Northern Star 20th July 1839
Bastille Day on 14th July is the symbol of the French Revolution but it became a practical political slogan in Britain in the 1830s too.
After the 1832 Reform Act the Whig (Liberal) Government aside from transporting the Tolpuddle Martyrs for forming a trade union implemented the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834.
This set up a network of Workhouses (in place until the late 1920s) where people unable to support themselves due to unemployment or ill health were kept in an institution and had to work for the most meagre of provisions and accommodation.
They were hated as a symbol of autocracy, random detention and class rule much as their French counterpart and a significant campaign was run to destroy them.
The principle behind the Workhouse is of course exactly the same one that motivated Tory and Labour thinking and measures to deal with the least well off in society now. Which is both why Bastille Day is worth celebrating and the Chartists wanted to get rid of the Bastilles.
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