The Forging of the Modern State

Early Industrial Britain, 1783-c.1870

Eric J. Evans

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351018203
• Edition: 4
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

In what has established itself as a classic study of Britain from the late eighteenth century to the mid-Victorian period, Eric J. Evans explains how the country became the world's first industrial nation. His book also explains how, and why, Britain was able to lay the foundations for what became the world's largest empire. Over the period covered by this book, Britain became the world's most powerful nation and arguably its first super-power.

Economic opportunity and imperial expansion were accompanied by numerous domestic political crises which stopped short of revolution. The book ranges widely: across key political, diplomatic, social, cultural, economic and religious themes in order to convey the drama involved in a century of hectic, but generally constructive, change. Britain was still ruled by wealthy landowners in 1870 as it had been in 1783, yet the society over which they presided was unrecognisable. Victorian Britain had become an urban, industrial and commercial powerhouse.

This fourth edition, coming more than fifteen years after its predecessor, has been completely revised and updated in the light of recent research. It engages more extensively with key themes, including gender, national identities and Britain's relationship with its burgeoning empire. Containing illustrations, maps, an expanded 'Framework of Events' and an extensive 'Compendium of Information' on topics such as population change, cabinet membership and significant legislation, the book is essential reading for all students of this crucial period in British history.

Part I

Reconstruction and the challenge of war, 1783–1815

Framework of Events 1783–1815

1783 By the Treaty of Versailles, Britain recognises USA independence (Sep); The Fox–North coalition resigns; George III appoints Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister (Dec). The world’s first Chamber of Commerce is established in Glasgow.

1784 General Election secures Pitt a parliamentary majority. Pitt begins reductions in customs duties and attacks smuggling. A peace treaty between Britain and the Dutch Republic is signed (May). The India Act creates a Board of Control. Cort’s puddling process revolutionises wrought-iron manufacture. First mail-coach route between Bristol and London is opened.

1785 Pitt’s motion for parliamentary reform is defeated. The General Chamber of Manufacturers is formed. Boulton & Watt’s rotary steam engine begins operation in a cotton-spinning factory. The London Hospital Medical School is founded and develops as Britain’s first medical school. The Prince of Wales marries Maria Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic, secretly and in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act. Paley, Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy is published. First published as the Daily Universal Register, The Times is founded.

1786 Pitt’s sinking-fund is established to reduce the national debt; excise scheme begun. Cornwallis becomes Governor-General of India. An Anglo–French trade treaty signed (Sep); it reduced French duties on British exports. Penang becomes the first British settlement on the Malay Peninsula. Burns’s Scottish dialect Poems published.

1787 Impeachment of Warren Hastings because of alleged misdeeds as Governor-General of Bengal. Wilberforce’s Proclamation Society founded. Work on the Brighton Pavilion begins. Hannah More, Thoughts on the Manners of the Great is published.

1788 The 1784 Anglo–Dutch alliance is joined by Prussia to create a ‘Triple Alliance’ aiming to secure a European peace (Aug). Transportation begins; the first convict voyage arrives at Botany Bay, Australia (Jan). Early signs of George III’s mental instability are shown.

1789 Pitt’s Regency Bill is quickly followed by the King’s recovery. Bill to repeal Test and Corporation Acts fails. Wilberforce makes his first parliamentary speech arguing for abolition of the slave trade. C. J. Fox acclaims fall of Bastille in Paris. Mutiny on H.M.S. Bounty. Jeremy Bentham’s Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation and William Blake’s Songs of Innocence are published.

1790 Burke and Fox take opposite sides in reacting to the French Revolution; Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France is published. The first steam rolling-mill in England begins operation. A General Election confirms Pitt’s dominance in the House of Commons. Spain capitulates to British claims for compensation over an attack on British fishing vessels at Nootka Sound (W. Canada).

1791 The Ochakov crisis breaks over Russian seizure of a Turkish port. The Canada Act divides Upper from Lower Canada. Pitt announces Britain’s intended neutrality in any European action against the French revolutionaries. Joseph Priestley’s house is attacked in Birmingham by a crowd opposed to parliamentary reform (Jul). Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, Part I, is published; Burke, Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs and Mackintosh, Vindiciae Gallicae published. Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson published. The Observer newspaper founded.

1792 British reform movements revive; the London Corresponding Society (Jan) and the Whig Friends of the People are founded. Paine’s, Rights of Man, Part II is published; Mary Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Woman published. John Reeves’s anti-radical Association Movement is formed (Nov); Manchester radicals attacked by loyalist crowd (Dec).

1793 Britain joins the First Coalition against France and enters the European war (Feb) Radical leaders in Scotland, Thomas Muir and Thomas Fyshe Palmer face trial (Aug) and are transported. The Board of Agriculture is founded with Arthur Young as its secretary. Lansdown Crescent, Bath, a prime example of Georgian architecture by John Palmer, is completed. Bank of England issues its first £5 note. William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice is published.

