The Seditious Meetings Act 1795 (36 Geo. 3. c. 8) was approved by the British Parliament in December 1795;[1] it had as its purpose was to restrict the size of public meetings to fifty persons.
Newspapers, Printers, and Reading Rooms Repeal Act 1869
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
It was the second of the well known "Two Acts" (also known as the "Gagging Acts" or the "Grenville and Pitt Bills"), the other being the Treason Act 1795. It also required a magistrate's license for lecturing and debating halls where admission was charged and policies discussed.
Backgroundedit
This legislation was reasonably effective. However, provided that Jacobin alehouse clubs were restricted to fifty persons and avoided corresponding, they were able to dodge the Seditious Meetings Act. Also, actions against individuals for seditious, treasonous or blasphemous words was hindered as spies and shorthand writers could not easily transcribe undiscovered in such an environment. Alehouse debaters could convey anti-establishment sentiments in oblique ways that were difficult to prosecute in a law-court.
In a period of revolution in Europe, the British Parliament attempted to avoid any seditious movement in the kingdoms. The period between 1790 and 1800 was one of intense lectures and public speeches in defence of political reformation, which, for the similarities with the French Revolution principles, were usually named "Jacobinic meetings". One of the most famous preachers in the period was John Thelwall, who interpreted the "Two Acts" as a violence against him and his teachings. His meetings used to reach a large number of people and, after the approval of the acts, were disturbed by many legalists who wished to see the law being respected. Similarly, there were many societies at the time with the intention of advocating for parliamentary reform. Specifically, they wanted Parliament to more equally represent the people instead of just the aristocracy. The Society of the Friends of the People is an example of this type of Society.
The Seditious Meetings Act stated that any place, like a room or building, where political meetings took place, with the purpose of discussing the injustice of any law, constitution, government and policy of the kingdoms, must be declared a house of disorder and punished.
As a result of the Seditious Meetings Act, and other similar types of legislature, societies, like the Society of the Friends of the People, were forced to disband out of fear of arrest or execution.[2]
^Harry T. Dickinson (1 January 2005). Constitutional Documents of the United Kingdom 1782 – 1835 / Verfassungsdokumente des Vereinigten Königreichs 1782-1835. Walter de Gruyter. p. 27. ISBN978-3-598-44052-6.
^Iain Hampsher-Monk. "Civic Humanism and Parliamentary Reform: The Case of the Society of the Friends of the People". (Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 70-89). Journal of British Studies, 1979. JSTOR 175513
seditious, meetings, 1795, approved, british, parliament, december, 1795, purpose, restrict, size, public, meetings, fifty, persons, parliamentparliament, united, kingdomlong, titlean, more, effectually, preventing, seditious, meetings, assemblies, citation36,. The Seditious Meetings Act 1795 36 Geo 3 c 8 was approved by the British Parliament in December 1795 1 it had as its purpose was to restrict the size of public meetings to fifty persons Seditious Meetings Act 1795Act of ParliamentParliament of the United KingdomLong titleAn act for the more effectually preventing seditious meetings and assemblies Citation36 Geo 3 c 8DatesRoyal assent18 December 1795Other legislationRepealed byNewspapers Printers and Reading Rooms Repeal Act 1869Status RepealedText of statute as originally enactedIt was the second of the well known Two Acts also known as the Gagging Acts or the Grenville and Pitt Bills the other being the Treason Act 1795 It also required a magistrate s license for lecturing and debating halls where admission was charged and policies discussed Background editThis legislation was reasonably effective However provided that Jacobin alehouse clubs were restricted to fifty persons and avoided corresponding they were able to dodge the Seditious Meetings Act Also actions against individuals for seditious treasonous or blasphemous words was hindered as spies and shorthand writers could not easily transcribe undiscovered in such an environment Alehouse debaters could convey anti establishment sentiments in oblique ways that were difficult to prosecute in a law court In a period of revolution in Europe the British Parliament attempted to avoid any seditious movement in the kingdoms The period between 1790 and 1800 was one of intense lectures and public speeches in defence of political reformation which for the similarities with the French Revolution principles were usually named Jacobinic meetings One of the most famous preachers in the period was John Thelwall who interpreted the Two Acts as a violence against him and his teachings His meetings used to reach a large number of people and after the approval of the acts were disturbed by many legalists who wished to see the law being respected Similarly there were many societies at the time with the intention of advocating for parliamentary reform Specifically they wanted Parliament to more equally represent the people instead of just the aristocracy The Society of the Friends of the People is an example of this type of Society The Seditious Meetings Act stated that any place like a room or building where political meetings took place with the purpose of discussing the injustice of any law constitution government and policy of the kingdoms must be declared a house of disorder and punished As a result of the Seditious Meetings Act and other similar types of legislature societies like the Society of the Friends of the People were forced to disband out of fear of arrest or execution 2 See also editTreason Act 1795References edit Harry T Dickinson 1 January 2005 Constitutional Documents of the United Kingdom 1782 1835 Verfassungsdokumente des Vereinigten Konigreichs 1782 1835 Walter de Gruyter p 27 ISBN 978 3 598 44052 6 Iain Hampsher Monk Civic Humanism and Parliamentary Reform The Case of the Society of the Friends of the People Vol 18 No 2 pp 70 89 Journal of British Studies 1979 JSTOR 175513 nbsp This legislation in Great Britain article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Seditious Meetings Act 1795 amp oldid 1178439901, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
