Cobden, Richard

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Cobden, Richard (1804–65) British Radical politician. With John Bright, he led the campaign for the repeal of the Corn Laws and was the chief spokesman in Parliament (1841–57, 1859–65) for the ‘Manchester School’ of free trade. He opposed Britain's participation in the Crimean War, supported the Union in the US Civil War and negotiated a major trading agreement with France (1860).

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