Om 16th August 1819 a crowd gathered in St. Peter's Field, manchester, to hear the radical orator Henry Hunt, who favoured annual parliaments and the extension of the vote. The military, fearing insurrection, charged the peaceful and unarmed crowd. In the ensuing melee, 15 died, one shot, the rest sabred or trampled. The event was referred to as 'Peterloo' in mocking reference to the battle of Waterloo, and became a landmark in the progress to universal suffrage. It reads, "St Peter's Fields, The Peterloo Massacre". On 16 August 1819 a peaceful rally of 60,000 pro-democracy reformers, men, women and children, was attacked by armed cavalry resulting in 15 deaths and over 600 injuries.
Om 16th August 1819 a crowd gathered in St. Peter's Field, manchester, to hear the radical orator Henry Hunt, who favoured annual parliaments and the extension of the vote. The military, fearing insurrection, charged the peaceful and unarmed crowd. In the ensuing melee, 15 died, one shot, the rest sabred or trampled. The event was referred to as 'Peterloo' in mocking reference to the battle of Waterloo, and became a landmark in the progress to universal suffrage. It reads, "St Peter's Fields, The Peterloo Massacre". On 16 August 1819 a peaceful rally of 60,000 pro-democracy reformers, men, women and children, was attacked by armed cavalry resulting in 15 deaths and over 600 injuries.
Bio by: David Conway
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