Swing Riots

Uprising of farm workers in southern and eastern England 1830-31. The riots were caused by a combination of factors, including social dislocation caused by the agrarian revolution, enclosure, the gradual loss of traditional community ties, economic depression following the Napoleonic wars, a string of poor harvests, poor wages, and high prices (because of the Corn Laws). The immediate catalyst was the introduction of new threshing machines that farm labourers feared would jeopardize their livelihood. They fired ricks, smashed the machines, and sent threatening letters to farmers. They invented a Captain Swing as their leader, and he became a figure of fear to the landed gentry. The riots were suppressed by the government, with 19 executions and almost 500 transportations.