Editing Six Acts (section)

==The setting, and the passing of the acts==
Following the [[Yeomanry]] killing of unarmed men and women in St Peter's Field ([[Peterloo Massacre|Peterloo]]),<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/Manchester/content/articles/2008/03/19/190308_peter loo_law_feature.shtml Peter loo]</ref> a wave of protest meetings swept the North of England, spilling over into the Midlands and the Lowlands, and involving in all some seventeen counties.{{sfn|Halévy|1961|p=67}} Local magistrates appealed in the face of the protests for central support; and in response the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] was reconvened on 23 November and the new acts were introduced by the Home Secretary, [[Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth#Loss of office|Henry Addington]]. By 30 December the legislation was passed, despite the opposition of the [[British Whig Party|Whigs]] to both their principles and many of their details.

The acts were aimed at gagging radical [[newspaper]]s, preventing large meetings, and reducing what the government saw as the possibility of armed insurrection. During the Commons debates, each of the parties appealed to the example of the [[French Revolution]] to make their case. The Tories pointed to the weakness of the French forces of law and order; the Whigs, conversely, to the need for the safety valve of free speech and a free press.

Strengthened by their success at the 1818 elections, the Whigs were able to make three significant amendments to the bills as originally proposed: public meetings were to be allowed behind closed doors, and the ban on outside meetings was to be limited in time; transportation of Press offenders was made more difficult; and the curtailment of legal delays was extended to include prosecution as well as defendant.{{sfn|Halévy|1961|pp=76–77}} Nevertheless, the Six Acts were eventually passed by [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]] [[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Lord Liverpool]] and his colleagues, as part of their repressive approach focused on preventing a British revolution.