Emergence of the Proletarian Movement (1780-1815)

In previous instalments of Origins and History of the English Working Class we have dealt with the various economic phases which affected England: the rise and decline of feudalism, landed and mercantile capital, and finally industrial capital. We saw that although the industrial phase begins in 1750 its wider social impact is not felt until around 1780, when there is a marked acceleration in the development and adoption of machinery for industrial use. This we can call the ’gestation’ phase as it fits well with the phases used by Marx and Engels: for whom capital up to 1825 was in its infancy, whilst the cyclical crises which began in that same year opened its youthful period which extended to 1848, in which year capital enters its mature phase.

 ”This revolution through which British industry has passed is the foundation of every aspect of modern English life, the driving force behind all social development” (Engels, The Position of England, The Eighteenth Century.)

Further on in the same article he comments: ”The democratic party originated at the same time as the industrial revolution. In 1769 J. Horne Tooke founded the Society of the Bill of Rights, in which, for the first time since the republic [of 1649-60], democratic principles were discussed again. As in France, the democrats were exclusively men with a philosophical education, but soon found that the upper and middle classes were opposed to them and only the working class lent a ready ear to their principles. Amongst the latter class they soon founded a party, which in 1794 was already fairly strong and yet still only strong enough to act by fits and starts. From 1797 to 1816 it disappeared from view; in the turbulent years from 1816 to 1823 it was again very active but then subsided once more into inactivity until the July revolution. From then on it has maintained its importance alongside the old parties and in making steady progress, as we shall later see.

The most important effect of the eighteenth century for England was the creation of the proletariat by the industrial revolution. The new industry demanded a constantly available mass of workers for the countless new branches of production, and moreover workers such as had previously not existed. Up to 1780 England had few proletarians, a fact which emerges inevitably from the social condition of the nation as described above. Industry concentrated work in factories and towns; it became impossible to combine manufacturing and agricultural activity, and the new working class was reduced to complete dependence on its labour. What had hitherto been the exception became the rule and spread gradually outside the towns too. Small-scale farming was ousted by the large tenant farmers and thus a new class of agricultural labourers was created. The population of the towns trebled and quadrupled and almost the whole of this increase consisted solely of workers. The expansion of mining likewise required a large number of new workers, and these too lived solely from their daily wage” (Engels, ibid. p. 487).
 

This democratic movement from 1769 to 1780 was controlled by John Wilkes and represented a combination of City magnates and artisans. It represented the ”lower orders”, who had been stirred up by King George III’s attempts to dominate the government by placing his representatives in leading positions. Over the course of a number of disputes, the King’s influence would be rapidly diminished: there would be the loss of the 13 colonies and the resulting American Declaration of Independence, and a number of populist measures in London would consolidate the movement.

Early in 1780 Parliament passed a resolution ”that the influence of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished.” Fear of what the King may do, particularly over the recruitment of catholic troops in Canada to fight the United States, increased the tension. If the monarchy started to undermine the anti-catholic legislation, for centuries in England the symbol of bourgeois democracy and national independence, it raised the spectre of monarchist absolutism (even if George III was in fact a bigoted protestant).

 The spark to ignite this explosive situation was provided by a certain Lord Gordon, an insignificant M.P., who perceiving a plot behind the attempt to promote him to the post of Admiral of Scotland, led a small mob into Parliament attacking Lords and Bishops. After leaving Parliament they went on to sack a couple of Catholic chapels. What became known as the Gordon Riots lasted for almost two weeks before they were suppressed. Many catholic areas were ransacked, followed by attacks on those in authority who were thought to support the law. Prisons were attacked and set on fire – the Tower was virtually the only prison in London left untouched. The sky at night was red with the fires of thirty-six separate conflagrations according to the Annual Register. Authority in London had broken down and it was Wilkes himself who forced a terrified Lord Mayor to give permission to raise volunteers to fight his erst-while supporters. With a small body of troops, Wilkes personally defended the Bank of England. This act meant he was finished as the leader of the radical opposition.

 The alliance that had formed around Wilkes split, with the merchants gravitating towards the new Tories whilst elements from the lower middle and working class went in a different direction. The reforms advocated by the Wilkes movement would be carried out by the Tory party under Pitt, which would increasingly limit the power of the monarchy. It would be some time before the passions of the ”lower orders” would be aroused again, and unfortunately this would arise in the form of King and Country mobs against sympathisers of the French Revolution.

 It was in the 1790s that the democratic movement reappeared with a reform movement in Scotland and the founding of the London Corresponding Society. The reform movement in Scotland convened a Convention in Edinburgh in December 1792. Nine months of agitation and direct contact with revolutionary France (War was declared on 1st February, 1793) led to arrests, mock trials and transportation to Australia. A further Convention was called in October 1793 at which delegates from England, including the London Corresponding Society attended. The leaders, English and Scottish, were arrested, treated to the usual kind of justice and transported. Few survived this punishment, difficult even for the young delinquents with which His Majesty’s Government was starting to populate Australia.

