In the mid1820s William Cobbett toured southern England on horseback reporting on its cultivation the standard of living of its labourers and the decline of its traditional practices such as livingin He claimed that new money and new urban styles were upsetting the placid stable rural eco ID: 391531
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The worst-off of the population were most definitely the farm workers at this time. Wages were lower than even the factory workers, and were often seasonal and dependent on the harvests, and therefore the weather. Their employers usually owned their homes, and therefore farm labourers lived very uncertain and insecure lives. Much of the common land, which was used by the rural population for grazing for centuries, was taken by the rich for their own gain, backed by the Enclosure Acts passed by the government. The winter work of threshing cereal by hand was now under threat by the purchase of threshing machines by the employers. In 1828 and 1829 harvests were poor - meaning a rise in food prices and a cut in wages.
In the mid-1820s, William Cobbett toured southern England on horseback, reporting on its cultivation, the standard of living of its labourers, and the decline of its traditional practices such as living-in. He claimed that new money and new urban styles were upsetting the placid stable rural economy. In 1830 the rural workers of the south and east of England rose in the Swing riots. They demanded higher wages and an end to the threshing machine which destroyed their winter employment. They reinforced their demands with rick-burning, the destruction of the threshing machines and cattle-maiming among other things.
During the Swing Riots labourers broke into barns and smashed the threshing machines used on farms, in the late 1850s. There were 1500 such incidents of machine breaking, arson and riots in just four months. The leader of the movement was a fictional figure, Captain Swing, but the real members were young men, mostly skilled farm workers and craftsmen, who had never been involved in any crimes. They were angry about poverty and because the landowners, who had helped the poor in times of hardship, no longer thought that helping their workers was their responsibility. The problems were low wages and high bread prices. Bad harvests had forced up food prices. Wages had fallen because farmers had introduced new
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The riots started in East Kent and reached the Weald area by November 1831 , the main reason for the riots were the low wages paid by farmers, which in turn meant that the merchants were also effected, by limited sales. The name "Captain Swing" riots came from the threatening letters which were often signed Swing after people swinging from the gallows, the leaders were known as "The Captain" or "Swing" to try to hide their identity.
A contemporary etching of rioters setting fire to a machine house.
Swing rioters set fire to a landlord’s threshing machine.