Following the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, a group of politicians began to agitate for reform of England's "bloody code" of criminal statutes. This examines the politics and propaganda of criminal law reform from 1808 to the Whig succession to power in 1830.

Mitigating the "Bloody Code": an Introduction * Raising the Hue and Cry, 1808-1810 * Romilly, Bentham, and Utility * Evangelicalism and Penal Law Reform * The Evangelical Approach to Criminal Law Reform * The Conservative Resistance * Mobilizing Opinion, 1811-1818 * The Partnership: Mackintosh and Buxton, 1819-1823 * Consolidation, Mitigation, and Conclusions

Richard R. Follett is Professor of History, University College and Washington University.