Editing Peterloo Massacre (section)

==Commemorations==
The Skelmanthorpe Flag, believed to have been made in [[Skelmanthorpe]], in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1819, was made to honour the victims of the Peterloo Massacre and was flown at mass meetings held in the area demanding the reform of Parliament. The flag consisted of a white field divided into quadrants, three charged with radical suffrage slogans and a fourth charged with a version of ''[[Am I not a man and brother?]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Skelmanthorpe Flag |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/0YMOwNq0TouwZ9JHk5PXNw |publisher=BBC: A History of the World |access-date=10 February 2015 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923225111/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/0YMOwNq0TouwZ9JHk5PXNw |url-status=live }}</ref> This was one of dozens of mass protest meetings held in 1819, until the Six Acts put an end to protests.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Navickas |first=Katrina |date=2019 |title=The Multiple Geographies of Peterloo and its Impact in Britain |journal=Bulletin of the John Rylands Library |volume=95, 1 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.7227/BJRL.95.1.1|doi-access=free|hdl=2299/21505 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Throughout the nineteenth century, the memory of Peterloo was a political rallying point for both radicals and liberals to attack the Tories and demand further reforms of parliament. These came at the rate of one per generation in 1832, 1867, 1884, and 1918, when universal manhood suffrage and partial female suffrage was achieved.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Terry |last=Wyke |chapter=Remembering the Manchester Massacre |title=Return to Peterloo |publisher=Carnegie |editor=Poole, Robert |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-85936-225-9 |location=Manchester |pages=111–132 |oclc=893558457}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Joe Cozens |first='The Making of the Peterloo Martyrs', in |title=A History of Secular Martyrdom in the Britain and Ireland: From Peterloo to the Present |editor1=K. Laybourn |editor1-link = Keith Laybourn |editor2=Q. Outram |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-319-62905-6}}</ref>
{{multiple image
|total_width=335
|image1=Peterloo plaque.jpg
|image2=PeterlooRedPlaque.JPG
|caption1=Blue plaque commemorating ''Peterloo'' not mentioning any violence (erected 1972)
|caption2=Replacement red plaque, unveiled 2007
}}
The [[Free Trade Hall]], home of the [[Anti-Corn Law League]], was built partly as a "[[cenotaph]] raised on the shades of the victims" of Peterloo, but one which acknowledged only the reformers' demand for the repeal of the corn laws and not for the vote.{{sfnp|Pickering|Tyrrell|2000|p=204|ps=none}} At the centenary in 1919, just two years after the [[Russian Revolution]] and the [[October Revolution|Bolshevik coup]], trade unionists and communists alike saw Peterloo as a lesson that workers needed to fight back against capitalist violence. The Conservative majority on Manchester City Council in 1968–1969 declined to mark the 150th anniversary of Peterloo, but their Labour successors in 1972 placed a  [[blue plaque]] high up on the wall of the Free Trade Hall, now the Radisson Hotel. This in turn was criticised for failing to recognise that anyone was killed or injured.<ref name="Guardian 2007-08-13"/> In a 2006 survey conducted by ''The Guardian'', Peterloo came second to [[St. Mary's Church, Putney]], the venue for the [[Putney Debates]], as the event from [[radicalism (historical)|radical]] British history that most deserved a proper monument.<ref>{{Cite news |title=And the winner is&nbsp;... |last1=Hunt |first1=Tristram |last2=Fraser |first2=Giles |newspaper=The Guardian |date=16 October 2006 |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2006/oct/16/heritage.britishidentity |access-date=25 March 2008 |archive-date=23 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090723030703/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2006/oct/16/heritage.britishidentity |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[euphemism]] on the blue plaque was described by comedian and activist [[Mark Thomas]] as "an act of historical vandalism akin to [[Stalin]] [[censorship of images in the Soviet Union|airbrushing dissidents out of photographs]]".<ref name="Guardian 2007-12-27">{{Cite news |title=New plaque tells truth of Peterloo killings 188 years on |last=Ward |first=David |newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 December 2007 |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/dec/27/past.politics |access-date=25 March 2008 |archive-date=28 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228211645/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/dec/27/past.politics |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Memorial Campaign">{{cite web |url=http://www.peterloomassacre.org/blue-plaque.html |title=Blue Plaque |publisher=The Peterloo Memorial Campaign |access-date=18 August 2019 |archive-date=30 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030054109/http://www.peterloomassacre.org/blue-plaque.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A Peterloo  Memorial Campaign was set up to lobby for a 'Respectful, Informative and Permanent' (RIP) monument to an event that has been described as "Manchester's [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|Tiananmen Square]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=Remember the Peterloo massacre? |last=Hobson |first=Judy |date=17 August 2007 |work=[[BBC News Online]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6950666.stm |access-date=26 March 2008 |archive-date=31 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731002041/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6950666.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Paul |last=Fitzgerald |chapter=Remembering Peterloo in the 21st Century |title=Return to Peterloo |publisher=Carnegie |editor=Poole, Robert |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-85936-225-9 |location=Manchester |pages=195–201 |oclc=893558457}}</ref>

