On Monday 16 August 1819 perhaps 40-50,000 men, women and children gathered for a mass rally in Manchester. The protesters had progressed to St Peter’s Field from the city’s working-class districts and the surrounding textile weaving regions. Monday was the traditional day off for handloom weavers and other artisan workers, and the marchers wore their best clothes and symbols to create a festive atmosphere. A couple of hours later, soldiers and police had stopped the peaceful demonstration with very harsh methods. This article examines why this incident became one of the most important events in history of democracy in Europe. The author also tries to explain the real causes of the Peterloo Massacre and the historical background of the British society in the beginning of the 1800s from the perspective of Thomas Paine (1737-1809), the English-born American philosopher and political theorist.
