Western Civilization II / Unit 9 WC2 0815 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Corn Laws, 1815, and Wages at Subsistence
Captions available
The idea
The Corn Laws of eighteen fifteen banned grain imports, the gentry's law, and kept bread dear; the witness calls them stiff tariffs on grain. Wages stayed near subsistence until about eighteen fifty, and downturns like eighteen thirty-nine to forty-two brought firings and starvation.
In practice
Landlords' rents against workers' bread.
Where people slip
Repealed in eighteen forty-six: 0828.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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