In 2007, [[Manchester City Council]] replaced the original blue plaque with a red one, giving a fuller account of the events of 1819. It was unveiled on 10 December 2007 by the [[List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Manchester|Lord Mayor of Manchester]], Councillor Glynn Evans.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=3246 |author=Manchester City Council |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |date=10 December 2007 |access-date= 26 March 2008 |title=Peterloo memorial plaque unveiled |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314191448/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=3246 |archive-date=14 March 2008|author-link=Manchester City Council}}</ref> Under the heading "St. Peter's Fields: The Peterloo Massacre", the present plaque reads, "On {{sic|16th| August 1819|hide=yes}} a peaceful rally of 60,000 pro-democracy reformers, men, women and children, was attacked by armed cavalry resulting in 15&nbsp;deaths and over 600&nbsp;injuries."<ref name="Guardian 2007-12-27"/><ref name="Memorial Campaign"/>

===Memorial===
[[File:Peterloo Memorial (geograph 6240951).jpg|thumb|''Peterloo Memorial'' in front of [[Manchester Central Convention Complex|Manchester Central]] in 2019]]
{{Main|Peterloo Memorial}}

In 2019, shortly before the 200th anniversary of the massacre, Manchester City Council "quietly unveiled" a new memorial by the artist [[Jeremy Deller]].<ref name="Guardian 2019-08-13">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/aug/13/peterloo-memorial-jeremy-deller-unveiled-before-anniversary |title=Peterloo memorial quietly unveiled three days before anniversary |first=Josh |last=Halliday |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=13 August 2019 |access-date=18 August 2019 |archive-date=17 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817145828/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/aug/13/peterloo-memorial-jeremy-deller-unveiled-before-anniversary |url-status=live }}</ref> It was inaugurated at a large public gathering on 16 August 2019, widely reported in the press, covered extensively on regional TV and radio, and marked by a special edition of the ''Manchester Evening News''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/peterloo-200-years-on-manchester-16729620 |title=Peterloo 200 years on |date=16 August 2019 |work=Manchester Evening News |access-date=21 March 2020 |archive-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130163452/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/peterloo-200-years-on-manchester-16729620 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The 1.5-metre-high memorial features 11 concentric steps engraved, sculpted from polished local stone and carved with the names of the dead and the places from which the victims came. The material not visible from the ground is reproduced at ground level, and there is a floor plaque.<ref name="Guardian 2019-08-16">{{cite news |last=Halliday |first=Josh |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/aug/16/manchester-gets-ready-for-noisy-tribute-to-the-dead-of-peterloo |title=Manchester gets ready for noisy tribute to the dead of Peterloo |date=16 August 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=18 August 2019 |archive-date=17 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817145821/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/aug/16/manchester-gets-ready-for-noisy-tribute-to-the-dead-of-peterloo |url-status=live }}</ref> While this met the official standards for access, it was also interpreted by some as a 'speaking platform' made inaccessible by its stepped design. The city council has promised that it will be modified to rectify this. Some disability campaigners described the memorial as 'vile' and calling for it to be demolished, a stance which in turn caused offence by appearing to dismiss the experiences of the many disabled victims of Peterloo. It has in practice proved very difficult to design a wheelchair ramp that does not damage or block substantial parts of the inscriptions.<ref name="Guardian 2019-08-13" /><ref name="Guardian 2019-08-16" />

The memorial has meanwhile become widely appreciated and visited, and the Peterloo Memorial Campaign site states that it is 'Proud to have campaigned for a respectful, informative and permanent Peterloo Memorial at the heart of Manchester'.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/peterloomemoria?lang=en |title=@peterloomemoria |date=2019 |website=Peterloo Memorial Campaign Twitter feed |access-date=21 March 2020 |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816032255/https://twitter.com/peterloomemoria?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://manchester.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/476956 |title=Manchester City Council Communities and Equaklities Scrutiny Committee 5 March 2020 item 10. |date=5 March 2020 |website=Manchester City Council video minutes |access-date=22 March 2020 |archive-date=21 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321230419/https://manchester.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/476956 |url-status=live }}</ref>