Revolutionary Britannia?: Reflections on the Threat of Revolution in Britain, 1789-1848Europe was swept by revolution in the period from 1789 to 1848. Britain, alone of the major western powers, seemed exempt from this revolutionary fervour. The governing class attributed this exemption to divine providence and the soundness of the British Constitution. This view has been upheld by historians for over a century. This book provides students with an alternative view of the potential for revolution and the resources of conservatism in early industrial Britain which challenges many of the common assumptions. Incorporates quotations from primary sources to give the reader a critical sense of why revolution was taken seriously by people at the time. Shows how the revolutionaries were defeated by the government's propaganda against revolutionary sentiments and the strength of popular conservatism. |
Contents
Sedition and treason 17921820 | 19 |
The seriousness of the threat | 26 |
Luddism | 35 |
The postwar crisis 1817 | 42 |
From Peterloo to Cato Street and Bonnymuir | 51 |
Conclusion | 58 |
Political unions and urban riots | 70 |
The Welsh rising 1831 | 79 |
Conclusion | 88 |
Why was there no revolution? | 139 |
wheat and bread prices 17901850 | 199 |
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Common terms and phrases
April arms army arrested August Bamford Bradford Britain British Charter Chartist Cobbett's Coigly Committee conspiracy constitutional Convention crowd delegates Despard disturbances Earl Fitzwilliam economic England English evidence Feargus Feargus O'Connor Fitzwilliam Foxite France Francis Place French Revolution Grange Moor Habeas Corpus historian History Home Office House of Commons Huddersfield industrial insurgents insurrection Ireland Irish John Jones July June King labour Lancashire leaders Liberty London Corresponding Society Lord Lord Sidmouth loyalist Luddism Luddites magistrates Manchester March meeting military militia ministers movement mutiny National Newport Newport rising Northern Star November O'Connor organisation Parliament parliamentary peaceful Peterloo Petition physical force plot police Political Union Poor Law popular protest radical reason reform reported revolutionary riots rising Scotland seditious Sheffield social society strike Thistlewood Thomas Thompson threat tion town trial troops United Irishmen University Press unrest violence Wales West Riding Whig William William Lovett yeomanry Yorkshire