Following the Peterloo Massacre on 16 August 1819, the government of the United Kingdom under Lord Liverpool acted to prevent any future disturbances by the introduction of new legislation, the so-called Six Acts aimed at suppressing any meetings for the purpose of radical reform. Élie Halévy considered them a panic-stricken extension of "the counter-revolutionary terror ... under the direct patronage of Lord Sidmouth and his colleagues"; some later historians have treated them as relatively mild gestures towards law and order, only tentatively enforced.
Following the Yeomanry killing of unarmed men and women in St Peter's Field (Peterloo),[1] 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. 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. By 30 December the legislation was passed, despite the opposition of the Whigs to both their principles and many of their details.
The acts were aimed at gagging radical newspapers, 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. Nevertheless, the Six Acts were eventually passed by prime minister Lord Liverpool and his colleagues, as part of their repressive approach focused on preventing a British revolution.
| Short Title: | Unlawful Drilling Act 1819 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to prevent the training of Persons to the Use of Arms, and to the Practice of Military Evolutions and Exercise. |
| Year: | 1819 |
| Citation: | 60 Geo. 3 & 1 Geo. 4. c. 1 |
| Territorial Extent: | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Royal Assent: | 11 December 1819 |
| Commencement: | 11 December 1819 |
| Status: | partially_repealed |
| Status Ni: | current |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Seizure of Arms Act 1819 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to authorise Justices of the Peace in certain disturbed Counties to seize and detain Arms collected or kept for purposes dangerous to the Public Peace to continue in force until the Twenty fifth Day of March One thousand eight hundred and twenty two. |
| Year: | 1819 |
| Citation: | 60 Geo. 3 & 1 Geo. 4. c. 2 |
| Royal Assent: | 18 December 1819 |
| Expiry Date: | 25 March 1822 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Statute Law Revision Act 1873 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Misdemeanours Act 1819 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to prevent Delay in the Administration of Justice in Cases of Misdemeanor. |
| Year: | 1819 |
| Citation: | 60 Geo. 3 & 1 Geo. 4. c. 4 |
| Royal Assent: | 23 December 1819 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Seditious Meetings Act 1819 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act for more effectually preventing Seditious Meetings and Assemblies; to continue in force until the End of the Session of Parliament next after five Years from the passing of the Act. |
| Year: | 1819 |
| Citation: | 60 Geo. 3 & 1 Geo. 4. c. 6 |
| Introduced Lords: | Lord Castlereagh |
| Territorial Extent: | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Royal Assent: | 24 December 1819 |
| Expiry Date: | 6 July 1825 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Statute Law Revision Act 1873 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Criminal Libel Act 1819 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act for the more effectual Prevention and Punishment of blasphemous and seditious Libels. |
| Year: | 1819 |
| Citation: | 60 Geo. 3 & 1 Geo. 4. c. 8 |
| Royal Assent: | 30 December 1819 |
| Status: | partially_repealed |
| Revised Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo3and1Geo4/60/8/contents |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act 1819 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to subject certain Publications to the Duties of Stamps upon Newspapers and to make other Regulations for restraining the Abuses arising from the Publication of blasphemous and seditious Libels. |
| Year: | 1819 |
| Citation: | 60 Geo. 3 & 1 Geo. 4. c. 9 |
| Royal Assent: | 30 December 1819 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Newspapers, Printers, and Reading Rooms Repeal Act 1869 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
The six acts were:
Different time-scales applied to the different acts.
The Six Acts went down in folk history, alongside Peterloo, as symbols of the repressive nature of the Pittite regime.