Corn Laws

The Corn Laws were British tariffs and restrictions on imported grain, especially those enacted in 1815 and repealed in 1846. They protected domestic landowners by keeping grain prices high.

Corn Law 1815: A British law that restricted grain imports unless domestic wheat prices rose above a set threshold. It established the post-Napoleonic system that prompted the campaign against the Corn Laws.
Robert Peel: British statesman and Conservative prime minister who repealed the Corn Laws in 1846. Peel led repeal despite splitting his own party and losing office.
Sliding scale tariff: An import duty that rises or falls according to a specified market price or other measure. The 1828 system varied grain duties with domestic prices rather than imposing one fixed rate.
Corn Law repeal: The 1846 parliamentary decision to end Britain’s protective restrictions on imported grain. It ended the central policy contested by the Anti-Corn Law League.
Ricardian equivalence: A proposition that consumers may offset government borrowing by saving in anticipation of future taxes. It is unrelated to grain protection despite the tempting similarity to David Ricardo’s name.
Napoleonic Wars: A series of European conflicts from 1803 to 1815 involving France and shifting coalitions. Wartime disruption and high grain prices shaped the political case for protection after 1815.
Richard Cobden: British politician and leading advocate of free trade during the nineteenth century. Cobden helped organize the public and parliamentary campaign for repeal.
Grain tariff: A tax imposed on grain entering a country from abroad. Import duties made foreign grain less competitive when domestic supplies were available.
Irish Potato Famine: A catastrophic famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1852, caused by potato crop failure and worsened by political and economic conditions. The crisis accelerated Peel’s decision to repeal grain restrictions, though repeal did not resolve the famine.
Protectionism: Government policies that restrict imports to shelter domestic producers from foreign competition. The Corn Laws were a specific protectionist policy, opposed by free-trade advocates.

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