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'Manchester Capitalism, Manchester School, Manchester Liberalism or Manchesterism' are terms for political, economic and social movements of the 19th century that originated in Manchester, England.
Manchester was, at the time, the hub of the world’s textile manufacturing industry. Because of this it had a high population of factory workers, who were being disadvantaged by the Corn Laws, the protectionist policy that imposed tarrifs on imported wheat and therefore increased the price of food. The Corn Laws were supported by the land-owning aristocracy (and therefore by the House of Lords and the Tory Party) because by reducing foreign competition they allowed landowners to keep grain prices high and therefore, as the population expanded, increase agricultural profits.
Manchester became the headquarters of the Anti-Corn Law League from 1839, in order to campaign against the Corn Laws and so reduce food prices for its poorer inhabitants, and Manchester Liberalism grew out of this movement.
Manchester Capitalism is regarded as a challenge to the dominant economic system in 16th-18th century Europe: mercantilism.
Mercantilism holds that a country’s prosperity is dependent on large exports, but limited imports of goods. At the beginning of the 19th century, trade in Britain was still subject to import quotas, price ceilings and other state interventions. This led to shortages of certain goods and, in particular, corn (wheat) on British markets.
The Manchester Liberals argued that free trade would lead to a more equitable society, making essential products available to all.
Theoretically, Manchester Liberalism was founded on the writings of David Hume, Adam Smith and Jean-Baptiste Say.
The great champions of the "Manchester School" were Richard Cobden and John Bright. As well as being advocates of free trade they were radical opponents of war and imperialism and proponents of peaceful relations between peoples. Manchesterism can therefore be seen as a belief in free and consensual relations amongst individuals and groups at all levels. Cobden's efforts in furtherance of free trade were always subordinate to what he deemed the highest moral purpose: the promotion of peace on earth and goodwill among men.
In March 1848 Benjamin Disraeli (a Tory) first used the term "the School of Manchester".^[1] According to historian Ralph Raico, and as indicated by the German liberal Julius Faucher in 1870, the term "Manchesterism" was invented by Ferdinand Lassalle, the founder of German socialism and was meant as an abusive term.^[2]

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Notes and references

1. W. H. Greenleaf, ''The British Political Tradition. Volume Two: The Ideological Heritage'' (London: Methuen, 1983), p. 41.
2. Raico, Ralph (2004) ''Authentic German Liberalism of the 19th Century'' Ecole Polytechnique, Centre de Recherce en Epistemologie Appliquee, Unité associée au CNRS

See also

★ Richard Cobden

★ John Bright

★ British Whig Party

★ Corn Laws

★ Michel Chevalier