Protesting In The 19th Century

The nineteenth century was the beginning of a period of unprecedented change for the peoples of Britain. The population was increasing at an alarmingly fast rate, and as a result, it can be seen in towns and cities throughout Britain the industrial revolution not only taking hold but reshaping our industries. It was not just industries that were being reformed, the urban environment was also undergoing a transformation. The emergence of the railway and canals, as well as new technology such as steam power, were making our towns and cities wealthy and prosperous. It was not however just our towns and cities that were being renovated, the countryside too was undergoing a period of major reconstruction. The first decades of the nineteenth century

There had been protests over land and food occurring throughout the country since the sixteenth century. It can, however, be argued that the major agrarian conflicts of the seventeenth and eighteen centuries were rarely started by agricultural labourers. Dobson remonstrates that what labour disturbances there were amongst the agricultural workers before 1790 were almost all connected with the haymakers in the London area, thus suggesting that the perpetrators were not all drawn from a purely agricultural background. If this is the case then it could be suggested, as Dobson also implies, that others were at the forefront of rioting and protesting before 1790. These implications lead us to question whether the protests occurring in the nineteenth century were genuinely conceived by the agricultural labourers and their grievances with the changes happening around them, or that they were socially constructed by the large landowners, namely the aristocracy, and farmers trying to bring about changes from the paternalistic society in which the agricultural labourers lived to a more modern capitalistic society. We have to remember that at this time the government were extremely wary of any persons seen to incite protests, especially agricultural labourers, as they did not want to have a revolution such as happened in France in the late eighteenth century when the French peasantry revolted and overthrew the aristocracy. This may well be why the

Traditionally threshing was undertaken by hand, which involved many labourers. Therefore, providing much needed employment during the winter months. Much of the work which was undertaken by the agricultural labourers was seasonal, only available when the farm was at its busiest. This was normally between late July and Early November during harvest time. Before the emergence of threshing and other farm machinery most of the harvesting was still completed by hand; therefore, making employment plentiful for both men and women. During the winter months, men would have completed the threshing and women would be set to gleaning the fields. The living standards of the agricultural labourers living in Suffolk were completely dependent on the wages which the farmers and landowners paid them. Therefore, it can be suggested that many labourers wanted harvesting and threshing to continue to be completed by hand as it meant seasonal work lasted longer; therefore, the labourer earned more money to provide for their families. This makes the agricultural labourers susceptible to acts of vandalism on agricultural machinery in order to prolong their employment. Furthermore, threshing by machine meant that far fewer labourers were employed at this crucial time of year. It is reasonable therefore to suggest that the agricultural labourers would not have welcomed the