Anti-Corn Law League
Encyclopedia
The Anti-Corn Law League was in effect the resumption of the Anti-Corn Law Association, which had been created in London in 1836 but did not obtain widespread popularity. The Anti-Corn Law League was founded in Manchester
in 1838. Richard Cobden
and John Bright
were the two principal figures of the movement while George Wilson, the president of the League, was in charge of administrative duties. Joseph Ivimey, the Superintendent Registrar for St Pancras, was an active member and acted as the League's solicitor.
The aim of the league was the abolition of the Corn Laws
, achieved in 1846, after which the league challenged protectionist
practices in the United Kingdom. The aim was to establish a fully free-trade economy and thus decrease the price of basic food products (such as bread and agricultural produce), to support the performance of agriculture and industry, and to weave stronger commercial bonds—supposedly the guarantors of peace—with other nations.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in 1838. Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...
and John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
were the two principal figures of the movement while George Wilson, the president of the League, was in charge of administrative duties. Joseph Ivimey, the Superintendent Registrar for St Pancras, was an active member and acted as the League's solicitor.
The aim of the league was the abolition of the Corn Laws
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The barriers were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...
, achieved in 1846, after which the league challenged protectionist
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
practices in the United Kingdom. The aim was to establish a fully free-trade economy and thus decrease the price of basic food products (such as bread and agricultural produce), to support the performance of agriculture and industry, and to weave stronger commercial bonds—supposedly the guarantors of peace—with other nations.
Further reading
- H. J. Leech (Ed.): The public letters of the Right Hon. John Bright. London: Low, Marston & Co., 1895. Reprint New York, NY: Kraus Reprint, 1969.
- Paul A. Pickering and Alex Tyrrell: The people's bread, a history of the Anti-Corn Law League. London: Leicester University Press, 2000. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7185-0218-3
- George Barnett Smith: The Life and Speeches of the Right Hon. John Bright, M.P., 2 vols., 1881.
- Obituary in The Law Times for Joseph Ivimey, pub 9 November 1878.
- John M. Gilchrist: The Life of John Bright, M.P.. In Cassell's Representative Biographies (1868).
- Charles Vince: John Bright (1898); Speeches on Parliamentary Reform by John Bright, M.P., revised by Himself (1866).
- Thorold RogersJames Edwin Thorold RogersJames Edwin Thorold Rogers , known as Thorold Rogers, was an English economist, historian and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1886. He deployed historical and statistical methods to analyze some of the key economic and social questions in Victorian England...
(Ed.): Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, by John Bright, M.P.. 1868. - Thorold RogersJames Edwin Thorold RogersJames Edwin Thorold Rogers , known as Thorold Rogers, was an English economist, historian and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1886. He deployed historical and statistical methods to analyze some of the key economic and social questions in Victorian England...
(Ed.): Public Addresses. 1879. - John Bright: Speeches of John Bright, M.P., on the American Question. With an introduction by Frank MooreFrank Moore (journalist)Frank Moore was an American journalist and compiler, a brother of George Henry Moore. He was born in Concord, New Hampshire, but removed to New York City and became a journalist and general writer. In 1869-72 he was Assistant Secretary of Legation in Paris...
. [With a portrait.]. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1865. - Archibald Prentice: History of the Anti-cornlaw-league. (London. 1853, 2 vol.). 2. ed. with a new introd. by W. H. Chaloner. London: Cass, 1968.
- Franz Simonson: Richard Cobden und die Antikornzolliga, sowie ihre Bedeutung für die wirthschaftlichen Verhältnisse des Deutschen Reiches. Berlin, 1883.
- Norman McCord: The Anti-Corn Law League 1838 - 1846. London: Allen & Unwin, 1958. Reprinted, Aldershot: Gregg Revivals, 1993.
- Archibald Philipp Primrose (Earl of Rosebery): Lord Rosebery's Speech on the Anti-Corn Law League and Free Trade, Manchester 1897. London: Cobden Club, 1898.