What was the impact of the French
Revolution on British society?
www.theeducationforum.co.uk
Initial Reaction from Political Leaders
 The early French Revolution appeared to stand for constitutional
monarchy and a few extended rights. Many in Britain therefore
offered it cautious approval
 The Whig leader Fox declared; ‘ How much the greatest event it
is that ever happened in the world’ as it seemed to chime with
Whig beliefs
 Pitt offered a more cautious welcome as he didn’t want to see
anything that would disrupt his improved relations and trade
agreements with France
 One member of the elite, Edmund Burke, was fiercely opposed to
the Revolution from the outset
‘I already heard the fall of civilisation in the falling stones of
the Bastille’
Early Reaction Outside Parliament
 One group who actively and enthusiastically welcomed the
French revolution was the Protestant Dissenters led by
Dr Price a Methodist minister
 The French Revolutionaries had issued the ‘Declaration of
the Rights of Man’ in 1789 calling for religious freedom,
tolerance and equality. This naturally appealed to minority
religious groups in Britain like the Dissenters who did not
yet have equal rights
 Dr Price made a series of stirring sermons in favour of the
revolution and ‘natural rights’ which were soon published
and widely distributed.
Response to Price
 The response to price came very quickly from Edmund
Burke who was horrified by Price’s sermons and the fact
that they were winning support from some of the educated
poor.
 Burke published his ‘Reflections on the Revolution in
France’ in 1790 predicting that revolution could only results
in anarchy, violence, war and dictatorship (quite prophetic)
Burke’s Arguments
 Burke rejected the French revolutionary idea of freedoms arguing that real
freedoms are handed down to us by previous generations and that it is our duty
to pass them on to the next without destroying them
 Burke identified British freedoms to be, an inheritable crown, an inheritable
peerage, and a Commons and voting system which though illogical had
‘evolved’ to best suit the needs of the people.
 Burke argued that people had no right to ‘unmake’ systems of government
which had taken generations to perfect
 Burke predicted that any attempt to break the line of inheritance from the past
would result in barbarism, violence, an attack on religion anarchy, war and
dictatorship;
‘In the absence of authority some popular general shall draw the eyes of all
unto himself and become master of assembly, king and Republic’
Burke’s ideas became the cornerstone of much Conservative thinking from this
point on.
Tom Paine
 Tom Paine offered a radical response to Burke. In his ‘The
Rights of Man’ published in 2 volumes 1790 and 1792
 Tom Paine spread the appeal of revolutionary ideas to
ordinary working men.
 He was an English Quaker who had emigrated and actively
fought on the American side in the American War of
independence. On his return to Britain he had become well
connected in Whig circles.
Paine’s Ideas
 Each generation can either accept or reject the ideas and systems
they inherit from the past, and the French had a right to revolt.
 People have natural unalienable rights whether they have
been able to secure them are not – life, liberty, and estate
 The best system to ensure peoples natural rights is democracy
 Britain should abolish the monarch, the peerage and set up as a
democratic republic
 Britain should ally with France, reduce spending on armed forces
and instead spend money on free elementary education for all, and
benefits and pensions.
 Progressive taxation should be set up
200,000 copies of Paine’s books were sold and his ideas widely read
and disseminated.
How Britain Divided
 Vested interests like the aristocracy and wealthier classes
gravitated around burke’s ideas and enthusiastically asserted their
wisdom when the Reign of Terror began in France and Napoleon I
emerged.
 Landowners and the privileged would also whip up lower class
hostility against dissenters and radicals in the name of patriotism
 Dissenters and educated radical working men – especially the
skilled crafts tended to support Paine’s ideas
In July 1791 there were 2 days of riots in Birmingham during which
dissenters homes and chapels were attacked by an angry mob.
Eventually order was restored with minimal compensation offered
to dissenters who had been attacked
How Did Pitt React to Paine?
 In 1792 Pitt banned all Paine’s books and decided to
prosecute him for ‘scandalous, malicious and seditious libel
against the King and the Lords’
 Before he could be arrested Paine escaped to France where
he became a member of the national assembly. Only later to
be arrested and imprisoned for speaking out passionately
against the executions of Nobility and the King.
Radicals in Britain
 With Paine in France Thomas Hardy (a London
shoemaker) became the de facto leader of the democratic
radicals. He set up the Corresponding Society in 1792 –
a working class political club with 2 main aims
1. Universal suffrage (a vote for every man)
2. Annual parliaments (an election every year)
A more moderate political club was set up by a young Whig
Charles Grey called ‘The Friends of the People’
which called for moderate political reform. Charles Grey
was later to become Whig PM in 1830
The Revolution and Public Opinion
 Britain became very divided on this issue. Many early riots for instance
in Birmingham and Manchester in 1792 were actually against
revolutionary ideas.
 However as hardship struck with war, high food prices and poor harvest
radical ideas became more attractive to the urban poor
 In 1795 the King’s carriage was attacked by a mob on its way to
parliament
 In 1797 a significant minority of the Navy mutinied against their officers
 In 1797 the French tried to invade England only to be driven off
 In 1798 the Irish revolted against Pitt’s Act of Union with French
support and arms
Some social historians such as E.P Thompson have suggested that Britain
was close to revolution itself in these years
How Did Pitt Respond?
 1792 – all ‘seditious’ writings banned and a spy network set up to
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investigate radical groups of workers
Habeas Corpus suspended 1794-5 and then again 1798-1801,
meaning anyone could be arrested without charge indefinitely
1795 ‘The Two Acts’ passed in response to the attack on the
King’s carriage. The Seditious Meetings Act banned all
political meetings demanding change, and the Treasonable
Practises Act redefined the crime of treason to include all kinds
of political opposition
1798 – The Defence of the Realm Act – created a network of
part time volunteer militia to protect the country in the event of
invasion – around 120,000 of them
1799 – The Combination Acts – banned all trade unions and
swearing of illegal oaths