Welcome to UK Essays:

• Home
• Prices
• Order now
• Guarantees
• How this works

About UK Essays:

• About UK Essays
• Helping the Community
• Press
• Custom essays
• FAQs
• Meet us
• Testimonials
• Scam warning
• What's your situation?
• Contact UK Essays
• Request a callback

Our Services:

• Essay writing services
• Dissertation writing services
• LPC writing services
• MBA writing services
• PHD writing services
• Marking services
• Other services

Other Information:

• Get verified
• Search
• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Further information
• Writer jobs
• Recommend a friend

Essay & Dissertation Help:

• Essay help
• Free essays
• Dissertation help
• Free dissertations
• Plagiarism scanner

Free Essays - History Essays

What ideas, influences, and uses of language are present in radical writing the period 1790 - 1848, and how successful was in reshaping the political context?

Introduction

The period between 1790 and 1848 was framed by revolutions. On one side the French and American Revolutions marked the rejection of absolutist rule, whilst on the other side the revolutions of 1848 showed the emergence of new movements such as socialism. There was a vibrant radicalism throughout the period, and this essay will focus on two works, The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine and Enquiry Concerning Political Justice by William Godwin. These two works and their authors were typical of radical writers during the period in their ideas, influences, and style. The essay will examine three important ideas present in the writing, the role of the state, religion, and class. These ideas will be explored both for their content and the language in which they are expressed, their influences examined, as well as assessing how successful they were in affecting the political context.

Role of the State

Paine and Godwin's ideas on the state were influenced both by a tradition of dissent and the French and American Revolutions. The dissenting tradition is emphasised by Thompson, who draws attention to the millenarian groups who emerged in the aftermath of the English Civil War. These groups, such as the Quakers and the Diggers, opposed the interference of the state in their lives, and set up communes away from the rest of society. He also demonstrates the continuity of Paine's critique of the British monarchy. This is seen in Paine's argument that the Norman Conquest represented an end to Anglo-Saxon liberty, a theme that had run through British dissent for centuries. Despite these continuities it was the French and American Revolutions that were the most influential events on the radical writers during the period. Paine and Godwin explored the fractures that both revolutions caused in governments' relations with their subjects. The tradition of dissent and a revolutionary spirit came together to create a vibrant and fierce critique of state power.

Paine and Godwin were united in their loathing of monarchical and aristocratic government. Godwin said that reverence to those who were superior in rank or station was contrary to reason. A government could only ever be justified if it pursued the aim of the general happiness of its citizens. Paine reinforced this by saying that a government could either originate out of the people, through reason, or over it, through conquest. Monarchy derived from the latter and was therefore neither just nor followed reason. Paine's alternative to monarchy was constitutionalism. This would set down the rights of the people and the duties of the state, thereby formalising the social contract. Despite his opposition to revolution, Godwin explicitly says that a government that was not justified did not have to be obeyed. The radicalism in their ideas of the state was therefore both in rejecting the system that governed in most of Europe, and legitimising popular opposition to it.

The state was viewed as an inherently bad thing, which should limited as much as possible. The progress of man was seen to lie in the advancement of reason. As man became less ignorant and more accustomed to reason there would be less need for the state to intervene in the lives of individuals, as they would use reason in all of their decisions and actions. This can be seen when Paine said that 'the more perfect civilization is the less occasion it has for government. However whilst Paine viewed a limited state as a necessary evil, Godwin went further in seeing the advancement of reason as making the state unnecessary. 'Immutable reason is the true legislator' Godwin said, and when every man had developed sufficient reason they could, in effect, become their own legislator. These views on the state shaped politics in differing ways. Godwin's anti-state view was extended by Bakunin to develop into the anarchist school of thought. Socialism challenged the idea of a small state, arguing that it could be a positive force in bringing individuals together in a common good. However the democratic message and refusal to bow to traditional authority continued to be a feature of popular politics, with groups such as the Chartists continuing the ideas of the radical writers.

Religion

One of the features of radical writers in the period was their disdain for organised religion. The chief influences behind these critiques were the Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, but Godwin and Paine went further in their attacks. Whilst neither man was an atheist, and Godwin had even been a religious minister for five years, their criticism was centred on the contribution of religion in public life. They argued that government should derive its principles from liberty rather than religion, and therefore the Church and state should be separate. Religion did not contribute to the greater happiness, and therefore its role was seen to be in the individual rather than public sphere

Reason was seen as the enemy of religion; Godwin and Paine assumed that when everybody became aware of reasoned argument then religion would simply be superfluous. Neither writer totally rejected religion, but O'Flinn shows that they refused to submit to the authority of the written word in the Bible, regarding it as a piece of literature rather than the Word of God. Similarly religious conformity was seen as 'blind submission' by Godwin, for its hindrance to free thinking and rationalism. This belief in the onward march of reason, and with it progress, is typical of radicalism during the period. Their writing is optimistic, both Paine and Godwin see human advancement as inevitable once barriers to reason and free thinking are lifted. Religion was such a barrier, and once its power was stripped away it would be the power of reason that would demonstrate its weaknesses.

