What was the Combination Act 1799?

The Combination Act 1799 ( 39 Geo. 3. c. 81) titled "An Act to prevent Unlawful Combinations of Workmen", prohibited trade unions and collective bargaining by British workers. The Act received royal assent on 12 July 1799. An additional Act, the Combination Act 1800, was passed in 1800 ( 39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. 106).

What were the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800?

Under the conservative leadership of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, the British Parliament passed the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800. These acts were part of the government's reaction against radical workers and the French Revolution; they also expressed the conflicts between owners and workers in many industries.

Why did the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 impose a ban?

The Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 imposed a general ban on English workers combining to secure wage increases or changed hours of work. Some historians attribute the acts' easy passage during the long war with revolutionary France to a growing fear that popular radicalism would spread among the English working classes.