TREASON-still one of most
serious crimes-after 1668
Glorious
Revolution-Parliament has
more power so treason is
widened to all acts of
rebellion against state
WITCHCRAFT-witchcrafters
criminalized as confidence
tricksters through Witchcraft
Act 1735-no longer seen as a
crime-growing influence of
science-1662 Royal
Society-and enlightment ideas
end wide belief in
supernatural.Last witch
execution in 1716
VAGABONDAGE-continues
to be a crime but
punishable by House of
Corrections and
workhouses under Poor
Law-social tensions
between rich and poor
continue
Changes
HIGHWAY ROBBERY-GROWTH-more people
travelling in their own coaches/handguns
became easier to obtain and became
quicker to load and fire/horses
cheaper/lonely areas outside towns where
coaches ambushed/highwaymen hid+sold
their loot in inns+taverns/no police force
and local constables didn't track criminals
across counties/after wars, demobilised
soldiers found it hard to make a living
DECLINE-more banks,fewer travellers carried alot of
money/stagecoaches introduced with regular staging
posts where tired horses were changed and travellers
rested overnight/road surfaces improved and coaches
became more frequent as speeds increased/lonely areas
built up as population expanded/mounted patrols set up
around London and rewards offered for identification of
robbers/local governments closed down inns&taverns
where loot was sold/coaches travelled with armed guards
SMUGGLING-luxury goods(tea,wine,spirits,silk) brought in
without import duties/import duties were one of main
sources of government income/seen as serious crime
against authority & punishable by death/1.4 tonnes of tea
smuggled in each year/smugglers formed gangs of 50-100
& fought with custom officers-even seized back
confiscated goods/government used army against large
gangs/seen as a social crime-people disliked expensive
goods-even ministers bought smuggled goods/provided
unemployed with chance to make good money/locals who
helped smugglers could make twice the average wage/fear
of gangs deterred witnesses as they could be
murdered/hard for gov to combat due to ineffective
customs force/decreased after William Pitt(1780) and
Robert Peel-reduced import duties-smugglers couldn't
compete with gov's low cost goods
POACHING-regarded as threat to wealthy
landowner's property/long term laws
against poaching(Forest Laws,1671 Game
Act)-consuming game restricted to larger
landowners/many poachers trying to
survive & improve their meagre diet/some
gangs/seen as social crime-people believed
law favoured rich landowners and
punishments were too harsh/people lied in
court to protect poachers & people in
countryside saw poaching as their age-old
right/gamekeepers were hated/Black Act
1723-made poaching capital crime but
repealed in 1823 as plight of poor
recognised
TOLPUDDLE MARTYRS
After French Revolution(1789) and Napoleonic
Wars(1792-1815)-rich desired to safeguard
their property and government was scared of
a similar uprising/every protest was viewed as
a potential uprising/gov particularly
concerned about Grand National Consolidated
Trades Union(GNCTU) which aimed to
combine trade unions/employers and gov
disliked idea of working class
co-operating-believed it harmed their profits
and interests/
Tolpuddle Martyrs were six
farm labourers whose
wages had been cut many
times and they struggled
to support their families
After a further cut to
their wages-1833-set up
a union-Friendly
Society of Agricultural
Labourers/each man
was blindfolded and
swore an oath of
support and secrecy
Authorities arrested the men using a
law originally meant to prevent
navymen taking secret oaths that could
lead to mutiny/men were sentenced to
seven years transportation to Australia
to deter others from involvement in
trade unions/trade union movement
badly hit and GNCTU broken up
widespread outcry/men
regarded as martyrs for
union rights/campaign
organised and petition
signed for their return
with 250,000
signatures/March
1836-government granted
all six men a pardon but
it was two years before
they all returned
home/workers continued
to be scared of joining
trade unions and it was
20 years before
movement began to
recover