government and ireland

opposition leader 1784

dominated by fox, his support of french revolution initially gained him support/upper hand

issues with fox politics

Never reflected on the shift in public and political favour towards Pitt and his government, Fox was too focused on royal power and the idea that the reason Pitt was in power was still because of George

issues with fox monarchy

remained fixated on monarchical power and did not develop ways to appeal to members of the House of Commons, so looked to Prince George for support however the prince was unpopular due to him being indulgent, selfish, and not truthful eg marrying a catholic but not telling fox and fox declaring in parliament that it wasn’t true

whig support of french revolution

Foxites were enthusiastic about the revolution in France due to the establishment of religious toleration, the declaration of the Rights of Man and the setting up of a parliament. They thought the French were going in a direction of reform which would provide a promising example for the British. Richard Price delivered sermon in support

price sermon on french revolution

November 1789, praised the French Revolution, said that the Great Revolution of 1689 had showed how the people had a right to discard a monarch, and the French Revolution 100 years later was exercising this right and the British should follow. The sermon was publicised and widely praised amongst radical circles

whig opposition to price

edmunde burke criticised it in his ‘Reflections on the Revolution in France’ 1790

burke opposition to price and fr

glorious revolution was a moderate affair which made only the minimum possible amount of changes in order to secure the traditions of the British constitution, so should not be compared to the French Revolution.

·        Successful reform is built on inherited traditions. The customs and laws of society had evolved over centuries and embodied the wisdom of generations, so should not be replaced by abstract philosophies of human rights.

·        The French revolution represented a threat to the established states of Europe due to its philosophy of atheism and radicalism and practice of violence. It was a threat to the British tradition of a constitutional monarchy.

burke and whigs 1791

Burke publicly split from the Whigs in may 1791 during a debate over Pitt’s Canada Bill

why burke split from whigs

critical of Fox’s efforts to push for the regency of Prince George during the King’s illness of 1788 as Burke did not like the prince’s lifestyle, was not liked or respected by Fox’s younger followers as they thought he was prone to errors of judgment eg being chiefly responsible for the India Bill which brought down fox and north in 1783, opposed the French Revolution from the beginning while Fox was broadly sympathetic and younger whigs embraced it more openly as a lever for reform in Britain. Burke wanted British politicians to rally around Pitt during the threat of radicalism.

impact of burke leaving whigs

places pressure on moderate whigs to follow him

1792 whig splits begin

in 1792 events in France become more extreme and radicalism growing in Britain. Great Whig landowners like Portland and Devonshire increasingly worried about threats from radical groups such as Sheffield Society for Constitutional Information. Pitt sees this as a chance to draw moderate Whigs away from Fox so invites leading Whigs to join the government include chancellorship to the lord of Loughborough. If they accepted he would strengthen his gov, if it failed he could expose the whigs as people who put party loyalty before loyalty to the country. Fox and other moderate whigs refuse to join Pitt.

1793 - 94 whig splits

1793 Pitt offers Loughborough the Chancellorship again and he accepts, 1794 the Portland Whigs join the government

end of the whigs

by 1794 Foxite whigs were reduced from 180 MPs to 55, those remaining seats were mainly socialites, gamblers and friends of Fox.

ireland under britain

In 1783 Ireland was a separate kingdom under the British Crown, was ruled in the interests of and dominated by Britain

irish trade under britain

Irish trade was regulated and its trade duties were fixed at a lower rate than the duties on Irish goods entering Britain as British producers feared competition from cheap Irish labour

irish religion under britain

Although the great majority of Irish people were catholic, the official church was the Church of England. It owned large amounts of land and all peasants had to paya tithe or tax to support the church.

irish land under britain

The land of Ireland was mainly in the hands of Anglo-Irish landowners, many of whom were members of the British aristocracy.

irish gov under britain

The King appointed the executive governor of Ireland who would staff the government of Ireland with protestant men who were loyal to Britain.

irish parliament under britain

had its own separate parliament based in Dublin which had legislative authority from the British parliament and the Irish house of lords had the final say on Irish legislation. However only protestants could vote and sit in parliament and a third of the MPs received payments from the British controlled executive so it was basically controlled by the government and Anglo-Irish elite

catholic peasant resistance

by peasants known as whiteboys, tactics consisted of rural terrorism and would burn barns and crops, attack cattle and carry out violence on anyone taking over a farm from an evicted peasant

reason of increase in whiteboy violence

The population of Ireland was growing rapidly, between 1781 and 1801 Ireland’s population grew by 29% compared to British growth of 13%. This meant landholdings were subdivided and became even smaller, and industry failed to make significant headway

protestant elite resistant

minority of Irish protestants associated with Ireland rather than Britain and wanted to gain concessions for Ireland, politically and economically

growth in radical reform in irealand

french revolution inspired growth of calls for radical reform in ireland, belfast society of united irishmen and defender movement established in 1791

belfast society of united irishmen

favoured national union of all Irishmen both protestant and catholic. They wanted to bring together the middle class and poor rural majority. They wanted radical political reform on the French model to end the power of the British crown in Ireland which included universal suffrage.