The radicals' views on religion did reshape the political context, but not always in the ways that they expected or desired. The arguments of Paine and Godwin were taken to their logical conclusion by the next generation of radicals. Religion was seen as shielding the working class from the squalor of their situation, a view summed up by Marx's comment that religion was 'the opium of the people'. Hobsbawn commented on the 'secular faith of the new labour movement', and the radical writers of the period contributed to this process. In contrast to this though was a backlash to the reason espoused by Paine and Godwin. Non-Conformist Churches became increasingly popular, with Non-Conformist Church attendances rising and new Churches erected across the cities. Reason did not make religion wither away as Godwin so confidently expected, but religion did became the focus for the wrath of much of the radical movement.

Class

The ideas of the radicals were the inspiration for the movements that followed, even though they were not themselves explicitly class-based. By grounding their theories in the rights of man they were showing their belief in the equality of mankind. Godwin demonstrated this when he said 'our senses and faculties are of the same denomination'. Through this reasoning factory workers could see themselves as the equal of aristocrats. In addition to this was the internationalism in radical writing during the period, which continues in radical politics to the present day. Whilst Paine was born in England, he was elected onto the National Assembly in France and regarded Benjamin Franklin and George Washington as friends. This knowledge of life outside Britain radiates throughout his work, and brings to it a sense of solidarity and camaraderie that cut across national boundaries. Neither Paine nor Godwin were socialists but both writers saw the need for social welfare. Paine called for the free education for the poor, pensions, and a progressive taxation system. Thompson describes this link between political and economic demands as 'phenomenal'. The radicals were therefore sowing the seeds for a mass working class movement.

It was not just their ideas but the ways in which they presented them that led to the mass appeal of their work. Most of the radicals did not come from the elite, for example Paine had been a corset-maker, and their style and audience was a reflection of this. The language that they used was intended for a relatively uneducated audience rather than the traditional academic and aristocratic readership that read political philosophy. This often horrified the elite; Horace Walpole commented that Paine's language was 'so course, that you would think he means to degrade the language as much as he does the government'. Their belief that reason could only be victorious over ignorance if people had access to their ideas also made them excellent publicists. Paine refused to take any royalties for The Rights of Man, allowing it to be copied and sold cheaply. This mean that despite the many official attempts to ban the book the readership was huge. The effect was that millions of people became increasingly politically conscious during the period.

Conclusion

Radical writing during the period was characterised by its anti-authoritarian ideas and emphasis on free thinking, which it was assumed would lead to reason. This led to Paine and Godwin's attacks on religion and the state. There was also a linkage between the political and economic in the work of Paine, and more generally a concern for the welfare of the working man. Added to this was an optimistic view of the future, secured by the onward march of reason. Whilst in many ways these ideas followed on from previous generations of thinkers, they were given new energy and vibrancy from the American and French Revolutions. Radical writers were attempting to apply the results of these events to other political systems and situations. The radical writers helped shape the political situation by allowing their ideas to be read and understood by relatively uneducated people, and therefore increasing the political consciousness of the emerging working class. As the consequences of the Industrial Revolution became clear the emerging new radical movements reaped the benefits of this, as well as furthering many of the ideas that had emerged from their work.

Bibliography

Adams I. and Dyson R., Fifty Major Political Thinkers (Routledge, London, 2003)

Boulton J., The Language of Politics in the Age of Wilkes and Burke (Routledge, London, 1963)

Briggs A. and Clavin P., Modern Europe 1789 - 1989 (Longman, London, 1997)

Godwin W., Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (3 vols., University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1946)

Hobsbawn E., The Age of Revolution (Weidenfeld, London, 1962)

Jones C., Radical Sensibility: Literature and Ideas in the 1790s (Routledge, London , 1993)

Jones P., The 1848 Revolutions (Longman, London, 1991)

O'Flinn P., Beware of Reverence: Writing and Radicalism in the 1790s in Lucas J., Writing and Radicalism (Longman, London, 1996)

Paine T., The Rights of Man (Everyman, London, 1994)

Rosen F., Progress and Democracy: William Godwin's Contribution to Political Philosophy (Garland, New York, 1987)

Thompson E., The Making of the English Working Class (Pantheon, New York, 1964)

Websites

http://www3.baylor.edu/~Scott_Moore/texts/ (Accessed 2 August 2005)

All of the essays in the "Free Essays" section were written by students and then submitted to us to display and help others. Thanks to all the students who have submitted their essays to us. You should not hand in our essays as your own. We do not condone plagiarism!