A Polite and Commercial People: England 1727 - 1783 (New Oxford History of England)

The first volume of Sir George Clark's Oxford History of England was published in 1934, and over 50 years that series established itself as a standard reference for hundreds of thousands of readers. The New Oxford History of England , of which this is the first volume, is its successor. In this, the most authoritative, comprehensive general history of England between the accession of George II and the loss of America, Paul Langford merges conflicting images of the 18th century into a coherent picture to reveal the true character of the age. Conventional views of the 18th century emphasize its political stability, aristocratic government, stately manners, and Georgian elegance. But Langford reveals another aspect of the times--a less orderly world of treasonous plots, rioting mobs, and Hogarthian vulgarity. Using the latest research and a wealth of techniques culled from a variety of disciplines, he tells an absorbing tale of remarkable contrasts and changes. An age often seen in static terms is brought to life with all its contradictions and tensions revealed. Cover Title Copyright Dedication General Editor's Preface Preface Contents Illustations Figures Tables 1. Introduction 2. Robin's Reign, 1727-1742 The accession of George II The growth of opposition and the fall of Townshend Walpole's supremacy The case against Robinocracy The excise crisis Nobility and royalty Church and State The politics of protest The policy of peace Walpole's fall 3. The Progress of Politeness The middle class Material wealth and politeness Middle-class divisions Middle-class vulnerability Middle-class schooling Commercial education and its limitations Books and the bourgeoisie Association and assembly Spa and seaside Women in polite society The unity of polite society 4. Industry and Idleness Moral instruction The reformation of manners and the charity school movement The hospital movement The Foundling and the Magdalen Patriotism and population Poverty Crime Recession or recovery? The Atlantic economy The decline ofeconomic regulation 5. Patriotism Unmasked, 1742-1757 Pulteney's patriotism Carteret and Continental warfare Broad-Bottom The Forty-Five The Pelhamite supremacy The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle and the legacy of the Forty-Five Conciliation in England and coercion in Scotland Newcastle's diplomacy and Leicester House politics Faction and the 'Jew Bill' The Newcastle ministry Pitt and patriotism 6. Salvation by Faith The deist threat The evangelical awakening Evangelical animosities The evangelical revival and the people The established Church The war on the Methodists The evangelical challenge to contemporary values Enthusiasm and reason Superstition 7. The Fortunate Isle Religious liberty and tolerance Lawyers and the law Artistic backwardness Languages and letters English arts and foreign influences The arts as national institutions English nationalism andthe foreigner English nationalism and the Celt 8. Patriotism Restored, 1757-1770 Pitt's politics Pitt and the Seven Years War The new reign The peace of 1763 Bute, the empire, and the growth of opposition Wilkes, Grenville, and the American colonies Rockingham and the Stamp Act crisis The Chatham ministry The Middlesex election The fall of Grafton 9. New Improvements Turnpikes Canals Urban growth Urban improvement Agricultural improvement Enclosure, engrossing, and rural paternalism Harvest and shortages Price inflation Resisting the pricerise 10. The Birth of Sensibility The sentimental revolution Sentiment and religious reaction Romantic scenery, the Gothic Revival, and Celtic legend The sentimental challenge: moral standards and subversion Sentiment and the new philanthropy Population, finance, and credit Legislativereform and its limitations Children, animals, and popular recreations Travel and exploration Enlightened opinion and non-European peoples 11. Britannia's Distress, 1770-1783 North's ministry North's opponents: Whigs, reformers, and Dissenters India: the Regulating Act The American crisis The American War Volunteers and associators The Gordon Riots The fall of North and the peace Constitutional crisis 12. Macaroni Manners Speculation and bankruptcy Gaming and the State Fashionable diversions Royalty and morality Aristocratic vice Duelling Aristocratic power Aristocratic influence Female accomplishments Cultural crisis 13. Opulence and Glory British arms: success and failure Attitudes to war The experience of war The economic effects of war Population and procreation Finance and taxation Commercial optimism and early industrialization Class and interest Invention Innovation and enterprise The impact of industrialization 14. This Happy Constitution Change and the constitution Balanced government The State Parliamentary supremacy Parliamentary representation A political culture Chronology Bibliography Index "Conventional views of the eighteenth century emphasize its political stability, aristocratic government, stately manners, and Georgian elegance. Professor Langford, however, also brings to life a less orderly world of treasonable plots, rioting mobs, and Hogarthian vulgarity. Using the latest research, and a wealth of original sources, often generously quoted, he tells a highly readable tale of remarkable contrast and changes. Pitt, Fox, and Walpole rub shoulders with Dr. Johnson, Pope, and Fielding. This book shows the vitality and variety of an age often seen in static terms. This was, above all, a period of rapid commercial growth and burgeoning bourgeois pretensions. Many characteristic features of eighteenth-century life were the result. They included military success and imperial expansion, political maturation and economic development, cultural confidence and polite manners. But there were also tensions and contradictions. Evangelical enthusiasm jostled with scientific rationalism, oligarchical politics with popular insubordination, entrepreneurial opulence with plebeian poverty, sentimentality with utilitarian reform. Professor Langford examines all these features and explains the way they relate to each other. He demonstrates that this was a society constantly being stretched by change, and perpetually responding to its challenge."--Jacket In this, the most authoritative, comprehensive general history of England between the accession of George II and the loss of America, Paul Langford merges conflicting images of the 18th century into a coherent picture to reveal the true character of the age. Conventional views of the 18th century emphasize its political stability, aristocratic government, stately manners, and Georgian elegance. However Langford reveals another aspect of the times--a less orderly world of treasonous plots, rioting mobs, and Hogarthian vulgarity. Using the latest research and a wealth of techniques culled from a variety of disciplines, he tells an absorbing tale of remarkable contrasts and changes. Pitt, Fox, and Walpole rub shoulders with Dr. Johnson, Pope, and Fielding. An age often seen in static terms is brought to life with all its contradictions and tensions revealed. -- PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION Drawing on up-to-date research, this first volume in The New Oxford History of England is the most authoritative and comprehensive general history of England between the accession of George II and the loss of the American colonies. Delving beneath the surface serenity of the age of elegance, Paul Langford reveals a world of simmering discontent in which evangelical enthusiasm clashed with scientific rationalism, aristocratic government with popular insubordination, industrial and imperial expansion with plebian poverty, and sentimentality with utilitarian reform.