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BRITAIN, IRELAND, the U.S. and the WAR of 1812 (1 of 2)

British Reforms and Rebellion in Ireland

When revolution broke out in France in 1779, many in Britain saw anything that weakened France as good for their country, and there was expectation and then acceptance that France's monarch would be reduced in his powers. When France's National Assembly proclaimed the Rights of Man and Citizen in 1779, some in Britain who were looking forward to reforms in their own country were pleased. In towns through much of Britain a few people formed what they called the Society for Constitutional Information, and they called one another "citizen." And some blue-collar workers formed what they called the London Corresponding Society. Members of Parliament in these times were elected by only a small fraction of the population, and these admirers of the revolution in France desired wider representation in parliament.

After the French Revolution executed Louis XVI and Britain joined others in a war against France, opposition to the French Revolution grew, and the conservative notion spread that wider representation in parliament meant giving more voice to the irrational mob. Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger turned against the pro-French reformers. Spies for the government reported on the activities of reformist groups. One of those arrested was the Scottish reformer, Thomas Muir, who was convicted of sedition and sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment. Those few who resisted the government by taking up arms were sentenced to death, hanged, drawn and quartered.

In 1794, Pitt suspended habeas corpus, making it possible to detain prisoners without trial. Nevertheless, dissenters gathered at protest rallies. Hunger in 1795 had risen in much of Europe, including Britain, where bread riots occurred and crowds shouted not only for peace but "Down with Pitt" and down with the king, George III. The crackdown against dissent continued. In 1795, parliament passed a law against meetings of more than 40 people. In 1797, sailors at anchorages at Spithead and Nore in England took over their ships and put their officers ashore. [note]  The sailors wanted better pay, better living conditions and removal of some of their officers. The mutineers passed a resolution among themselves to hand over the fleet to the French -- the only country they claimed understood the Rights of Man. The government's response was both to improve the conditions that had helped create the rebellion and to crackdown. The most outstanding ringleader, Richard Parker, was hanged, with representations of sailors from every ship sent to witness the execution as a show of what became of mutineers.

Rebellion in Ireland

Ireland was still under the rule of the King of England, and Ireland was obliged to send men into Britain's armed forces. The Irish were also forced to pay tithes to the Church of England, despite most of the Irish being Roman Catholic. In the city of Dublin, Ireland had its own parliament for making laws that applied to Ireland, but, like parliament in London, it was elected by only a small percent of the population, and Catholics were not permitted as deputies -- or to hold any other public office. Nor could Catholics study at any university. The parliament in Dublin was dominated by a few wealthy Protestant landowners, and only those laws were passed that were in their interest and the interest of English rule.

Not all Protestants in Ireland were obedient servants to England's domination of Ireland. The French Revolution encouraged a group of radical Protestants called the United Irishmen, in the north of Ireland. They looked forward to arms and troops from France helping them create a republic truly independent from England.

Among Ireland's Catholics were likeminded people -- despite the Catholic Church's opposition to the French Revolution. Pitt's government believed it had to crush these movements. Bribery was used in getting parliament in Dublin to vote itself out of existence, and, with the Act of Union of 1801, parliament in London became the government also for Ireland. This was done under the impression that the rule in Ireland of King George III was being reformed. When the Irish discovered that all that was happening was a greater domination by the English, many rebelled. The British crushed the rebellion in 1803, by military force, but unrest among the Irish would remain in Ireland through the rest of the 1800s.