Civilisation britannique – Chapitre 4 Riots, rebellion, revolution and the people : 1764-1815 There were a lot of violence and repression from people who got the power. After the Glorious Revolution, there was an hannoverian succession, with 2 political parts : the Whigs (Protestant, a lot of power), the Tories

(jacobite feelings, excluded from power). In England, the Cabinet was the government (1756) : it's a Commitee headed by the Prime Minister. The successive cabinets took a lot of decisions about government

policies. During the 1760s, there were a lot of unrest (agitation) because there were problems in the government : corruption, patronage...) => People was very angry about the several problems in the

government. In 1756, the « 7 years war » about he colonies was a very expensive success (population angry + heavy taxation). Economy was booming, whereas it was a hard economical period. The « lower orders » of society, far more than rioting, were now claming political power against the forces of monarchy, aristocracy and tradition.

The American War of Independence (1776-1783) The American War of Independence was a war between GB and revolutionaries within 13 British colonies, who

declared their independence as the United States of America in 1776. The war was the culmination of the American Revolution, a colonial struggle about whether the British colonies should be subject to the parliament in London (where they were not represented) or (before the Declaration of Independence) only to

their colonial assemblies. The war eventually widened far beyond British North America ; many American Indians also fought on both sides of the conflict. Throughout the war, the british were able to use their naval

superiority to capture and occupy coastal cities, but control of the countryside (where most of the population

lived) largely eluded them. After an American victory at Saratoga in 1777, France, with Spain and the netherlands as its allies, entered the war against GB. French involvement proved decisive, with a French naval

victory in the Chesapeake leading to the surrender of a british army at Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 recognized the independence of the United States. When France joined the American colonists in the

war, London responsed to the threat of invasion by calling for volunteers to join militias to protect the interests of the British Crown and defend the Crown from invasion. Many thousands joined the Irish Volunteers who used their new powerful position to force the Crown to grant the landed Ascendancy self-rule and a more independent parliament. The Wilkes Riots (1770s) – UK (London)

Their leader was John Wilkes (1727-1797), a journalist. They criticised the king. They were fighting for freedom of the press. For instance, Wilkes led a campaign against most forms of arbitrary power. They wanted to abolish arbitrary arrest. Particularly, he was fighting for electoral vote for a great part of the

population. Wilkes was elected MP but didn't stay because of his campaign : he was made an outlaw (hors-la-

loi), jailed from 1764 to 1771. He wanted also what was said in the Commons should be public. People who supported Wilkes were artisans, some businessmen : middle class, who was getting more and more restless (impatient) => They rioted violently in London (1760-70s). The Gordon Riots (1780) – UK (London) Their leader was George Gordon (1751-1793), a Protestant. During the 18 th century the Catholics had none

power, economical or political, because of the Test Acts (which didn't allow them any kind of power), after the Bill of Rights. There were religious prejudices against Catholics. In 1780, he headed a mob which marched in procession from St George's Fields to the House of Parliament, in order to present a huge petition against

Emancipation. The mob dispersed after threatening to make a forcible entry into the House of Commons but reassembled soon afterwards and destroyed several They destroyed a lot of churches, pillaged the private

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Civilisation britannique – Chapitre 4 dwellings of many Catholics. About 300 persons were killed. All that happened in a period when economy is disturbed.

1779-80 : The association movement supported by people in the counties wanted to change some problems (electorate right...) The French Revolution (1789) [doc 4.2] had an impact in Britain : GB was absolutely terrified to be involved.

Internationally, the international wars became Napoleonic wars. The British will want to fight on the continent, but it will fail, so it will be a naval war. They were fighting also in the colonies, around India (Ceylan, West

Indies). Napoleon had a lot of rivals, in all the countries which were involved by him : Russia, Australia, England...In England, the main rival was Nelson, who beat Napoleon in Trafalgar (naval war). This victory

manifested the Engligh naval supremacy. But there were also some people who were enthusiastic of the French Revolution : ruling classes, elites, (MP and governement were alarmed, wanted to reform the political

structure, and also worried about revolutionnary). After the Revolution, the US freed from GB, they became a republic. The taxations were very heavy to finance this war, there were strong repressions, particularly in Scotland and Ireland (the doors of GB) because they knew France tried to get power. But there were also a few good things : weapons form, ships form (industries in general) benefited from the war. GB had lost America, but they had Won Ceylan, Singapour, South Africa, Egypt.

Peterloo (name given to the events by people, after Waterloo) in 1819 : big gather in Peter's field. That was

supposed to be a peaceful march, but the army was sent to this meeting, they killed at first. A lot of killed (children, women..). The working class wanted a few electoral rights. The Irish Rebellion (1798)

Since 1691 and the end of the Williamite war, Ireland had been controlled by a Protestant Ascendancy on behalf of the British Crown, govering the majority Roman Catholic population via a form of institutionalised

sectarianism known as the Penal Laws. As the century progresed, progressive elements among the ruling class were inspired by the example of the American Revolution and sought to form common cause with the

Catholic populace to achieve reform and greater autonomy from Britain. In 1793 Catholics with some property were allowed to vote, but couldn't be elected and couldn't be appointed as state officials. The Irish

Rebellion of 1798 was an uprising in 1798, lasted several months, against the British dominated Kingdom of ireland. The United Irishmen [doc 4.1], a republican revolutionary group influences by the ideas of the American and French Revolutions, were the main organizing force behind the rebellion. The Act of Union (1801) Not all 3 (American War of Independence, French Revolution, Irish Rebellion) were equally successful and the failure of the Irish Rebellion (which was supposed to receive French assistance) led to the 1801 Act of Union

between England and Ireland, which dissolved the Irish parliament. But all three constitute powerful instances of the irruption of the People in the history with a whole new ideological emphasis on republicanism, democracy, equality and popular sovereignty. This period ended with the Napoleonic Wars ans Waterloo in 1815.

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