1794 Habeas Corpus suspended by Pitt (May); twelve leading radicals arrested but are acquitted by juries or released. The Whig party split; most support Pitt’s government thereafter. The Jay Treaty between Britain and the United States of America is signed. Admiral Howe wins a naval battle in the English Channel. Britain occupies Corsica. Paine’s Age of Reason published.

1795 The Speenhamland expedient for poor relief begins. Warren Hastings acquitted by the House of Lords of misconduct in office. George, Prince of Wales, marries Caroline of Brunswick (Apr). Food riots accompany widespread economic distress and high prices. Pitt introduces Treasonable Practices and Seditious Meetings Acts (Dec) against public meetings and political organisations. Joseph Bramah invents the hydraulic press. Britain acquires Cape colony and Malacca.

1796 Peace proposals between Britain and France fail. Edward Jenner begins vaccination against smallpox. Spain enters the war against Britain. Britain takes Ceylon from the Dutch. The Wearmouth Iron Bridge is opened (Aug), the largest such bridge in the world at the time. Fanny Burney’s Camilla is published.

1797 Economic crisis; Bank of England suspends cash payments (Feb). Naval mutinies at Spithead (Apr) and The Nore (May). An Act against swearing illegal Oaths passed. French troops land at Fishguard, but France’s invasion plans are not followed up. The First Coalition against France comes to an end (Oct) William Wilberforce, Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians is published. S. T. Coleridge composes Kubla Khan. Hatchard’s bookshop opens in London.

1798 Second Coalition against France is formed (Oct). Newspapers are more closely regulated and taxes on them increased. Navy under Nelson wins Battle of the Nile (Aug); the construction of a Second Coalition against France begins. A rebellion in Ireland is led by Wolfe Tone. T. R. Malthus, Essay on the Principle of Population is published; William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads is published.

1799 Income tax is levied for the first time. The Church Missionary Society is founded. The London Corresponding Society, United Irishmen and other named radical societies are proscribed. A ‘Combination Act’ confirms the illegality of trade unions.

1800 The Act of Union Ireland is passed, creating the ‘United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland’ (Mar). Robert Owen’s ‘model’ factory at New Lanark is founded. This Combination Act (together with one passed in 1799) confirms the illegality of trade unions. Richard Trevithick invents a light pressure steam-engine. The engineer Henry Maudslay invents precision screw-cutting lathe. The Royal College of Surgeons is established (Mar).

1801 Pitt resigns over George III’s hostility to his plans to grant religious emancipation to Roman Catholics (Mar); Addington becomes prime minister. Further economic distress and high food prices. Habeas Corpus is suspended again. The London Stock Exchange is founded (Mar). Nelson’s fleet wins the Battle of Copenhagen (Apr). The first official census is held (Mar). Under the ‘Horne Tooke Act’, clergy of the Church of England are not permitted to sit in the House of Commons. Richard Trevithick pioneers a steam-powered vehicle designed for passenger use (Dec).

1802 Peace of Amiens concludes the first stage of French Wars (Mar) and ends the Second Coalition. General Election confirms Addington’s position as Prime Minister (July). The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act (the first Factory Act) is passed, although without inspectors to enforce it. The West India Dock, the first commercial dock in London, opens (Aug). John Dalton compiles a Table of Atomic Weights. Jeremy. Bentham Civil and Penal Legislation, one of the foundation-stones of Utilitarian philosophy, is published. Cobbett’s Political Register and the Whig Edinburgh Review are founded.

1803 Hostilities with France resume. Edward Despard (Feb) and Robert Emmet (Sep), who had led conspiracies designed to establish a separate Irish state, are hanged for treason. Building the Caledonian Canal begins. John Dalton describes his Atomic theory. Martello Towers are built along the south coast as protection against a French invasion. Frederick Winsor demonstrates the use of gas lighting at a London theatre. Joseph Lancaster’s Improvements in Education is published.

1804 Addington’s government falls (Apr) and is replaced by Pitt’s second ministry (May). The British and Foreign Bible Society founded. Spain declares war on Britain. Richard Trevithick’s steam locomotive operates at the Penydafren iron works. The Rochdale Canal opened and becomes the first to cross the Pennines (Dec). William Blake writes the poem Jerusalem.

1805 The Third Coalition against France is formed (Apr) but quickly collapses (Dec). A trade dispute breaks out with the USA. The Ordnance Survey publishes its first map in what becomes its General Survey of England and Wales (Apr) Nelson’s fleet defeats the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar; the victory confirms Britain’s undisputed control of the seas; Nelson killed in action (Oct). The British Institution for Development of Fine Arts is founded.

