The Victorians feared lower-class crowds, particularly when people banded together at political demonstrations, fairs and public executions. When such crowds met, public disorder was always a distinct possibility. Social reformer Mary Carpenter noted that the existence of the underclass was largely unknown to the middle and upper classes, ‘but they may be seen in large numbers when a great exciting cause arises, whether a mob, or a trial of some of their associates, or an execution […] when their wild yells and heartless demeanour reveal the worse than heathen barbarism which is in our midst’. Yet, as historian R. M. Jones has written, ‘The crowd may well have been one of the most important characters in the history of Liverpool.’

A great deal of disorder in the eighteenth century involved the activities of the press-gang. The Impress Service, as it was properly known, provided recruits for Royal Navy warships. The tyrannical discipline of life aboard a man-of-war, compared to the relatively less strict conditions on merchant vessels, discouraged sailors from enlisting, hence the need for a little encouragement. To put it bluntly, the navy sanctioned the press-gang to impress (in other words, enslave) seamen. A thriving port, Liverpool was a prime target for their activities. In the eighteenth century about a quarter of Liverpool's adult male population was at risk of impressment.

The press-gang was particularly busy during times of crisis. The resulting recruitment drives were known as ‘hot presses’. During the American War of Independence the town council was prompted to encourage men to volunteer for bounties.