 The continuing war with France, and the rejection by Parliament of the petitions for reform led to a weakening of the legal movement and conspiratorial organisations like the ”United Scotsmen” arose. The State lost no time in preparing its internal front against the insurgents. It brought in German mercenaries, previously successfully used to put down mutinies, and also mounted troops issuing from the petty and middle bourgeoisie: the famous yeomen of old England. That these militarised bodies had specifically anti-worker functions is evidenced by what happened at Tranent in 1797 when a peaceful demonstration was cut to ribbons by cavalry. This repressive violence by the State was another factor that made England during the Industrial Revolution already a ”modern” state, and in the vanguard of a world still struggling to emerge from the middle ages.

 The coup de grace was dealt to the United Scotsmen by spies and agent provocateurs, and the organisation dissolved in 1798.
 

London Corresponding Society

Elements which had formed the left-wing of the radical movement earlier now constituted the London Corresponding Society in 1792. Founded by a Scottish shoemaker, Thomas Hardy, it attracted intellectuals like John Thelwall (orator, poet and journalist) and former Wilkites like Horne Tooke. It was the first organisation of working people to start expressing their own interests as distinct from those of the bourgeoisie, and as such forms the preface of the history of the working class movement in Britain. Hardy was certainly the organisational spirit of the L.C.S., which was composed mainly of artisans and tradesmen (weavers, watchmakers, carpenters, shoemakers and cabinet-makers). It had at least three thousand members organised into ”sections” of thirty people each, a weekly subscription and an internal democratic organisation with recallable delegates.

 Its core programme was the call for adult male suffrage, but it also hoped parliamentary measures would alleviate suffering for the less well-off. Its main activities were printing of pamphlets and the organising of meetings and discussions, and even if legalistic in its outlook, it thoroughly alarmed the Government. It was the agitation among the working population of London and the Midlands which led to the Government arresting three of its leaders, Hardy, Thelwall and Tooke. They were acquitted at their first trial in October, 1794, and the same happened when they were tried on other occasions.

 The L.C.S. enjoyed popularity for a few years, but internal and external changes, combined with its legalistic methods caused it to go into decline; the 1799 Corresponding Act dealt the final blow to a by now moribund organisation. 1799 was also the year of the first Combination Act, directed against any struggle with trade unionist objectives. It was just the latest of a series of laws enacted since 1793, the year of the declaration of War on France. Other laws forbade the administering of unlawful oaths as well as making all newspapers not registered with the Government illegal; which meant that publishers, printers and even casual possessors of unlicensed sheets could be punished.
 

Mutinies

The massive expansion of the fleet of the Royal Navy drew in many thousands of new sailors, mostly recruited against their will, either by local levies or by being seized by press gangs. In April and May, 1797, the fleet at Spithead mutinied twice against intolerable conditions; it was a strike against low wages, often two years in arrears, poor food and brutal treatment. The strike spread to the North fleet. The admiral, along with the most hated officers, were sent ashore by the strikers. Concessions were made, pardons given to the leaders, and the strike was over as far as the Spithead fleet was concerned.

 The North fleet though refused to accept the concessions and they elected a leader, Parker, who adopted the title of ”Admiral”. A manifesto was issued and red flags were hung from many of the riggings. After a few days most of the fleet blockading Holland joined in the strike, which left the Government in control of only two warships. The striking warships blockaded London, interrupting trade and taking captives. The cutting of navigating buoys by officers loyal to the Government put the warships in danger as the ordinary seamen had no idea how to sail safely through shallow waters. With internal conflict breaking out, one by one the ships surrendered and the red flags, perhaps the first in the history of the workers’ movement, were lowered one by one. Some of the leaders escaped in small boats, but the leader, ”Admiral” Parker, was hanged. These mutinies were the justification of the repressive legislation from 1797 to 1800.
 

Luddism

With the start of the new century, workers’ conditions declined rapidly because of the war, because of the increased application of machinery, and because of other economically unfavourable factors, above all in the textile trade where pay was more than halved between 1800 and 1818. The workers had two options, both of them dangerous: physical violence against the bosses and their businesses, by terrorising them and destroying their machines; or organisation along trade-union lines. The first major incidents of machine-breaking occurred in Somerset in 1802, with Luddism proper starting in Nottinghamshire in the Spring of 1811. The Luddites stayed active up to 1817 and achieved notable successes. Neither the transfer of 12,000 soldiers to Nottinghamshire – more troops than Wellington had under him in Spain – nor the passing of a law in 1812 which made destruction of machines an offence punishable by death (a law famously opposed by Lord Byron in the House of Lords) was able to halt the movement. And this was despite the law being applied, such as when 18 workmen were hanged at York in 1813. The bourgeoisie had their casualties as well, as in the case of the assassination of the hated Yorkshire entrepreneur, Horsfall, who had declared his wish to ”spur his horse on until he was up to his saddle-straps in Luddite blood.” On several occasions, the textile districts were in a state of alarm for extended periods and marches and counter-marches by the army and armed Luddites took place. The authorities were unable to penetrate the secret organisation of the Luddites with their spies, and it was known that soldiers were fraternising with the Luddites instead of hunting them down.

