Following the Yeomanry killing of unarmed men and women in St Peter 's Field ( Peterloo ) , a wave of protest meetings swept the North of England , spilling over into the Midlands and the Lowlands , and involving in all some seventeen counties . Local magistrates appealed in the face of the protests for central support ; and in response the Parliament of the United Kingdom was reconvened on 23 November and the new acts were introduced by the Home Secretary , Sidmouth . By 30 December the legislation was passed , despite the opposition of the Whigs to both their principles and many of their details . The acts were aimed at gagging radical newspapers , preventing large meetings , and reducing what the government saw as the possibility of armed insurrection . During the Commons debates , each of the parties appealed to the example of the French Revolution to make their case , the Tories pointing to the weakness of the French forces of law and order , the Whigs conversely to the need for the safety valve of free speech and a free press . Strengthened by their success at the 1818 elections , the Whigs were able to make three significant amendments to the bills as originally proposed : public meetings were to be allowed behind closed doors , and the ban on outside meetings was to be limited in time ; transportation of Press offenders was made more difficult ; and the curtailment of legal delays was extended to include prosecution as well as defendant . Nevertheless the Six Acts were eventually passed by prime minister Lord Liverpool and his colleagues , as part of their repressive approach focused on preventing a British revolution
Peterloo
Peterloo Massacre
Six Acts