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[also, Manchester Massacre]
Early 19th-century England contained a privileged class fearful of revolution
after the Napoleonic Wars and lower classes hungry for parliamentary and
economic reforms. A clash was inevitable, and it came on August 16, 1819, at
Manchester's St. Peter's Field, at a peaceful rally, the last of a series of
1819 gatherings to protest economic depression, high food costs, and government
inaction. About 60,000 persons attended; the large number and their concerns
frightened the civil authorities, who had assembled the 15th Hussars, the
Cheshire Volunteers, and an untrained civic guard to keep order. No disorder
developed except that caused by the authorites, who ordered the rally disbanded
immediately after speeches began. The speakers were to be arrested, but the
amateur guard made a general attack on the crowd. A cavalry charge cleared the
field in 10 minutes, but resulted in 11 deaths and more than 400 wounded person.
An inquiry cleared the authorities, but public indignation earned the bloody
outrage its ironic name, a bitter pun on Waterloo.
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