' (London: Edward Arnold, 1985), p. 116.</ref>

[[Robert Ensor]] wrote that these years witnessed the ruin of British agriculture, "which till then had almost as conspicuously led the world, [and which] was thrown overboard in a storm like an unwanted cargo" due to "the sudden and overwhelming invasion&nbsp;... by American prairie-wheat in the late seventies."{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=115, 117}} Previously, agriculture had employed more people in Britain than any other industry and until 1880 it "retained a kind of headship", with its technology far ahead of most [[European farm system|European farming]], its cattle breeds superior, its cropping the most scientific and its yields the highest, with high wages leading to higher standard of living for agricultural workers than in comparable European countries.{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=117}} However, after 1877 wages declined and "farmers themselves sank into ever increasing embarrassments; bankruptcies and auctions followed each other; the countryside lost its most respected figures", with those who tended the land with greatest pride and conscience suffering most as the only chance of survival came in lowering standards.{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=118}} "For twenty years," Ensor claimed, "the only chance for any young or enterprising person on the countryside was to get out of it."{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=118}} The decline of agriculture also led to a fall in rural rents, especially in areas with arable land. Consequently, landowners, who until 1880 had been the richest class in the nation, were dethroned from this position. After they lost their economic leadership, the loss of their political leadership followed.{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=119}}

The Prime Minister at the time, Disraeli, had once been a staunch upholder of the Corn Laws and had predicted ruin for agriculture if they were repealed.<ref>{{cite book |first1=William Flavelle |last1=Monypenny |first2=George Earle |last2=Buckle |title=The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield |volume=II: 1860–1881 |location=London |publisher=John Murray |year=1929 |page=1242}}</ref>{{sfn|Blake|1966|p=698}} However, unlike most other European governments, his government did not revive tariffs on imported cereals to save their farms and farmers.{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=54}} Despite calls from landowners to reintroduce the Corn Laws, Disraeli responded by saying that the issue was settled and that protection was impracticable.{{sfn|Blake|1966|p=698}} Ensor said that the difference between Britain and the Continent was due to the latter having conscription; rural men were thought to be the best suited as soldiers. But for Britain, with no conscript army, this did not apply.{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=54}} He also said that Britain staked its future on continuing to be "the workshop of the world" as the leading manufacturing nation.{{sfn|Ensor|1936|page=118}} [[Robert Blake, Baron Blake|Robert Blake]] said that Disraeli was dissuaded from reviving protection due to the urban working class enjoying cheap imported food at a time of industrial depression and rising unemployment. Enfranchised by Disraeli in 1867, working men's votes were crucial in a general election and he did not want to antagonise them.{{sfn|Blake|1966|pp=698–699}}

Although proficient farmers on good lands did well, farmers with mediocre skills or marginal lands were at a disadvantage. Many moved to the cities, and unprecedented numbers emigrated. Many emigrants were small under-capitalised grain farmers who were squeezed out by low prices and inability to increase production or adapt to the more complex challenge of raising livestock.<ref>{{cite journal |first=William E. |last=Van Vugt |title=Running from ruin?: the emigration of British farmers to the U.S.A. in the wake of the repeal of the Corn Laws |journal=[[Economic History Review]] |year=1988 |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=411–428 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.1988.tb00473.x }}</ref>

Similar patterns developed in Ireland, where cereal production was labour-intensive. The reduction of grain prices reduced the demand for agricultural labour in Ireland, and reduced the output of barley, oats, and wheat. These changes occurred at the same time that emigration was reducing the labour supply and increasing wage rates to levels too great for arable farmers to sustain.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Kevin |last=O'Rourke |title=The repeal of the corn laws and Irish emigration |journal=Explorations in Economic History |year=1994 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=120–138 |doi=10.1006/exeh.1994.1005 }}</ref>

