Essay on Justification of the Corn Laws

When Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma was published, many readers began questioning him for advice on what they should eat in order to stay healthy. In his more recent book, In Defense of Food, he responds with three rules, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"(Pollan 1). This seven word response seems too simple for a relatively complicated question, but as he further elaborates these rules into specific guidelines, this summary turns out to be surprisingly complete. Using inductive and deductive reasoning, he debunks the ideas behind nutritionism and food science, and proves that the western diet is the cause for food related diseases. Inductive reasoning is when a

Mark Twain, although quite the comedian, makes a valid point in “Corn-Pone Opinions”. The observation of humanity and its tendencies to follow what society promotes is a relevant occurrence today. Twain leads on “. . . that it’s born of the human being’s natural yearning to stand well with his fellows and have their inspiring approval and praise . . .” (720). Humans are not equipped to stand their own ground; they prefer to follow the leader. Twain puts it simply, “we are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate” (719). Twain clearly makes his point noticeable to his audience, holding back no opinion throughout the

There were many problems faced by both farmers and immigrants in the late 1800’s. The economy was very shaky, the government was not stepping up to help, and the immigrants faced harsh times in their coming to America. Eventually many groups were formed to help with these issues.

British parliament’s main goal regarding the colonies, as stated by John Dickinson in Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania, was to “regulate trade.” Regulating the colonial trade would suppress their economy allowing Great Britain to take control of it. However, after the passage of the Stamp Act, it became clear that parliaments greed had finally shown through. The reason for the Stamp Act was to allow the British to financially benefit from the hard work of American colonists. In the year 1765 it was hard for most colonists to provide food for their families without extra costs. After the Stamp Act was passed, finding the means to get food became almost impossible. Passing Acts that the American Colonists had no vote in is just one of the many wrong-doings that the British did

George Grenville becomes prime minister from 1763 to 1765. According to The American Promise: A Concise History Fifth Edition, Grenville did not last long because, “…King George found him irksome: ‘When he was wearied me for two hours, he looks at his watch, to see if he may not tire me for an hour more,’ the king said, and sacked him in July 1765 for being insolent, not for his controversial colonial policies,” (140). During Grenville’s term, he creates an act with the inspiration of the Molasses Act of 1733. The Sugar Act reduces the duty on French molasses to three pence per gallon instead of six pence per gallon. This act’s intention is to raise revenue, yet it did not stop the smuggling of molasses in the colonies. The British find this act reasonable, but the colonists find this as a disturbance into colonial life. The American Promise: A Concise History Fifth Edition states, “To Americans, however, the British supervision appeared to be a disturbing intrusion into colonial practices of self-taxation by elected colonial assemblies,” (141). The Sugar Act changes the lives of the colonists by implying that the colonists must obey the laws because the British are raising the penalties for smuggling molasses, the penalties become more costly than paying three pence per

After England’s war with France, the so called “The Great War for Empire”, and the subsequent money loss, Britain had to find a source of funds, and quickly. There was no better place for England’s lost funds to be recovered than from the pockets of their small, defenseless colonies. As such, the English Parliament enacted the Molasses Act.

Due to the continuation of barren years along with the expansion of cultivation in unsuitable terrain, vast areas of the Midwestern farms of North America became wastelands. As plantations and farms were destroyed, it resulted in a massive migration of its settlers to more arable soil. And it was during this time that the class issue became apparent. As depicted in the

They renewed the Act in 1764 with some provisions which was in their favor. At a quick glance at the tax, it looks like it would favor the Colonies because it went from six pence per gallon to three pence per gallon on molasses. But, before the law was rewritten, the Colonies were smuggling their molasses from the French West Indies to avoid paying the tax which made it cheaper than the products coming from Britain. Since the colonies were not paying the tax, the products from the French was much cheaper than the products from Britain. Along with the tax the British also mandated that the Navy enforcement the new tax and stop the illegal smuggling of sugar and molasses from the French. The British also made stricter punishments for people caught smuggling. The punishment being, once caught, you were not entitled to a trial by jury but from only a judge. This made the punishment for smuggling much stricter than before. This was done to motivate the people to stop smuggling and buy their products from the

The Parliament passed the Sugar Act on April 5, 1764. It was designed to increase revenue for Great Britain by putting a tax on sugar and molasses imported into the 13 American colonies. IT also aimed at ending trade from the French and Dutch West Indies. One of the main reasons it was a lucrative tax is that molasses was used to make rum, which was a highly sought after commodity. The effect that the Sugar Act had on the colonies was detrimental and led to quite a bit of resentment, anger and protesting. The phrase “no taxation without representation” became famous during this act. This act was significant because it fueled the fire for the Americans to want freedom from the British.

