In these circumstances, a public official would read a small portion of the Riot Act and order the people to “disperse themselves, and peaceably depart to their habitations.” Anyone that remained after one hour was subject to arrest or removal by force. Instituted in 1715, the Riot Act gave the British government the authority to label any group of more than 12 people a threat to the peace. But in 18th-century England, the Riot Act was a very real document, and it was often recited aloud to angry mobs. These days, angry parents might threaten to “read the riot act” to their unruly children.
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