- Peterloo Massacre: At the beginning of the 19^th century, there were some riots in several cities of Great Britain due to the high prices of bread. Moreover, there were serious unemployment issues, and northern England was starting to fight for actual parliamentary representation. The Tory government, which feared a degeneration of these uprisings, decided to restrict freedom of speech and association. As a result, in 1819, the Manchester Patriotic Union organized a demonstration led by the orator Henry Hunt. A large crowd of people gathered in St Peter’s Field in Manchester to take part in the demonstration and to support electoral reformations; the result was a charge by mounted troops, who killed 15 people, while many others (400-700) were wounded. The name Peterloo is an ironic reference to the Battle of Waterloo, which had taken place just few years before.

- Corn Laws: The Corn Laws were a series of laws, promulgated around 1815, which were meant to protect English cereal producers, imposing high taxes on the imported crop (a protectionist measure). Even if these laws made possible for great landlords to earn more money, they also caused the price of bread to rise, causing several riots, which were generally repressed with the use of violence (e.g. the Peterloo Massacre).