Manchester Liberalism (also called the Manchester School, Manchester Capitalism and Manchesterism) comprises the political, economic and social movements of the 19th century that originated in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, England. Led by

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. As a you ...

and

John Bright John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn La ...

, it won a wide hearing for its argument that free trade would lead to a more equitable society, making essential products available to all. Its most famous activity was the

Anti-Corn Law League The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a tim ...

that called for repeal of the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...

that kept

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing ...

high. It expounded the social and economic implications of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

and ''

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

. The Manchester School took the theories of

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...

advocated by classical economists such as

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...

and made them the basis for government policy. It also promoted

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace camp ...

, anti-slavery,

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

and

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

Manchester background

was the hub of the world's textile manufacturing industry, and had a large population of factory workers who were disadvantaged by the Corn Laws, the

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

policy that imposed

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

s on imported wheat and therefore increased the price of food. The Corn Laws were supported by the land-owning aristocracy because they reduced foreign competition and allowed landowners to keep grain prices high. That increased the profits from agriculture as the population expanded. However, the operation of the Corn Laws meant that factory workers in the

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s of northern England were faced with increasing food prices. In turn, mill owners had to pay higher wages, which meant that the price of finished goods was higher and the foreign trade competitiveness of their products was reduced.

Anti-Corn Law League

Mercantilism Mercantilism is an economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports for an economy. It promotes imperialism, colonialism, tariffs and subsidies on traded goods to achieve that goal. The policy aims to reduce ...

holds that a country’s prosperity is dependent on large exports, but limited imports of goods. At the beginning of the 19th century, trade in Britain was still subject to

import quota An import quota is a type of trade restriction that sets a physical limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country in a given period of time. Quotas, like other trade restrictions, are typically used to benefit the producers ...

price ceiling A price ceiling is a government- or group-imposed price control, or limit, on how high a price is charged for a product, commodity, or service. Governments use price ceilings ostensibly to protect consumers from conditions that could make com ...

s and other state interventions. That led to shortages of certain goods in British markets, in particular

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

(grains usually requiring grinding, most often, but not always wheat). Manchester became the headquarters of the Anti-Corn Law League from 1839. The League campaigned against the Corn Laws, which it said would reduce food prices and increase the competitiveness of manufactured goods abroad. Manchester Liberalism grew out of that movement. That has led to the situation seen in modern Britain, where the country benefits from less expensive food, imported from trading partners, and those partners in turn benefit from less expensive goods imported from Britain, in a system of globalised cooperation in production. Manchester Liberalism has a theoretical basis in the writings of

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment ph ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Say Jean-Baptiste Say (; 5 January 1767 – 15 November 1832) was a liberal French economist and businessman who argued in favor of competition, free trade and lifting restraints on business. He is best known for Say's law—also known as the law o ...

. The great champions of the Manchester School were

and

. As well as being advocates of free trade, they were radical opponents of war and imperialism, and proponents of peaceful relations between peoples. The " Little Englander" movement saw little benefit in paying taxes to defend colonies such as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, which contributed little trade to Manchester manufacturers and could not supply their main raw material of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

. Manchesterism can therefore be seen as a belief in free and consensual relations amongst individuals and groups at all levels. Cobden's efforts to promote free trade were always instrumental in what he deemed the highest moral purpose, i.e. the promotion of peace on earth and goodwill among men.

Terminology

In January 1848,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation ...

first used the term "the Manchester School". According to historian

Ralph Raico Ralph Raico (; October 23, 1936 – December 13, 2016) was an American libertarian historian of European liberalism and a professor of history at Buffalo State College.Julius Faucher Julius Faucher (13 June 1820 in Berlin – 12 June 1878 in Rome) was a German journalist and a significant advocate of liberalism and free trade. He was one of the first to advocate privatizing the security functions of the state, which would e ...

in 1870, the term "Manchesterism" was invented by

Ferdinand Lassalle Ferdinand Lassalle (; 11 April 1825 – 31 August 1864) was a Prussian-German jurist, philosopher, socialist and political activist best remembered as the initiator of the social democratic movement in Germany. "Lassalle was the first man in G ...

(the founder of German socialism) and was meant as an abusive term.Raico, Ralph (2004
''Authentic German Liberalism of the 19th Century''
Ecole Polytechnique, Centre de Recherce en Epistemologie Appliquee, Unité associée au CNRS

Manchester background

Anti-Corn Law League

Terminology

See also

Notes and references

Further reading