"It's better to be imprisoned than starve to death." : An analysis of the bread riot in Jönköping in 1855

This thesis has examined the popular rising of September 1855 in Jönköping. The events are called Brödupproret and has its origin in the rising prices in grains and potatoes following new more liberal trading policies. The rising lasted two days, 25-26 of September, starting with an angry crowd outside one of Jönköping´s more famous merchants of grain. The local police force could not control the angry masses and people from the upper class formed a “peace loving” force that tried to calm the protesters. On the second day of the events military forces entered the city and finally terminated the rising. The following judicial process lasted well into the spring of 1856, resulting in 49 people sentenced. Some with a leading role in the uprising had to serve 6 to 8 years of hard labour.Based on E.P Thompson´s theory on moral economy the investigation has analysed protocols from the judicial process that followed the events. The investigated judicial protocol is a printed version of the hand-written original documents. These contains hearings with suspected rioters and witnesses.In short moral economy states that in the pre socialistic era people of all classes had a view that each social class had its responsibilities against the others. For the upper class one of these responsibilities was to keep prices on food on a morally agreeable level. If this responsibility was not fulfilled people had the right to protest. Through a text analysis words that indicate a consciousness of social class, trade with large quantities of grain or potatoes or threats of violence has been searched.Inquiries:What was the aim of the rising?Who was the target of the rising?How did the upper social class react to the events?The examination found that the aim of the uprising was to stop the buying of large quantities of grains and potatoes that had risen the prices and depleted the local market of these products. It was also clear that the merchants and the upper class were the targets and the ones who were blamed for the higher prices. Furthermore, it was found that the upper class reacted by trying to calm the angry masses. Mostly by talking to them or when threatened promising not to buy more grains and thereby raise the price.The thesis concluded that there in Jönköping in 1855 was a consciousness of social class. It also found that people of the working class were aware of what caused the rising prices and who was responsible for it. It is also possible to see what means people saw as a solution to the problem, violence and threats against the upper class. This means that E.P Thompsons theory of moral economy might be applicated on the events in Jönköping 1855