The Eighteenth Century

Introduction
Along the century, Britain replaced France
as the leading European power. The
sources of its power were industry and
trade. Steep population rise.
The development of capitalism and
industry caused tremendous social
dislocation. Inequality increased and
millions of people were forced to join the
urban proletariat in industrial cities like
Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester,
Liverpool or Glasgow.
The supremacy of Parliament over royal
authority was undisputed.
The upper middle classes associated
themselves with the nobility in the
exercise of power.
On the whole, it was a period of political
stability in Britain.
 Cronology of the Hanover dynasty
(Georgian) period (1714-1837)
• 1714. George I
• First Prime Minister: Robert Walpole (1721-42)
• 1727. George II
• 1760. George III
• 1775-76: American War of Independence
• 1780’s. Industrial revolution starts
• 1789. French Revolution
• 1800. Act of Union. Ireland joins England, Wales and Scotland.
• 1820. George IV
 British politics
• Establishment of the Bank of
England for the government to
borrow money (1694).
• The Act of Settlement (1701)
excluded Catholics and gave the
throne to George of Hannover.
There were Jacobite (pro-Stuart)
rebellions from 1715, ultimately
crushed in Culloden in 1746.
Destruction of the Highland clan
system.
• Acts of Union between England and
Scotland (1706, 1707). Kingdom of
Great Britain. Background:
Scotland’s economy had been badly
damaged by the Navigation Acts,
the Anglo-Dutch war and the failed
Darién scheme. Scotland was
offered refinancing of the debt and
access to English trade.
British politics #2
• Robert Walpole is considered the first
British Prime Minister (1721-1742). He
develops the concept of the Cabinet.
Two political parties: Whigs and Tories
(Whig supremacy 1714-1760).
• Limits to the monarchy were clearly
defined: the king couldn’t be a
Catholic, remove or change laws.
Parliament controled finances and the
army. The king appointed ministers but
they must have Parliament’s support.
• Walpole’s main rival was William Pitt,
later known as Lord Chatham (1766-
1768)
Conflict with France
• Under Lord Chatham’s government, Britain
built the largest navy in the world and set
out to challenge France’s trade. The
objective was to take over as many as
posible of France’s trading posts abroad.
• War with France broke out in 1758 and
had a global character (within the Seven
Years’ War). The British, led by James
Wolfe, captured French Canada in 1759-
60. The French navy was destroyed off the
coast of Spain.
• In India, the army of the East India
Company, led by Robert Clive, defeated
the French in the Carnatic Wars (1746-
1763). Britain went on to control most of
India by conquest or treaty with the
princes.
 Atlantic triangular trade

• By the end of the century, the West

Indies were the most profitable part of
the Empire.
• Weapons, textiles and other
manufactured goods were taken to West
Africa and exchanged for slaves. These
were taken to the West Indies and the
ships returned to England carrying sugar,
tobacco and cotton grown by slaves in
plantations.
• Britain’s colonies were an important
market where the British sold the goods
they produced.
The American
Revolutionary War
• The 13 colonies were largely autonomous and
commercially prosperous. After the war with
France, Britain increased taxes to meet its
financial needs: Stamp Act (1765), Townshend
Acts (1767). The colonists reply was ‘no taxation
without representation’.
• 1773: The ‘Boston Teaparty’marked the beginning
of the rebellion.
• 1774: The First Continental Congress met in
Philadelphia. The Second Congress issues the
Declaration of Independence, drafted by
Jefferson, on July 4th.
• 1775: Skirmish at Lexington. Creation of the
Continental army, commanded by George
Washington.
• 1777: Decisive American victory at Saratoga.
Secured the assistance of France and Spain. 1781:
American victory in Yorktown.
• 1783: Treaty of Paris. Britain recognises American
Independence.
Ireland during the 18th
century
• James II had tried to get back to the throne
from Ireland. He was defeated by William of
Orange in 1690. This was followed by intense
repression.
• Laws were passed to prevent Catholics from
taking any part in national life: Catholics
couldn’t vote, hold office or public post or
study at the University. Catholic schools were
forbidden.
• In Ulster, Protestants formed the first ‘Orange
Lodges’ to exert pressure against any
freedom for the Catholics.
• In order to increase British control, Ireland
was united with Britain in 1801 and the
Dublin parliament closed.
Culture and literature in the
18th century
• Establishment of a literary market. Two landmarks: expiry
of Licensing Act (1695), granting liberty of press; and
creation of writer’s copyright (1709). Growing readership.
Successful authors didn’t need patrons.
• Rise of journalism and the periodical essay: The Spectator,
The Tatler.
• John Locke (1632-1704): political philosophy. Concept of
the contract between ruler and people.
• Jonathan Swift: political satire (Gulliver’s Travels, 1726).
• Samuel Johnson: essay and philology (literary criticism,
English Dictionary, 1755).
The rise of the novel
(Ian Watt’s study)
• Daniel Defoe (c.1660-1731). Defoe reflects economic
individualism, the somewhat secularized Puritanism of
the trading middle classes and the increasing feminine
component of the public. Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll
Flanders (1722).
• Samuel Richardson (1689-1761). Epistolary novels full
of introspection, emotion and moral conflict. Middle-
class morality. Pamela, or, Virtue Rewarded (1740),
Clarissa (1748).
• Henry Fielding (1707-1754). Shamela (1741), a satire of
Richardson’s morality. Tom Jones (1749), a panoramic
novel with a comprehensive view of English society.
Picaresque elements.