1806 Pitt dies (Jan); ‘Ministry of all the Talents’ formed (Feb) with Grenville as Prime Minister and Fox as Foreign Secretary (his first government post since 1783). Fox dies (Sep). The Fourth Coalition against France is formed (Oct). Napoleon launches his ‘Continental System’, a trade embargo against Britain (Nov). Congreve rocket-boats are used to attack French fleet. General Election strengthens Grenvillites (Dec). Gas lighting is installed in a Manchester cotton mill.

1807 Britain declares a reciprocal economic blockade against France and her allies. The ‘Talents’ ministry falls (Mar); Duke of Portland becomes Prime Minister. General Election increases support for the government. The Fourth Coalition ends (Jul). Britain is isolated in opposing Napoleon after Russia signs the Treaty of Tilsit with France (Jul). The slave trade is abolished in British territories. Humphry Davy discovers potassium and isolates sodium. Primitive’ Methodism is established as a more evangelical creed than Wesleyanism Methodism. Wordsworth’s poem, Ode: Intimations of Immortality is published.

1808 The Peninsular War begins; Wellesley leads the British Expeditionary Force to victory at Vimeiro (Aug). The Royal Lancastrian Institution is founded to advance the education of the poor. The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London, is destroyed by fire (Sep).

1809 The Fifth Coalition against France is formed (Apr) but quickly comes to an end (Oct). Curwen’s Bribery Act restricts opportunities for the sale of parliamentary seats. Wellesley ennobled as Duke of Wellington after the British victory at Talavera (Oct). Resignation of Portland (Sep); Perceval succeeds him as Prime Minister. The Tory-supporting Quarterly Review is founded. The 2,000 Guineas horse race is run at Newmarket for first time.

1810 USA resumes trade with Britain. Strikes begin partly in reaction to the government’s economic policy. Rioting recurs in London in support of the radical MP Sir Francis Burdett and in protest against his arrest (Apr). George III’s mental incapacity recurs and now proves permanent. Sweden declares war on Britain. Walter Scott’s poem Lady of the Lake is published.

1811 George, Prince of Wales assumes the title of Prince Regent (Feb). The first Luddite attacks begin in Nottinghamshire (Nov). Handloom weavers establish their headquarters in Glasgow to co-ordinate their defence of apprenticeship. The architect John Nash begins work on London’s Regent Street.

1812 United States declares war on Britain (Jun) because Britain was capturing US ships carrying goods for trade with France. The Sixth Coalition is formed against Napoleon (Jun). Widespread economic distress in Britain; wheat price rises to 126 shillings a quarter: the nineteenth-century peak. The frequency of Luddite outbreaks persuades the government to declare frame-breaking a capital offence. The Government revokes the Orders of Council, thereby hoping to resume more normal trade relations. Perceval is assassinated (May); Liverpool succeeds him as Prime Minister (Jun). The Baptist Union of Great Britain is formed. Central London streets first lit by gas. Nash begins an oriental conversion of Brighton Pavilion.

1813 Decisive Peninsula victories at Burgos and Vitoria enable British troops to move into southern France. The Sixth coalition against France is formed (Mar). The Methodist Missionary Society is founded. East Indian trade monopoly in India is ended. Cape of Good Hope becomes a British colony. Statutes which had protected training via a formal apprenticeship are repealed. Hedley’s ‘Puffing Billy’ steam locomotive runs on smooth rails at Wylam (Northumberland). Robert Owen, A New View of Society is published; Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice is published.

1814 The Sixth Coalition against France comes to an end with the defeat of France (Mar). In the Anglo–American war, British troops destroy many public buildings in Washington, including the White House. In cricket, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) moves to its current ground in St John’s Wood, Lord’s. George Stephenson builds a steam locomotive. The actor Edmund Kean makes his theatrical debut as Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

1815 The Anglo–American war formally ends with the Treaty of Ghent (Feb). The Seventh Coalition (Mar 1815) is formed to check Napoleon’s return to France and the ‘Hundred Days’ campaign. Napoleon is defeated by coalition forces led by Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo (Jun). The Congress of Vienna brings European peace. Humphry Davy invents miners’ safety lamp. Gurkha regiments became members of the British army. A new Corn Law prohibits imports of foreign corn unless domestic price exceeds 80s.

1 Britain in the early 1780s I

Society and economy

I

If we were to form an estimate of the circumstances of the inhabitants of London from the daily ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• The Forging of the Modern State
• Title
• Copright
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Maps
• Introduction to the Fourth Edition
• Note on the Framework of Events
• Publisher’s Acknowledgements
• Part I Reconstruction and the Challenge of War, 1783–1815
• Part II Imperial and Industrial
• Part III The Crucible of Reform, 1815–46
• Part IV Early Industrial Society, Refined and Tested, 1846–70
• Compendium of Information
• Maps
• Bibliography
• Index