Northern England , as the first area in the world to industrialise , was the birthplace of much modern political thought . Marxism and , more generally , socialism were shared by reports into the lives of the Northern working class , from Friedrich Engels ' '' The Condition of the Working Class in England '' to George Orwell 's '' The Road to Wigan Pier '' . Meanwhile , enterprise and trade at the North 's ports influenced the birth of Manchester Liberalism , a '' laissez-faire '' free trade philosophy . Expounded by C. P. Scott and the '' Manchester Guardian '' , the movement 's greatest success was the repeal of the Corn Laws , protests against which had led to the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in Manchester
Peterloo Massacre
Peterloo Massacre
Northern England