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The United Scotsmen was set up under the influence of Irish immigrants. Although a national committee was established in Glasgow, it would appear that the organisation’s core strength lay in Dundee, Perth and the adjacent counties of Perthshire, Forfarshire and Fife. A number of affiliated local bodies were discovered by government agents. For instance, in 1797, in Cupar, Fife, ten men, including a schoolmaster, were arrested on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government; there were other arrests of this kind in Dundee and Dunfermline. In spite of the trials of 1797 to 1798, the United Scotsmen continued its clandestine activities, but at no time was there an armed revolt. Like all underground organisations, it failed to attract widespread support. It finally disbanded in 1802.
Nothing had been achieved. The political system was still undemocratic. Was this due to the power and resolve of the state, or was it due to the ineptitude of the reform movement itself?
Ideologically, the radicals were convinced of the ‘right to resist power when abused’. In 1792, radicals proclaimed the people’s natural and inalienable right of resistance to oppression and of a share in the government of the country. But in the 1790s, no one ever clarified what constituted the proper mode of resistance. Crucially, resistance was never anything more than theoretical, unless you include the activities of the United Scotsmen or its brother organisation, the United Englishmen. But there were missed opportunities to politicise the masses. In 1795, the bad harvests and the massive rise in prices of foodstuffs generated widespread discontent, but that was never cha
Similarly, the Militia Riots of 1797 against conscription saw riots break out all over Scotland. Mobs forced local authorities to destroy conscription rolls and to sign pledges agreeing not to implement the act. The unrest was obviously political in origin, yet there was no attempt to lead it in the direction of reform. The riots were condemned by the Scottish Society of Friends of the People and the London radicals, as were the naval mutinies at Spithead and the Nore in 1797.
The radicals also seemed incapable of framing a political rhetoric that could mobilise mass support for the cause of reform. Their appeal seemed to resonate most strongly with small masters and artisans and dissident middle-class professionals. They failed to recognise the material concerns of the labouring poor. In short, they failed to use the opportunities provided by economic grievances to link them with the political struggle for the vote. Indeed, if a popular consciousness existed at all, it was to be found in the Loyalist Associations in Scotland and the Church-and-King Mobs in England. War against France seemed to be the rallying cry for men across all social classes. This patriotism was intensified by invasion scares and the propaganda of the state. As William Wilberforce said, there were ‘Twenty Kings men to one Jacobin’.
It’s wrong to think of the 1790s as a complete failure: it was a begi
Popular protest: A riot for every occasion
People at this time didn’t always join political organisations to make their unhappiness known to the authorities. In fact, much of the protest at this time was spontaneous and unorganised. There were various types of riots at this time, but the main ones were as follows:
Food riot:
This was the most common form of riot. It took place when people felt that grain prices were too high, or when in times of hunger merchants were hoarding or exporting grain to other places. The mob took possession of the grain, gave the offending merchant a kicking and then sold it at what they considered a fair price.
King’s birthday riot:
Although designed to increase support for the Hanoverians among the common people, the celebration of the king’s birthday had the opposite effect. Drunken crowds used the occasion to make fun of their betters, create mayhem and smash up the town. In Edinburgh, on 4 June 1792, the city centre was occupied by rioters for three days before soldiers brought it to an end by shooting dead six of the rioters. Three years later, a crowd of several hundred stoned the lord advocate’s house. These scenes were repeated a
Militia riot:
Under the Militia Act of 1797, all able-bodied men between the ages of 19 and 23 were liable to be chosen by ballot to serve in the militia unless they found and could pay for a substitute. Special exemptions were available to
peers
(members of the House of Lords), clergy, teachers and those over 45 years old. The act was hugely unpopular because it was seen to favour the wealthy. Militia rolls compiled by local teachers were burned. In Tranent, near Edinburgh, rioting townspeople were indiscriminately cut down by troops. The body count ranged from around a dozen to 20 or more men, women and children dead, and more wounded.
These kinds of riots were principally engaged in by working people who were driven by hunger or other pressures from the growing commercial and industrial economy into defending their ‘rights’. But even in rural areas, where conflict was more easily contained by the landlords and the law, protest developed an underground aspect, as sabotage and acts of defiance such as stealing wood, pulling down dykes, poaching and sheep stealing took place under the cover of darkness.
If we take these protests with the radical political activity, it would appear that there were a lot people unhappy in Britain at the time, and they were prepared to let the authorities know about it. We were witnessing the birth of a new political awakening, as the middle and working classes began pushing for a share of political power. Things could not remain the same, or could they?
Radicalism Reborn
The defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 not only gave ABBA a title for a hit song, but also brought an end to the French wars, which had been going on for more than 20 years (in fact, maybe since 1763). But peace proved a curse rather than a blessing. The economic depression that followed the end of the hostilities brought mass unemployment, as thousands of demobilised soldiers and sailors joined the ranks of the unemployed. The discontent and disillusionment of the population provided the backdrop to the re-emergence of Radical activity.
But there were significant differences between this period and the 1790s:
Ideology:
Instead of the rights of man, the Radical attack was now directed toward corruption and the unrepresentativeness of Parliament.
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere in which the Radical agitation took place was also significantly different. In the 1790s, the British people were governed by a combination of force and deference, supplemented by the gallows, paternalism and patriotism. In 1816, the British people were held down by naked force as all the old restraints broke down.
Location:
Radicalism also relocated itself. Although London was still important, the north of England and the Celtic fringe became more important as places of action.
Agitation
The Hampden Clubs (named after 17th-century politician John Hampden) under the leadership of Major Cartwright were one of the early frontru
But from the start, it was obvious that there was no cohesive national movement. Instead, there were leading personalities, such as Cartwright, William Cobbett and Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt. The authorities were naturally worried over the rising tide of agitation. Again,
habeas corpus
was suspended and a new law against seditious societies was introduced.
The crackdown provoked various insurrectionary groups into action. In March 1817, the Blanketeers (so-called because of the blankets they carried on their backs) pla
In the depression of 1819, the radical societies moved from indoor discussions to mass open-air meetings. It was at one of these meetings that one of the most symbolic events in the history of radicalism in Britain took place. On 16 August 1819, at St Peter’s Field, Manchester, a crowd of 60,000 men, women and children gathered to hear Orator Hunt. The Manchester magistrates decided that the meeting was insurrectionary and ordered the arrest of Hunt, an event that provoked a panic. The gathered crowd was literally slaughtered by the Yeomanry and the Hussars in what was known as the Peterloo Massacre (a play on Waterloo). Within 10 to 15 minutes, 11 people had been killed and 400 injured; of those wounds inflicted, 161 were by sabres and more than 100 of the casualties were women or girls.
Revolution in the air (again)
In the short term, Peterloo generated a great deal of anger and indignation; 18,000 Paisley inhabitants protested against the ‘inhuman butchers of Manchester’. It radicalised people, even in areas noted for loyalist sympathies. It also shifted attention back to armed struggle. During October and November 1819, the Home Office began receiving reports of arming and drilling in Newcastle, Wigan, Bolton and Blackburn. What was even more alarming was the news that ultra-radical societies in Manchester and Glasgow were pla
A series of acts designed to forestall further agitation were passed quickly by the legislature. The most important of the so-called ‘Six Acts’ was the ba
In both locations, two spectacular events designed to overthrow the government took place in 1820: the Cato Street conspiracy and the Radical War.
Arthur Thistlewood and his fellow conspirators pla