Sixth Grade
Worksheets
The Corn Laws
Caption: Colored engraving of "Peterloo Massacre" (military suppression of a demonstration in Manchester, England, by cavalry charge on August 16, 1819, with loss of life) by George Cruikshank.
During the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, England blockaded the European coast. A side effect of this was that England couldn't import grain from Europe, so it began to grow more of its own. Still, bread became very expensive in England. The landowners who owned the farms grew accustomed to getting high prices for their crops of grain.
When the wars ended, landowners feared that imports of grain would begin again and lower the prices that they received for their own crops. The Importation Act of 1815 was passed, which made it illegal to import grain unless the price of grain was above a certain high level. This law kept the landowners' profits high but made other people unhappy.
