Tamworth Conservatism and the Repeal of the Corn Laws: the Oundf Ation of Modern Conservative Political Discourse Jonathan James Hedeen
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University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2015 Tamworth Conservatism And The Repeal Of The Corn Laws: The oundF ation Of Modern Conservative Political Discourse Jonathan James Hedeen Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Hedeen, Jonathan James, "Tamworth Conservatism And The Repeal Of The orC n Laws: The oundF ation Of Modern Conservative Political Discourse" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 1902. https://commons.und.edu/theses/1902 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TAMWORTH CONSERVATISM AND THE REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS: THE FOUNDATION OF MODERN CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL DISCOURSE By Jonathan James Hedeen Bachelor of Science, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 2012 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Grand Forks, North Dakota December 2015 1 Copyright 2015 Jonathan James Hedeen ii PERMISSION Title Tamworth Conservatism and the Repeal of the Corn Laws: The Foundation of Modern Conservative Political Discourse Department History Degree Master of Arts In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my thesis work or, in his absence, by the Chairperson of the department or the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this thesis or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Jonathan James Hedeen 11-30-15 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES………………..……………………………………………………………..vi LIST OF TABLES.………………………………………………………………………….…...vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………..……......viii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………….…..…ix CHAPTER I. THE COLLAPSE OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE…………………………………………………………………….....1 Peel, Conservativism, and the Corn Laws A Historiographical Study Sir Robert Peel in Historical Perspective II. REFORMED TORYISM AND THE EARLY FORMATION OF CONSERVATIVISM……………………………………………………………..…21 Toryism into Conservatism and the Tamworth Manifesto Converts to the Conservative Party: Edward Smith-Stanley and the Knowsley Creed III. TAMWORTH CONSERVATIVISM FROM TRIUMPH TO TRAGEDY: THE SECOND PEEL MINISTRY AND THE CORN LAW CRISIS……………………57 The Second Peel Ministry Reform and the Corn Laws Corn Law Repeal and the Conservative Crisis IV. THE LEGACY OF TAMWORTH CONSERVATIVISM …..…………………....107 Peelite Conservativism Beyond the Corn Law Crisis The Remaking of the Conservative Party REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………….…..137 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. The Position of the Premier …………….................................................................................75 2. The Rising Generation in Parliament.......................................................................................110 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Conservative Election Results 1832-1841…………………...……………………………….52 2. Votes on the Third Reading of the Bill to Repeal the Corn Laws, 15 May 1846 ...................101 3. General Election Results 1847 & 1852 ...................................................................................119 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the members of my advisory Committee especially Dr. James Mochoruk for his guidance and support during my time in the Master’s program at the University of North Dakota. viii ABSTRACT In the early morning hours of May 16th, 1846 Parliament gathered for the final reading to repeal the Corn Laws. While the Corn Laws had been a highly contested topic within Britain for over two decades, it was at this juncture that the Conservative party of Sir Robert Peel fractured. As this study shall demonstrate, the Corn Law crisis of 1846 did not destroy Peel’s version of Conservativism as has often been argued, but rather put it into a state of suspended animation. The division of the party only twelve years after its formation has long been a topic of interest to historians. As previous histories have suggested, Peel had attempted to revive the old idea of Toryism but also to transform it into his new Conservative idea. This thesis goes beyond this to suggest that Peel’s own unique form of Conservatism not only shaped the party in 1834 but also helped it to recover after the split of 1846. As the blueprint for Conservative political discourse, the ideas set forth in Peel’s Tamworth Manifesto (1834) outlined the fundamental structures and tenets for a national Conservative party. His central argument was that Conservatives should work to actively reform state institutions as a way of preserving them. This was a revolutionary idea and the central pillar of Tamworth Conservatism. Illustrating his own form of Conservativism the manifesto identified what this new political ideology was to entail for his first ministry (1835) and beyond. Peel’s visions for the party after 1835 started a new type of political discourse in British politics. This new discourse was centered on the ideals of preservation of state institutions via careful reforms. To establish a new political organization his Tamworth Conservativism had to become the party’s standard. Peel’s Manifesto, guided the growth and formation of a party ideology from 1834 to 1846. Peel’s decision to repeal the Corn ix Laws in 1846 was met with fierce Conservative opposition, leading to an internal party rebellion. Conservative division in 1846 was fueled by discontent with Conservative leadership and the perceived opaqueness of Peel’s Conservative principles. However, the Conservative split of 1846 did not result in the abandonment of Conservatism but a period of Conservative dormancy. The Conservative party, unlike Peel’s political career, survived and was rebuilt to become a serious contender in British politics. More than a bit ironically, the restoration of Conservativism in 1852 was based upon a return to its origins in Peel’s manifesto; a Conservativism that was built upon the ideas of careful, active, and thought-out reforms designed to preserve and protect state institutions. This suggests that the legacy of Peel’s Tamworth Conservatism and the Corn Laws crisis of 1846 were more intertwined with each other than previously recognized in the historiography. x CHAPTER I THE COLLAPSE OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE In the early morning hours of May 16th 1846 Parliament gathered for the final reading of the Act that would repeal the Corn Laws and in so doing would bring the demise of Peel’s ministry and fracture the party he had created. However, as this thesis shall demonstrate, the Conservative split of 1846 did not result in the collapse of Conservative party but rather a period of Conservative dormancy. True, the fight to repeal the Corn Laws destroyed Peel’s political career and nearly destroyed his Conservativism, but the crisis of 1846 did not damage Peel’s Conservative party beyond repair. After a long season of dormancy Peel’s Conservativism reemerged with a seemingly new direction but with a familiar strategy. This thesis shall argue that the formation of Peel’s Tamworth Conservativism, as the foundational ideology for the Conservative party, and the Conservative split over the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 remain more closely intertwined than previously stated in the historiography. This connection between the formation of Peel’s Conservativism and the party schism caused by the Corn Laws suggests that Peel’s Tamworth Conservativism did not end when Peel stepped down in 1846. The Corn Laws were part of a long tradition of government regulations over imports and exports of grains that predated the nineteenth century. The Importation Acts of 1815 (Geo. 3 c.26), most infamously known as the Corn Laws, were a set of tariff laws that dated back to the seventeenth century.1 The 1815 modification had created a paradigm shift in the tariff by 1 ed. Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, Free Trade: The Repeal of the Corn Laws (Bristol: Thoemmes Press 1996), xiii. 1 establishing a total exclusion of Corn until the domestic price of Corn reached 80 Shillings per quarter (480lbs).2 These laws, even in their own time, were largely unpopular in a country that was already moving towards a system of free trade. The Corn Laws’ design was to protect British grain from being undercut by cheaper foreign alternatives. At base, the Corn Laws suffered the flaw of being too rigid of a system that generated little to no revenue for the state while pushing up the price of flour and bread for consumers. Demands to change the Corn Laws arose in the late 1820s and resulted in the adoption of a new sliding scale that was designed to lower the import duty on foreign grain as the price of domestic grain