Justification of the Corn Laws
The Corn Law was a potentially dangerous bill introduced in 1815 after
three years of good harvests. It was instigated with the support of
Lord Liverpool the current Prime Minister who saw the Corn Laws as a
temporary measure to create stability in the agricultural sector in
the immediate post-war years. The Corn Laws were potentially
disastrous because they, along with the abolishment of Income tax and
the creation of the Game laws, were seen as a return by the
ultra-Tory's to a single-issue, single class government. That issue
being the wants and needs of the landed classes. I believe
that the Corn Laws led large groups of the urbanised population
to become unreasonably politicised in their demands to parliament.
The catalyst for these potentially revolutionary actions being the
starvation of the working classes - the Corn Laws.
Lord Liverpool's justification for the Corn Laws was the appalling
state of agriculture in England in the post war period. England faced
a unique set of financial and economic problems bought about by the
end of the war. The harvest of 1813, 14 and 15 were extremely good
leading to a fall in prices by almost half. The end of trade sanctions
after the end of the Napoleonic Wars flooded the British market with
cheaper corn that made British Corn uncompetitive. Agriculture still
exceeded manufacturing as the country's largest single economic
interest. Therefore the Corn Laws were justifiable in this sense
because they still supported the largest single category of labour
provider. But while choosing to secure one social group Liverpool and
his cabinet had provided immedia...
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...for a slim chance of economic recovery in a single sector of
the country's economy-agriculture. The British Government had decided
to choke one group of citizens, the urban based working classes, to
create a wealthier group of large land owners-ironically the largest
group of MP's. In my eyes protecting no part of the economy would have
been the best idea. No economic area would flourish but neither would
any industry be choked. A free market mentality would be painful but
would result in more efficient techniques in manufacturing and
agriculture. All the Corn Laws seemed to do was underline the
injustices that were allowed to happen because of the lack of
universal suffrage. It also highlighted how inward looking and self
centred the Ultra-Tory's were as well as highlighting urban electoral
under representation.
It could be argued that Gladstone’s failure to unite his party, during a time when their ultimate support and confidence in his leadership was crucial, was a significant tactical error that contributed heavily towards the failure of the 1886 Home Rule Bill. The results of the 1885 general election were to have a significant impact on the political landscape of Britain; despite winning the most seats, the Liberals did not have an overall majority.As Parnell and the Irish Parliamentry Party (IPP) held the balance...
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Pecquet, Gary M. "British Mercantilism and Crop Controls in the Tobacco Colonies. A Study of Rent-seeking costs." CATO Journal, 2003. 19 pages.
One of the greatest sources of misconception behind British policy during that time is that taxes and regulations were not in place when they actually had been before – they were just never really enforced. Between Britain’s neglect to properly ensure that these policies were followed and the corruption present in America with smuggling, bribing, or circumventing the rules in some other manner, one would not have been likely to realize that policies were indeed in place. It comes as no surprise then that with Parliament’s p...
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Queen Elizabeth I notices the growing number of paupers in Great Britain. She and the Parliament had responsibility over these people and tried to figure out what to do. Parliament tried to avoid starvation and are struggling to have the authority over the public. Unfortunately, Great Britain suffered through economic situations. There were inflation of food prices. Prices in grain rose about 70% in the 17th percent. There was famine throughout the land. The workers’, especially the farmers, wages declined about 60%. Unfortunately, there was no source of relief because of the disintegrating feudal system (Boyer). The rest of the population mostly moved to provinces and towns. Only a few of the paupers had the ability to earn their own wages. Parliament sought help from numeral parishes. Although, there were misunderstandings within the paupers wandering place to place with no occupation. An act was issued later for this problem to punish the vagabonds and offer some poor relief. They were usually hanged (Bliss).
Farmers from Nebraska and Alabama along with the Organization for Competitive Markets a national, non-profit public policy research and advocacy organization headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, filed a lawsuit to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the illegal rollback of the Farmer Fair Practice Rule on December 14.
The ‘Great’ Reform Act of 1832 was considered as a failure and a betrayal for the Chartist movement. The Chartist movement demanded their six points from the people’s charter to be accepted by the government, some of which were supposed to have been passed in the 1832 Reform Act. These included, ‘vote by ballot’, ‘universal suffrage’ and ‘no property qualifications’. However, none of these were implemented in the 1832 Reform Act and rather the working class people saw the Act as if it was ultimately designed to exclude them from participating in the government and had dashed their hope of a parliament that would truly represent them. The introduction of uniform of ten pounds’ franchise in the boroughs excluded the vast
Gray, Peter. Famine, Land, and Politics: British Government and Irish Society. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1999.
Despite recent conversation and controversy on the topic, genetically modified (GM) plants and foods, the vast majority of the public still do not have a strong concept of what a GM organism. Though the abundance of recent media coverage makes it seem like GM organisms are only currently appearing, they have been around for thousands of years. (Key, Ma, and Drake 1) “Transgenic (GM) plants are those that have been genetically modified using recombinant DNA technology.”(Key, Ma, and Drake 1) According to Key, when GM plants were first created, they were made by breeding different plants together in order to create a plant that had the most desirable qualities out of the two. The main reason that plants are genetically modified is to introduce a new gene that is not naturally found within the plants original genetics. Genetically modifying plants can be beneficial in many ways, for example, it can
Most of the reasons concerning agrarian discontent in the late nineteenth century stem from supposed threats posed by monopolies and trusts, railroads, money shortages and the demonetization of silver, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The American farmer at this time already had his fair share of problems, perhaps even perceived as unfair in regards to the success industrialized businessmen were experiencing. Nevertheless, crops such as cotton and wheat, which were once the staples of an agricultural society, were selling at such low prices that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them, especially since some had invested a great deal of money in modern equipment that would allow them to produce twice as many goods. Furthermore, improvements in transportation allowed foreign competition to emerge, making it harder for American Farmers to not only dispose of surplus crop, but to transport crops period. Finally, years of drought in the Midwest and the degeneration of business in the 1890's devastated many of the nation's farmers, and as a result of this agricultural depression' many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline of agriculture.
The Caux Round Table Principles for business has recommendations for the company based on each of the 7 principles to ensure Monsanto embraces a global approach to achieve corporate responsibility. Thorne state “The 7 principles are to respect stakeholders beyond shareholders, contribute to economic, social, and environmental development, respect the letter and the spirit of the law, respect rules and conventions, support responsible globalization, respect the environment, and avoid illicit activities” (Thorne, 2011, p. 450). Business leaders can use these principles to have a successful organization.
It is to be noted that farmers in England are among the most productive farmers in the world. The new methods of farming brought mass production in the early 18th century, leading to the Agricultural revolution. “In the early eighteenth century, Britain exported wheat, rising from 49,000 quarters in 1700 to a massive peak of 950,000 quarters in 1750”. The whole benefit of the Agricultural revolution was shared among aristocratic landholders. They were the only top authorities, as the English throne was already overthrown by the aristocratic class in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution.... ...