Corn Laws, British legislation that historically regulated trade in wheat and other grains, which in England are collectively called corn. The chief purposes of the Corn Laws were to secure an adequate supply of grain to meet domestic requirements and to maintain grain prices at profitable levels. The laws principally provided for duties on imported and exported grains.
The Corn Laws of 1436 and 1463 gave English grain growers a virtual monopoly of the domestic market. High grain prices were artificially maintained; wheat could not be exported unless the domestic price fell below a specified level or imported unless it rose above that level. Wage controls, high wheat prices, and resultant high bread prices placed a heavy burden on the mass of the population. The Corn Laws thus perpetuated the economic distinction between the classes and were a source of continuing discontent.
Changes were made in the Corn Laws during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, as domestic and foreign supplies of grain increased or decreased, as prices rose or fell, and as conflicting groups were successful in forcing the adoption of amendments to existing legislation, favoring their interests. On the whole, the condition of the English farmers and workers was not improved. During the economic crisis that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Parliament enacted the Corn Law of 1815.
This law excluded almost all foreign grain until the price of domestic wheat rose to a specified high level. An increase in the price of bread led to widespread protests, which were met by repressive legislation suspending the legal right of habeas corpus, abridging freedom of assembly and the press, and reducing immunity from arbitrary house searches. The Corn Law of 1828 permitted importation of grain but established a sliding scale of import duties intended to maintain the high price of grain.
As Britain became highly industrialized, dependence on foreign food sources increased and mercantile interests demanded that Parliament establish free trade and repeal the Corn Laws. In 1838 the statesmen John Bright and Richard Cobden and five Manchester merchants formed an anti-corn law association, the first of many similar organizations that joined in 1839 to form the Anti-Corn Law League. The league appealed successfully to workers and farmers to unify against the landlords who supported the continuance of the Corn Laws. A potato famine in Ireland in 1845 eliminated an important food source and increased the urgency for repeal of the Corn Laws. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Peel, Parliament instituted the policy of free trade. In 1845 export duties were generally abolished. In 1846 Parliament repealed all corn law legislation but established a small temporary tax on wheat. In 1849 the import tax was further reduced to a nominal duty. This duty was abolished in 1869; thereafter the term corn law went out of use.