Britain's reliance on imported food led to the danger of it being starved into submission during wartime. In 1914 Britain was dependent on imports for four-fifths of its wheat and 40% of its meat.<ref>{{cite book |first=Arthur |last=Marwick |title=The Deluge: British Society and the First World War |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1991 |page=58}}</ref> During the [[World War I|First World War]], the Germans in their [[Atlantic U-boat campaign of World War I|U-boat campaign]] attempted to take advantage of this by sinking ships importing food into Britain, but they were eventually defeated.<ref>{{cite book |first=Correlli |last=Barnett |title=Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy and the Second World War |location=London |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=1992 |page=14}}</ref> During the [[World War II|Second World War]] in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]], Germany tried again to starve Britain into surrender, but again was unsuccessful.<ref>Barnett, pp. 575–576.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Canada Corn Act 1843]]
* [[Vagrancy Act 1824]] – catch-all legislation that criminalised destitution in the UK

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{DisraeliRef}}<!-- This is "Blake 1966"  -->
* {{cite book |last=Ensor |first=Robert |year=1936 |title=England, 1870–1914, The Oxford History of England |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |isbn=0-19-821705-6 |author-link=Robert Ensor |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/england18701914o00robe }}
* {{cite book|last=Schonhardt-Bailey|first=C|date=2006|title=From the Corn Laws to Free Trade: interests, ideas, and institutions in historical perspective|publisher=The MIT Press|isbn=0-262-19543-7}} Quantitative studies of the politics involved. [https://books.google.com/books?id=o62CbsFpRPcC&dq=From+the+Corn+Laws+to+Free+Trade:+&pg=PR9 online]
* {{cite book|editor-last=Sutherland|editor-first=K.|title=Wealth of Nations|publisher = Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|date=2008}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Cecil Woodham-Smith|last=Woodham-Smith|first=Cecil|year=1991|orig-year=1962|title=The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845–1849|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-014515-1|title-link=The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845–1849}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Llewellyn Woodward|last=Woodward|first=E.L.|date=1962|title=The Age of Reform, 1815–1870|series=The Oxford history of England 13 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=0-19-821711-0|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ageofreform181510000wood}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* Chaloner, W. H. (1968). [https://www.historytoday.com/archive/anti-corn-law-league "The Anti-Corn Law League"], ''History Today'' 18#3 pp 196–204.
* Clark, G. Kitson (1951). "The Repeal of the Corn Laws and the Politics of the Forties." ''Economic History Review'' 4(1), pp.&nbsp;1–13. {{JSTOR|2591654}}.
* Coleman, B. (1996). "1841–1846", in: Seldon, A. (ed.), ''How Tory Governments Fall: The Tory Party in Power Since 1783''. London: Fontana. {{ISBN|0-00-686366-3}}.
* Fairlie, S. "The Nineteenth-Century Corn Law Reconsidered". ''Economic History Review'', vol. 18, no. 3, 1965, pp.&nbsp;562–575. {{JSTOR|2592565}}.
* Gash, Norman (1972). ''Mr Secretary Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel to 1830'', pp.&nbsp;562–615.
* Halévy, Elie. ''Victorian years, 1841–1895'' (Vol. 4: ''A History of the English People'') (1961) pp 103–38 on repeal.
* Heblich, Stephan, Stephen J. Redding, and Yanos Zylberberg. "The distributional consequences of trade: evidence from the repeal of the corn laws." (2022) [https://www.princeton.edu/~reddings/papers/LLCL.pdf online]
* [[Boyd Hilton|Hilton, Boyd]] (2008). ''A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People?: England 1783–1846'', New Oxford History of England, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-921891-9}}
* Hirst, F. W. (1925). ''From Adam Smith to Philip Snowden: A history of free trade in Great Britain''. London: T. Fisher Unwin.
* ''[[In Our Time (radio series)|In Our Time]]'' podcasts [http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/iot/iot_20131024-1130a.mp3 IOT: The Corn Laws 24 October 13]
* Irwin, Douglas A., and Maksym G. Chepeliev. "The economic consequences of Sir Robert Peel: a quantitative assessment of the repeal of the Corn Laws." ''Economic Journal'' 131.640 (2021): 3322–3337. [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w28142/w28142.pdf online]
* Konishi, Masahiro. "Free Trade without Words: Popular Public Rituals and Corn Law Repeal in the Early 1840s." ''History'' 108.379-380 (2023): 87–107. [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/1468-229X.13348 online]
* Lawson-Tancred, Mary (1960). "The Anti-League and the Corn Law Crisis of 1846." ''Historical Journal'' 3#2 pp: 162–183. {{JSTOR|3020474}}.
* Morley, J. (1905) ''The Life of Richard Cobden'', 12th ed., London: T. Fisher Unwin, 985 p., republished by London: Routledge/Thoemmes (1995), {{ISBN|0-415-12742-4}}
* [[Bernard Semmel|Semmel, B.]] (2004). ''The Rise of Free Trade Imperialism: classical political economy the empire of free trade and imperialism, 1750–1850'', Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-54815-2}}
{{Refend}}

