The social, cultural, and economic milieu of pre-industrial Britain is so important in understanding the response of those who were alienated, and subsequently affected, by the consequences of capitalism.
...ly of the luxuries of rich, commercial, and manufacturing capitalists.” The attendance of the farmer at market was seen as a material part of his duty as he should not be suffered to secret or to dispose of his goods elsewhere. Compassionate traditionalists like J.S. Girdler, who instituted a general campaign of prosecutions against offenders (such as, forestallers) in 1796 and 1800, were joined by townsmen of various ranks. Most Londoners suspected everyone who had any part in handling grain, flour, or bread of every kind of extortion, consequently, creating variations among the economic classes which in turn form a negative social lifestyle apart from the family. The attitudes which were drawn upon each individual classified them in some way, for example, the exporter was seen as a man seeking private, and dishonourable, gain at the expense of his own people. The market remained a social as well as an economic nexus; it was seen as a place where several social and personal transactions went on. Also, where news was passed, rumour and gossip flew around, and politics were discussed in the inns or wine-shops around the market square. Primitive peoples were left with an ultimate choice between the values of order and those of humanity. Riots were simple responses to economic stimuli. Thus Beloff comments on the food riots of the early eighteenth century, “this resentment, when unemployment and high prices combined to make conditions unendurable, vented itself in attacks upon corn-dealers and millers, attacks which often must have degenerated into mere excuses for crime.”2 The food riot was a highly complex form of direct popular action, disciplined and with clear objectives. The riots were triggered off by soaring prices, by malpractices among dealers, or by hunger. These grievances, however, operated within a popular consensus as to what were legitimate and what were illegitimate practices in marketing, milling, baking, etc. In attempts to change the measure or weight in current practice, often encountered resistance, occasionally riot. The men and women in the crowd were informed by the belief that they were defending traditional rights or customs, as well as the presumption that they were supported by the wider consensus was endorsed by some measure of licence afforded by the authorities. Usually, the consensus was so strong that it prevailed over motives of fear or deference. Farmers were selling, not in an open competitive market, but to dealers or millers who were in a better position to hold stocks and keep the market high. Producers could more generally command a seller’s market thus, wartime conditions accentuated psychological tensions in such years. Bakers, who knew their customers, sometimes complained of their powerlessness to reduce prices, and diverted the crowd to the mill or the corn-market. Economic suffering both became more conspicuous and seemed less justified, because general wealth was increasing faster than ever before. The markets were controlled, no sales were made before the stated times, and when a bell would ring, the poor had been given the opportunity to buy grain, flour, or meal first, in small parcels, with duly-supervised weights and measures. The status of farmers, bakers, among society were given specific rules which had to be applied, such as, they must not buy by sample, thus, creating economic commodities within society. The competition between traders and their trades seemed to be endless. After the 1760s, the complaint against sample-sale is less often heard, although the complaint that the poor cannot buy in small parcels is still being made at the end of the century. The growing resentment between the statuses of each individual went as far as where profits are concerned. The old model remained in men’s minds as a source of resentment, as again and again the new marketing procedures were contested. Petitions became plentiful as reasonable rates for each class was not obtained, as well as many other causes. Th...