ABSTRACT
The government anticipated much of the dislocation peace would bring. Liverpool discussed the situation impotently with his colleagues and Vansittart promoted a pallid Poor Employment Act in 1817 which offered government loans for public works schemes to alleviate unemployment. The dormant spirit of reform was roused by Major John Cartwright, brother of the inventor of the power-loom and veteran radical leader, whose career stretched back as far as the 1760s. During the slumps of 1816–17 and 1819, widespread unemployment and fierce downward pressure on wages among previously 'elite' employees such as handloom weavers contributed to the radicalisation of Britain's major industrial areas. The handloom weavers' projected march from Manchester to London to present a reform petition implied the use of force. In the event, very few got further south than Stockport and a brisk encounter with local yeomanry.