defender movement

established by Catholics to fight back against violence from Protestant vigilantes who would attack Catholic farmers and workers in opposition to the growing power of Catholics.

british fears regarding ireland in french war 1793

risk of ireland allying with france and being an invasion route into england

reforms to avoid ireland allying with french

1792 restrictions on catholic access to education and the law were lifted,

1793 catholic relief bill allowed catholics to vote on the same terms as protestants, serve in the army and enter government.

limits of reforms to avoid irish-french allegiance

reforms hardly affected the protestant ascendancy in Ireland or the extent of British power, criticised by the United Irishmen for being far short of the reforms they wanted to see, Catholics still not allowed to be MPS, so even though could vote wasn’t much use to make own reforms.

state of ireland in 1795

rapidly headed towards armed conflict. Protestants organised themselves into the Orange Order and threats were made towards Catholic farmers in Armagh leading to thousands fleeing. The United Irishmen formed themselves into a military organisation in response. Wolfe Tone was sent to France to gather support for a French invasion

how pitt supressed the rising tensions

Militia act 1793, Formation of a protestant yeomanry, Insurrection act of 1796 made oath-taking criminal offence and increased power of magistrates to search form arms, Habeas corpus suspended.

1798 uprising

attempt by united irishmen, unite all irish irrespective of religion and rise up against british, failed

why 1798 uprising failed

most Irish did view the world in religious terms and Catholics could not ignore protestant oppression. Religious violence and hatred led to the message of Irish unity being lost, The government was aware of rebellion plans due to its network of informers. The leader of the rebel forces in the south Lord Edward Fitzgerald was killed in 1798. Deprived of a leader, the uprisings which did occur were small and isolated.

The French were not in a position to supply the men needed.

impact of 1798 uprising

pitt realised an unsettled Ireland was a standing threat to Britain, Ireland would not be stable and loyal so long as it continued to be run under an Irish parliament dominated by Protestant landowners, the Irish government could not sustain itself without British support as it was militarily weak and basically bankrupt, solution was to incorporate Ireland fully into Great Britain.

how pitt won support in ireland for union

Winning support among core interest groups - Linen trade was assured that joining Britain would give it access to much bigger markets while some protection would continue to be allowed to Irish producers. Landlords were reminded of the threats they faced from rural unrests. Catholic emancipation would occur so the Catholic Church was to be an established Church and Catholics would be able to sit in the British parliament.

how pitt won support in parliament for union

Defeat opposition in parliament. Those opposing the union were paid to withdraw from parliament and 20% of MPs did so. £30,000 in secret service money was used in bribes. Those supporting the union were rewarded with peerages and 40 new peers were granted in 1799.

union with ireland

in 1800 the Irish parliament approved the union, and proclaimed in January 1801

terms of union with ireland

100 Irish MPs to sit in house of commons, 32 Irish peers enter the house of lords, Church of Ireland now united with the church of England, Ireland was to contribute 12% to the British tax revenue.

limits of union with ireland economic

By taking a share of the British revenue and debt Ireland was burdened as the cost of war with France grew, The land remained in the hands of an alien protestant minority and rural unrest and outrages continued.

limits of union with ireland religious

The catholic church was not recognised as an established church of Ireland. Only the church of England remained the official church in Ireland even though only about 12% of the Irish population attended it, and the catholic church remained much poorer than the Anglican church. The hated tithe paid by the irish to the Anglican church remained.

limits of union with ireland political

Despite promises at the time, full catholic emancipation did not occur until 1829. Catholics continued to be barred from sitting in the British parliament.

king reaction to union

Pitt planned to proceed emancipation once the union was settled. However King George III implacably opposed to allowing Catholics to enter government, as King was head of CofE and had sworn an oath to defend it. Pitt therefore attempted to get cabinet support first to pressure the king to giving way. However cabinet itself was divided on the issue and Pitt needed a strong cabinet to pressure the King. Having told cabinet of his plans before telling the king, the king was informed of the plan by Loughborough who thought that he would be breaking his coronation oath in agreeing to the measure. The King not only angry at the measure itself, but at the fact that Pitt was planning it behind his back without consulting him first.

downfall of pitt

Pitt had now lost the support of the King, failed to carry out catholic emancipation to which he felt morally committed and was necessary to completing his Irish policy, was physically weak and depressed from the continual failure of his hopes in the war with France, resigned in February 1801.

why king let pitt leave

no longer needed Pitt now he was safe from Fox’s opposition, resented Pitt’s arrogant and distant manner, and regarded the Catholic question as fundamental and transcending other questions.