Debating England's Aristocracy in the 1790s

Debating England's Aristocracy in the 1790s
Author: Amanda Goodrich
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2005
Genre: Aristocracy (Social class)
ISBN: 9780861932757

The 1790s saw a lively `French Revolution Debate' in England, with much space and intellectual energy, in classic texts by men such as Burke and Paine, and ensuing pamphlet literature, devoted characterisations and representations of the aristocracy; yet this is the first full-scale survey of the subject. Dr Goodrich takes a fresh approach to the topic, illustrating the complexities of the bitter battle fought out in such texts between radicals and loyalists, and highlighting the persistent viciousness and vitriol of a radical anti-aristocratic rhetoric. However, she demonstrates that the loyalist response contained the more innovative campaign, bringing out in particular the development of a commercial loyalism which promoted a new model of society with a modern aristocracy and an open elite; what emerges are English defences of aristocracy which are not simply reducible to ideas of an ancien régime or a Gothic institution.

Political Pamphlets and Sermons from Wales 1790-1806

Political Pamphlets and Sermons from Wales 1790-1806
Author: Marion Löffler
Publisher: University of Wales Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2014-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1783161019

Pamphleteering was a vital component of the popular political discussion opened up by the French Revolution of 1789, but while the English pamphlet wars have been exhaustively explored, Welsh pamphlet literature has been ignored. During the fifteen years following the French Revolution of 1789, over 100 Welsh pamphlets and sermons engaged in a public discourse which discussed the larger issues raised by the Revolution and the war against the French Republic. This pioneering volume seeks to capture the excitement of the period by demonstrating how radicals and loyalists, Dissenters, Methodists and Churchmen, pacifists and warmongers engaged in a lively argument in their published works. An in-depth essay reviews and interprets texts written by artisans, Dissenting ministers, country curates and Anglican bishops, who all used religion as politics; promoted war or peace; argued over republicanism and loyalism, and utilized the law as a stage for political ideas. All texts are fully translated and thus made accessible to an English-speaking audience for the first time.

Loyalism and Radicalism in Lancashire, 1798-1815

Loyalism and Radicalism in Lancashire, 1798-1815
Author: Katrina Navickas
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2009-01-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0191565504

Loyalism and Radicalism in Lancashire, 1798-1815 is a lively and detailed account of popular politics in Lancashire during the later years of the French Revolution and during the Napoleonic wars. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, such as letters, diaries, and broadside ballads, it offers fresh insights into the complicated dynamics between radicalism, loyalism, and patriotism, and emphasises Lancashire's distinctive political culture and its place at the heart of the industrial revolution. This region witnessed some of the most intense, disruptive, and violent popular politics in this period and beyond. Highly active and vocal groups emerged - extreme republicans, more moderate radicals, Luddites, early trade unionists, and also strong networks of 'Church-and-King' loyalists and Orange lodges. Katrina Navickas explains how this heady mix created a politically charged region where both local and national affairs played their part. She follows the inner workings of popular political activity in response to both internal and external threats, including loyalist processions and civic events, volunteer corps formed as defence against invasion, food riots, strikes by trade unions, and both secret and public meetings on the key issues of peace and parliamentary reform. Navickas argues for a distinct sense of regional identity that shaped not only local politics but also patriotism. Lancastrians felt British in the face of the French, but it was a particularly Lancastrian type of Britishness.