Romanticism, Realism and Revolution

In 1698, there was a point where instead of the British Empire, we had the Scottish Empire instead. At a cost of 1/5 of their total wealth, Scots went across the ocean to set up a colony called “New Caledonia” with disastrous consequences – the area was a malarial swamp and many of its inhabitants died. Scotland became essentially bankrupt, making it easy for England to bribe them into signing the Act of Union in 1707.

1746 saw the Jacobite rebellion, ending in the defect of Prince Charles Stuart at Culloden which ultimately established the United Kingdom.

Ireland signed their Act of Union in 1801.

1799 - The government created income tax as a “temporary measure” to pay for the expensive Napoleonic War

In around 1805, British naval power is absolute and blockades French ports, allowing British exports to boom. With Europe at war, Britain is able to build its empire without resistance and creates a monopoly trade with South America – unfortunately this results in the enslavement of millions of Africans in the Transatlantic Triangular Trade.

The end of the war resulted in the end of Britain’s boom and the beginning of widespread unemployment and a dramatic fall in wages. This led to the Corn Laws which were enforced between 1815 and 1846. These laws imposed a tariff on imported grains in an attempt to make British grown produce both profitable and the most affordable to buy and save the British Farming Industry. Industrialists of the time were against the Corn Laws as it meant they had to keep wages higher in order for their workers to be able to afford bread to eat; by repealing the laws, they would be able to pay them far less for the same amount of work as they would still be able to feed themselves.

The ending of the Corn Laws in conjunction with the Enclosures Act forced farmers to move to the cities to make room for more efficient, industrialised farming. For the factory owners at this time, this allowed them to make wages incredibly low due to the affordability of bread and the amount of competition to secure employment but the towns and cities were dire slums and had little or no political representation in Parliament. This created pressure for political reform and after an initially fairly brutal political reaction, the government created the 1832 Reform Act.

The 1834 Poor Laws led to the creation of workhouses which were on the utilitarian belief that people aim to live with as much pleasure and little pain as possible. The solution to unemployment needed to be worse than being employed in the factories as otherwise no-one would work due to the awful conditions.

William Cobbett was a Romantic. Romanticism formed a new moral system based on manners, aesthetic motive and the importance of taste. It rejected the Enlightenment and supported organised religion and nationalism. It also led to anti-Semitism; in rejecting the Enlightenment, they also rejected the religious tolerance that came with it. This was further fuelled by pseudo-scientific theories of race and racial inferiority of the time. This is seen in Cobbett’s rural rides when he writes:

“I could not help calculating how long it might be before some Jew would begin to fix his eye upon Highclere, and talk of putting out the present owner.”

Romanticism in England was, essentially, paused during the Napoleonic War for some reason that I personally cannot quite understand. However, this made way for the industrial revolution which romantics were against as it destroyed the beauty of towns and the countryside. After the war finished, Romanticism began to be popular again.

Cobbett set out to ‘tour’ the countryside and document the effects of the Industrial Revolution on farmers in his book titled “Rural Rides”. This is an empirical way of gathering information as it is derived from sensory data and experience rather than thought and logic.

Realism also becomes popular in light of the Industrial Revolution; Charles Dickens in his novels depicts ordinary people in ordinary settings in a way that is both frank and honest and was inspired by the squalor, neglect and abandonment he saw around him. In this respect, it could also be argued that Cobbett is also a realist.