The ideological origins of the American Revolution: 'Potential rather than actual oppression produc
The ideological origins of the American Revolution: 'Potential rather than actual oppression produc The ideological origins of the American Revolution: 'Potential rather than actual oppression produced a revolutionary crisis.'
What was the extent of political participation in eighteenth-century England?
What was the extent of political participation in eighteenth-century England? In his book The Politics of the People in Eighteenth-Century Britain, H.T. Dickinson asserts that politics was, for the majority of people in the eighteenth century, experienced at a local level rather than at Westminster.1 This essay will argue that the extent of political participation in England at this time was great. As people from all social strata are affected by politics in their daily lives, they therefore have not only the opportunity but also the desire to be politically active. This could take the form of formal political participation, i.e. voting in elections, or, (for the many to whom this route was closed on account of social status or gender) informal participation. This latter can further be divided into categories. People could participate in crowd politics; demonstrating or rioting en masse to air their grievances, or, only a recent development in our period, people could be politically active through the printed word, or by joining clubs and societies. It has also been shown that women could participate much more than expected in the traditionally masculine domain of politics. Political participation in the early eighteenth century could only increase with the growth of the electorate to which this period was witness. In the counties, this increase can be explained by
