What was the aim of the combination acts of 1799?

The 1799 and 1800 acts were passed under the government of William Pitt the Younger as a response to Jacobin activity and the fear of then-Home Secretary the Duke of Portland that workers would strike during a conflict to force the government to accede to their demands. Collectively these acts were known as the Combination Acts.[1]

The legislation drove labour organisations underground. Sympathy for the plight of the workers brought repeal of the acts in 1824. Lobbying by the radical tailor Francis Place played a role in this. However, in response to the series of strikes that followed, the Combinations of Workmen Act 1825 was passed, which allowed trade unions but severely restricted their activity.

• UK labour law
• Le Chapelier Law 1791, a similar law in France
• The Making of the English Working Class by E. P. Thompson

1. ^ Rodney Mace (1999). British Trade Union Posters: An Illustrated History. Sutton Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 0750921587.

• Partial text of the Combination Act of 1800