Local Farming Practises
At the time of the Jersey Corn Riots, around the 28th of September 1769, Jersey mainly grew crops such as wheat and corn, which has been revealed to be an ancient custom, with cereals being rarely grown. Wheat in particular was grown to make bread and was also used as a currency. Due to Jersey’s rich, fertile soil, good climate temperature and rainfall, people sometimes found that more than enough of these crops had been harvested when they had fully grown, which allowed the extra crops to be exported and sold, providing the workers with an income.
The Power of Protest
Starting around 1767, the harvest of wheat and corn had fluctuating, sometimes leading to exports of crops being banned in the years of poor harvest. However, in 1769, there had been a poor harvest of corn, which lead to the price of wheat increasing. This made it far easier for the rich, or people who had loaned money, to eat, while making it harder for the poorer to afford food. This lead to a large riot, with parishioners from Trinity marching to the Royal Court demanding change, in particular the price of wheat being lowered, it was only until 1771 did these changes take place.
Changes to Local Laws
After the events taken place at the Royal Court in 1769, changes were made to laws and powers in Jersey. The ‘code of 1771’ was put in place, this meant that all existing legislation in Jersey was joined together, this allowed for laws to be more fair for everyone. This code made the Royal Court unable to create any more laws, as well as making the Lempriere family, one of the largest powers in Jersey at the time, lose power due to their unfair monopoly on Jersey.
CONTEXT – Black Lives Matter Movement
The fight for racial equality has been fought for centuries, last year showed a large increase in the amount of protests that took place for the Black Lives Matter movement due to the death of George Floyd. Some protests were peaceful, however some people took to raiding businesses and defacing statues, showing their eagerness to change the way society is.
Eventually these protests inspired Jersey citizens to also take part in these protests and on the 6th of June 2020, a large protest of 1000 people of multiple colours took place at People’s Park, proving that equality should be shown in Jersey as well.
