What were the Corn Laws?

The Corn Laws placed restrictions on the importation of grain into Great Britain. Many members of Parliament were large (mostly absentee) landholders, and they profited from the production of grains on their estates. The Corn Laws were basically protective tariffs on agricultural goods. While they were good for the large landowners (and the dwindling number of small farmers) they were bad for the growing industrial workforce, who were forced to buy food at prices that many argued were artificially high. The laws met with significant and long-standing opposition from many reformers, among both the growing population of working-class radicals and moderate liberal middle-class advocates of free trade. The protests became particularly fierce when domestic harvests were poor, and prices rose beyond the ability of the poor to buy flour and bread. The Corn Laws were finally repealed in the 1840s, partly in response to the outbreak of famine in Ireland, then part of Great Britain.