Defining A British State: Treason and National Identity, 1608-1820 (Studies in Modern History)

Annotation This book explores the formation of the British state and national identity from 1603-1832 by examining the definitions of sovereignty and allegiance presented in treason trials. The king remained central to national identity and the state until Republican challenges forced prosecutors in treason trials to innovate and redefine sovereign authority. Although jurors resisted the change, by the 1790s parliament and prosecutors accepted that treason law protected all Britons and the general safety of the state. Cover 1 Contents 8 Author’s note and acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 1 Treason, allegiance and sovereignty in England, 1608–88 20 The law of treason from 1352 to 1640: an overview 21 Calvin's Case: a debate concerning allegiance 29 Sovereignty, allegiance and treason in the 1640s 35 Sovereignty, allegiance and treason in the Interregnum 48 Sovereignty, allegiance and treason under the Restoration 55 Conclusion 57 2 Dynastic treason: national identity after the Glorious Revolution 59 The 1696 Treason Act 61 Bills of Attainder: Sir John Fenwick and James Francis Edward 70 Conclusion 78 3 A British law of treason, 1709–83 80 Creating a British law of treason 81 Applying the British law of treason 86 Interpreting the British law of treason 95 The American Colonists: traitors or not? 104 Conclusion 108 4 Republican treason and national identity in the 1790s 110 The French influence 111 The Edinburgh trials 114 The London trials 117 Authority secured in law: the Treason and Sedition Acts 127 Irish republican treason 134 Conclusion 148 5 The 'General Safety of the State': Treason from 1816 to 1820 151 The idea of 'treason against the king' during a regency 152 The Spa Fields riot and the Pentridge rebellion 156 The Cato Street conspiracy of 1820 161 Conclusion 166 Conclusion 169 Notes 174 Bibliography 219 Index 252 A 252 B 252 C 252 D 253 E 253 F 253 G 253 H 253 I 254 J 254 K 254 L 254 M 254 N 254 O 254 P 255 Q 255 R 255 S 255 T 255 U 256 W 256 Y 256 "Using numerous published and unpublished travel journals by middle-class men and women from England, Scotland and Wales who toured the Continent and Britain, this book explores the variety of national identities existing in Victorian Britain. Unlike most scholars who focus on a single national identity in Britain, Morgan's study reveals the subtle way that national identity shifted depending on context, particularly geographic context. In so doing, the book also highlights the specific qualities middle-class victorians had in mind when they used such terms as British, English, Scots and Welsh to identify themselves collectively." "Morgan's book has wide-ranging appeal because it integrates two subject areas of interest to scholars across disciplines - travel and national identity. Furthermore, the book's accessible style and extensive use of the amusing, telling anecdote make it attractive to the non-scholarly reading public as well. In particular, Morgan's work is significant for anyone grappling with geopolitical changes in our time. In that the book analyses multiple national identities in a single state, it illuminates the sort of collective imagining likely to take place among Europeans in a more united Europe and enhances our understanding of why some states are successful at incorporating multiple national identities and others are not."--Jacket Explores the formation of the British state and national identity from 1603-1820 by examining the definitions of sovereignty and allegiance presented in treason trials. The king's person remained central to national identity and the state until republican challenges forced prosecutors in treason trials to innovate and redefine sovereign authority. Defining a British State explores the formation of the British state and national identity from 1603 through 1820 by examining the definitions of sovereignty and allegiance presented in treason trials. The king's person remained central to national identity and the state until republican challenges forced prosecutors in treason trials to innovate and redefine sovereign authority. Although jurors resisted the change, by the 1790s parliament and prosecutors accepted that treason law protected all Britons and 'the general safety of the state' "In Defining a British State, Lisa Steffen has given us both a valuable insight into the law of high treason and its use in Stuart and Hanoverian England, and a thought-provoking discussion of the meanings behind the doctrine. She shows how a medieval English law designed to maintain the personal bond of allegiance to the sovereign was flexible enough to be used against Scots professing continued allegiance to their de jure king, in order to secure the Hanoverian succession against Jacobite attacks, but proved harder to use when the government sought to convict enemies of the state whose target was not the king. Her discussion is an important one, for both legal and political historians, and makes a useful contribution to the ongoing debate about the nature of the state in the eighteenth century."--Michael Lobban, Brunel University This examination of the Whig theory of resistance that emerged from the revolution of 1688 in England presents an important challenge to the received opinion of Whig thought as confused and as inferior to the revolutionary principles set forth by John Locke.; While a wealth of Whig literature is analyzed, Julia Rudolph focuses upon the work of James Tyrrell, presenting a full-length study of this seminal Whig theorist, and friend and colleague of John Locke. This book provides a compelling argument for the importance of Whig political thought for the history of liberalism. Political and social upheavals astonished and perplexed the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish from 1603 when the Tudor royal scepter passed to a Scottish Stuart, through to 1689 when a Protestant Dutch prince claimed victory over the departed papist James II. Lisa Steffen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 208-240) And Index.