===Primary and contemporary sources===
* Besant, Annie. ''England before the Repeal of the Corn Laws'' (1880) [https://jstor.org/stable/60247076 online]
* Blake, Barnett. ''Corn Law Agitation, Its Causes and Consequences'' (Mann, 1839) [https://jstor.org/stable/60100227 online]
* Bright, J. and Thorold Rogers, J.E. (eds.) [1870](1908). ''Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P.'', Vol. 1, London: T. Fisher Unwin, republished as Cobden, R. (1995), London: Routledge/Thoemmes, {{ISBN|0-415-12742-4}}
* Caird, James. ''English agriculture in 1850–51'' (1852) [https://archive.org/details/englishagricult00cairgoog/page/n6/mode/1up online]
* Chassaigne, Philippe, « Une économie d'exportation » dans ''Histoire de l'Angleterre des origines à nos jours'', Paris, Flammarion, 2015, p.245-252.  
* {{cite book |last1=Spencer |first1=Thomas |title=[[s:Speech of the Rev. T. Spencer, of Bath, delivered at the meeting of the Anti-Corn-Law League, at Covent-Garden theatre, London, on June 19, 1844, to an audience of, at least six thousand]] |date=1844 |publisher=B. D. Cousins |location=London |language=English}}
* « Parliamentary proceedings », Quebec Mercury, 6 juin 1846, p. 2. [https://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/3665147 online]
* Taylor, W.C. (1841) ''Natural History of Society'', D. Appleton & Co., New York
* Taylor, W.C. (1842) ''Notes of a tour in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire: in a series of letters'', London: Duncan & Malcolm.
* Taylor, W.C. (1844) ''Factories and the Factory System'', Jeremiah How, London
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180903060536/https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/59748/1/HungryForties1501201612022016.pdf The ''"Hungry Forties"'', an analysis of the Chrononym]
* {{cite book |last1=Vivian |first1=Hussey |author1-link=Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian |title=[[s:Speech of Sir Hussey Vivian, Bart. M.P. on the Corn Laws, Thursday March 14, 1839|Speech of Sir Hussey Vivian]] |date=1839 |publisher=Ridgways |location=London |edition=1 |language=English}}

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Corn Laws}}
* [http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/cldebate.htm "The Corn Law Debate"] with primary sources
*[https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentwork/communicating/from-the-parliamentary-collections/collections/cobbetts-petition/ William Cobbett & The Corn Laws – UK Parliament – Living Heritage]

{{Agriculture in the United Kingdom}}
{{Economy of the United Kingdom}}
{{Great Hunger}}
{{Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament]]
[[Category:19th century in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Economic history of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of agriculture in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Agriculture legislation in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Great Famine (Ireland)]]
[[Category:Protectionism]]
[[Category:1815 in economic history]]
[[Category:1846 in economic history]]
[[Category:Robert Peel]]
[[Category:Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool]]