Corn Laws

Term Paper

Topic: Discuss how the Corn Laws debate illustrates the conflict between mercantilist and liberal economic views on international trade.  Which side of the debate do you favor and why?

In learning the details behind the Corn Laws and the repeal of its passing, I have learned more about of the needs to organize the agriculture sector of an economy. The situation that took place during the establishment of the agricultural regulations in Britain has a domino affect in latter treaties to be passed. Such as in The Cobden‐Chevalier Treaty (1860) amid between Britain and France, which resulted of the push towards free trade. This treaty rose the confidence for other similar treaties throughout Europe to take effect. These principles still in practice within the function of international trade around the world. At the introduction of the Corn Laws in 1816, forced many distrusted landowners and farm owners to dispute the new importation duty on foreign corn. Many obstacles were tested, and as the Parliament sought to protect their profits at the expense of the British citizen, the people overturned with riots. Which in result assisted the Parliament in react by implementing a law consenting to the import of foreign wheat free of duty only when the domestic price attain 80 shillings per quarter. Not just farmers, but manufacturers also opposed the corn bill, because they alleged that increasing the price of food would increase the wages of labor. This would create a situation were then to save the relationship between buyers and manufactures, many would resort to negotiate with the manufacturers from other countries.

Personally, working in the trade community myself I see how trade laws, and the conflicting manner in which they presumably derive from create distrust between the governing party and those participants in the industry. Treaties are most often constructed by the needs of a particular division within a country to profit from the common...