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Democratic Literature of 1776
1776 saw the publication of a vast amount of democratic literature in Britain
which was increasingly influential.
- the works of various colonial writers, defending the "rights of Englishmen"
were imported into Britain:
All of these increased the already existing demands for greater democracy
in Britain.
- Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations
was the first British revisionist economic philosophy. Smith advocated free
trade to expand the economy; he wanted to see the abolition both of the Navigation
Acts and monopolies, to allow market forces to operate
- Jeremy Bentham's Fragment on Government
advocated utilitarianism. Bentham said that society set up institutions for
the security and happiness of the people but those institutions needed to
be revised and reformed to keep them useful. He said that central and local
government and the law courts were failing to fulfil their functions so they
needed reform.
- Richard Price's Observations on Civil Government demanded a democratic
society with no religious test, an extension of political rights and religious
toleration. Price was a Unitarian, a radical, a preacher and a teacher.
- Major John Cartwright's Take Your Choice
was aimed at the average artisan, comparing him to his freer American counter-part
and calling for full political freedom for every man. Cartwright was inspired
by Paine and demanded what was becoming the radical platform's call
- universal manhood suffrage
- secret ballot
- annual general elections
Cartwright set up the Society for Promoting Constitutional
Information (SCI) in 1780 in London, although it suspended its activities
in 1784. Paine and the supporters of Wilkes were members,
as was Charles James Fox - who now was wearing the blue
coat and buff waistcoat of Washington's army. The SCI published cheap editions
of popular pamphlets demanding the extension of the franchise and set up sister
societies throughout Britain with the aim of a democratic revolution.
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Last modified
9 January, 2008
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