The 6 Acts


These acts were created in 1819 in response to the Peterloo massacre to prevent anymore of these happening.


  • Training prevention Act- A measure which made any person attending a gathering for the purpose of training or drilling liable to arrest. People that are found guilty of this offence could be transported for 7 years to Australia.

  • Seizure of Arms Act- A measure that gave power to local magistrates to search any property or person for arms. That is partly why we still have strict gun control today.
  • Seditious Meetings Prevention Act: This was a measure to prohibited the holding of public meetings more than 50 people without consent of a sheriff or magistrate. This was to prevent an uprising or revolution.
  • The Misdemeanours Act: A measure that attempted to reduce the delay in the administration of justice.
  • The Blasphemous and seditious libels Act: A measure which provided much stronger punishments including banishment for publications judged to be blasphemous or seditious.
  • Newspaper and Stamp Duties Act- A measure which subjected certain radical publications which had previously avoided stamp duty by publishing opinion not news to such duty.

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