Throughout the history of America, many would argue that the 1920’s were the craziest and wildest times in our history. The world had just gotten out of the First World War, and as Americans, we were done with hard times and were itching to have a good time. Americans were ready for a good time and a good party, but right before this could happen a law was passed that dramatically changed the course of history. The law was the national “dry” laws which would prohibit the production, distribution, and possession of alcohol. “Dry” laws had been passed in some states, but it did not go into effect nationally until January 17, 1920. Although many people, mostly Protestants, supported the new laws at the beginning. After a few years many people

The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 was one of the most momentous events in Britain’s nineteenth century economic history. It moved the country toward free trade, and caused a formal brake up of the Tory party. The Corn Laws were passed in 1815 under Liverpool’s Tory ministry, they placed tariffs on the importation of corn, a commodity of the time that denotes all types of grain. The powerful landowners wanted to be protected from the falling grain prices after the Napoleonic War, as well as from foreign competition, so consumers were forced to pay higher prices on grain. The Anti Corn Law League was a political movement formed in 1838 that wanted the repeal of the Corm Laws in order to move toward free trade. In 1846 Robert Peel split with

Parliament placed these acts to continue their control over the thirteen colonies. The Sugar Act was used to reduce Britain’s debt from the French and Indian War and control the customs collection. (Conlin, 124) The main reason the colonists opposed this law was because it was only created to support Britain’s economy. Although this act could be viewed as an economic factor in the American Revolution, it is a political factor because it shown the lack of representation. The Stamp Act of 1765 was rejected for the same reasons. Even though Grenville stated that this act would be used in “defending, protecting, and securing the colonies” (Conlin, 125), the colonists still saw it as unfair because it was not created by the assemblies. The Sons of Libery, named by Issac Barré, created fourteen resolutions and a “Declaration of Rights and Reasons.” (Conlin, 128), which stated that all men should be created and represented as equal. The colonists did not care that the Crown was controlling the economy, they cared that they lacked involvement in the political groups that created this

Because of the debt the French and Indian war created, Britain needed to find a way to make money to pay off this debt. The solution parliament came up with was to tax the colonists, hence the sugar act of 1764. Previously, colonists in the sugar trade imported sugar illegally from the west indies and France and had been evading the existing tax of 6 pence per gallon. The sugar act of 1764 effectively stopped the illegal sugar trade. This upset many colonists because it hurt their profits, and they were in a recession from the French and Indian war. Many colonists were also angered because they did not have representation in parliament, so Britain was essentially taxing them without

After watching the movie, Food Chains, and the video, Food + Justice, I found that the two were very similar in the ideas that they expressed regarding food politics and justice. Both sources included information that could be applied to the international scope. For example, both addressed the history of farm workers and their exploitation through history. It was, at first, the exploitation of natives and of slaves, and then it became the exploitation of modern day slaves, which are mostly immigrant workers. The examples used in both were of African American slaves and then of workers that had come from their home countries to work elsewhere (usually in hopes of a better life for them and their children). In addition, both addressed economic justice and fair wages for these predominantly immigrant workers on food systems, as they are paid very low wages for work in difficult conditions and are not always given a consistent pay (as it depends on the season,

During the election of 181, Sir Robert Peel won the election for Prime Minister. He then gave Gladstone a government position, but did not give Disraeli one, who expected a government post. During Peel’s reign as Prime Minister, he made a decision to complete his policy of free trade by repealing the Corn Laws, which was a result from the Irish famine in 1840. Many conservatives believed that this policy would protect the livelihood of the party’s supporters: agricultural interest, farmers and landowners.