16th August 1819, date of the Peterloo Massacre at St Peter's Field, Manchester, England. Pushing for parliamentary representation, the end of the corn laws which inflated the price of bread, and unemployment caused by the end of the Napoleonic Wars; 60,000 people met on this day to push the government for reform. Organised by the Manchester Patriotic Union, and addressed by radical orator Henry Hunt, the meeting was opposed by local magistrates, who called upon the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry to arrest Hunt, and other leaders, and the 15th Hussars to disperse the gathering. Charging into the crowd with drawn sabres, the yeomanry and hussars, killed 15 people, and injured between 400 and 700. Near the platform were a number of reporters, whose reports spread shock and anger throughout Britain. The name ‘Peterloo’, originates from the report given by the Manchester Observer newspaper, ironically linking the actions of the Yeomanry and Hussars to the Battle of Waterloo fought four years previously. News of the event reached Italy the following month, where Percy Shelley in exile wrote the poem, ‘The Masque of Anarchy’. Tarot card is from the Ofgraveconcern Industrial Sublime Tarot 1760 - 1848 Prints of the cards are available for sale at: www.ofgraveconcern.com/industrialsublimetarot1760-1848 Follow at @ofgrave.concern for more history and historical inspired art #19thcentury #19thcenturyhistory #peterloo #peterloo2019 #peterloomassacre #tarotcards #tarotcardsdaily #tarothistory #manchesterengland #henryhunt #napoleonicwars #percyshelley #percybyssheshelley #themasqueofanarchy #politicalhistory #tarotillustration #historicalillustration #massacre #historyofpolitics #englishhistory #englishparliament #cornlaws #1819 #reform #historicalstory #historicalstories #onthisday #onthisdayinhistory https://www.instagram.com/p/CSpDDIEHQ6o/?utm_medium=tumblr
