Peterloosing the fight for recognition

On August 16th, there was a procession that marched from The Peoples history museum to The G- Mex by St. Peters Square with a cardboard cut-out of the statue they want the city to erect in memory of the atrocities that occurred 192 years earlier in the same area, which is better known as The Peterloo massacre. Some of you might know your history, some, like my friend Andy P, is proud of his Middleton heritage connected to Peterloo, but yet to know what it was really about and unfortunately, even more people do not know of it at all. So: On the 16th of August 1819 the huge open area around what's now St Peters Square, played host to an outrage against over 60,000 peaceful pro-democracy and anti-poverty protesters; an event which became known as The Peterloo Massacre. The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 had resulted in periods of famine and huge unemployment, made worse by the introduction of the first of the Corn Laws (The Corn Laws were trade barriers designed to protect cereal producers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland against competition from less expensive foreign imports). By the beginning of 1819 the pressure generated by poor economic conditions, coupled with the lack of suffrage in northern England, enhanced the appeal of political radicalism. In response, the Manchester Patriotic Union, a group agitating for parliamentary reform, organised a demonstration. The key speaker was orator Henry Hunt, the platform consisted of a simple cart, located by what's now the G- Mex centre, and the space was filled with banners - Reform, Universal suffrage, Equal representation and, touchingly, Love. Many of the banner poles where topped with the red cap of liberty - a powerful symbol at the time. Shortly after the meeting began, local magistrates called on the military authorities to arrest Hunt and several others of the organisers, and to disperse the crowd. Cavalry charged into the crowd with sabres drawn, and in the ensuing confusion, 15 people were killed and 600 were injured. The massacre was given the name Peterloo in ironic comparison to the Battle of Waterloo, which had taken place four years earlier. The massacre occurred during a period of immense political tension and mass protests. Fewer than 2% of the population had the vote, and hunger was rife with the disastrous corn laws making bread unaffordable. Historians acknowledge that Peterloo was hugely influential in ordinary people winning the right the vote, it led to the rise of the Chartist Movement from which grew the Trade Unions, and also resulted in the establishment of the Manchester Guardian newspaper. According to Nick Mansfield, director of the People’s History Museum in Salford, "Peterloo is a critical event not only because of the number of people killed and injured, but because ultimately it changed public opinion to influence the extension of the right to vote and give us the democracy we enjoy today. It was critical to our freedoms." Currently the only public memorial is a plaque on the side of the Radisson Hotel, formerly the Free Trade Hall. The Peterloo memorial campaign want to see a permanent statue in a prominent position within St Peter's Fields. Their proposed design is from 1819 of a yeoman on horseback trampling peaceful protestors. The call for an appropriate public remembrance isn't without precedent. It's been going on since the 1830's! So join the cause! More information on www.peterloomassacre.org (there’s also a Facebook group called “We remember Peterloo”) Previously published in 'A fine lung. Manchester: spirit, patience, gentleness'