 The period between 1799 and 1825 when union activity was outlawed was a time of rich experiences for the working class. The workers developed new tactics, combining illegal and legal methods, solidarity was strengthened, and their was a willingness to fight in the face of serious risks. Most importantly of all, the lesson was learned that the State, far from being neutral, is an instrument of the possessing class.

 The Combination Act failed in its aim of destroying the workers’ movement, but when it was finally repealed in 1824, there was nevertheless a huge explosion of union activity as it emerged from illegality.
 

First Trade Unions

The first associations of workers were trade clubs, and were composed of skilled workers. These were often composed of journeymen having completed an apprenticeship, artisans, and sometimes proletarianised members of the possessing classes. In the 18th century these clubs were very localised, often confined to one district or city. Only later would these clubs federate into trade-unions, a stage which would mark a significant step forward. But at the start of the 19th century these workers’ societies could still be characterised as confraternities, as brotherhoods: only members of the same trade were admitted often after complicated initiation ceremonies similar to those of masonry. The clubs would usually meet in pubs and there was generally a certain order to the proceedings; firstly there would be companionable beer drinking after a hard days work; apprentices would be initiated into full membership of the club; funds would be collected to be used in the eventuality of sickness or members’ funerals (the latter activities functioning as an excellent legal cover during a period when unions were illegal); and workers were found for employers who used the clubs for this purpose (a type of early labour exchange); finally, the clubs concerned themselves with matters pertaining to their particular craft (apprenticeship regulations, working conditions etc), and these latter activities often came to predominate, eventually transforming the clubs into bone fide trade unions. The clubs which, as we have seen, had more the characteristics of mutual aid societies, were initially not seen by the employers as particularly threatening, and were generally left alone. But when they started to join up at regional and national level, for reasons other than beer-drinking and arranging funerals, they became much more formidable and more likely to be repressed. It was generally allowed – subject to the uncertainty of eighteenth-century law and the capriciousness of its enforcement – that such unions were of doubtful legality. There were about forty Acts forbidding them in specific trades, and almost any judge would decide that a confederation of workmen to raise wages was illegal. But employers’ petitions to secure the regulation of wages by Parliament, or to enforce the wages decreed by justices under a Parliamentary Act, was another matter; and Parliament would for the most part receive without complaint petitions from these bodies.

The unions nevertheless continued to flourish at the end of the century because of the muddled nature of the repressive apparatus and the legal confusion which made the repression of the local struggles, whilst not impossible, often extremely late in the day; since it was little comfort to an employer if a worker was imprisoned, or given forced labour, once the damage was done. But in 1799, after a petition by master millwrights against a ”combination of journeymen millwrights within the Metropolis and twenty-five miles around” a law was passed in 1799 to generally make all combinations of economic interests unlawful. This law was initiated by William Wilberforce, whose zeal for freeing slaves in America was equalled only by his enthusiasm for ensuring that workers in England were kept in their place.

Due to the Combination Act, and amendments in the following year, the period of 1800-1815 was generally a period of defeats for the early unions. Some industries were repressed more than others, particularly where the local magistrates were under the direct influence of the employers, such as the cotton trades and the mines in the North of England. The miners were a section undergoing continuous repression. In fact the Scottish miners were only released from bondage in 1755. About the conditions of cotton workers, Francis Place wrote: ”the sufferings of persons employed in the cotton manufacture were beyond credibility; they were drawn into combinations, betrayed, prosecuted, convicted, sentenced, and monstrously severe punishments inflicted upon them; they were reduced to and kept in the most wretched state of existence.

It is therefore not surprising that in the second decade of the 19th century the North of England was a major arena of union battles. And it goes without saying that the Miners and cotton spinners were the leaders of this movement. These struggles would culminate in the great Lancashire strike of 1818, in which the textile workers fought not only for higher wages, but for factory legislation, and particularly for the regulation of female and child labour. From Lancashire the movement spread to Scotland, where the weavers, taught by their English brethren, formed trade organisations and entered with zest into the struggle. With the end of the war with France, renewed struggles were to break out on a much more extensive scale.