Of Radical Design: John Cartwright and the Redesign of the Reform Campaign, c.1800–1811

Abstract

AbstractThis article contends that there was not simply a revival, but a redesign of radicalism during the first decade of the nineteenth century, and that John Cartwright was instrumental in this redirection of reform activity. It argues that this redesign of the reform campaign was a strategic response to the failures of radicalism during the 1790s and, moreover, to changes in high politics after 1801. Against the backdrop of a protracted war and the emergence of a formal Whig opposition, Cartwright, with assistance from other radicals, attempted to create a parliamentary party in support of taxpayer franchise reform and born of a union between metropolitan radicals ‘in doors’, Whig moderate reformers, Foxites and abolitionists. In order to achieve this union, he set aside the popular political campaigning of the 1790s, and instead focused attention on parliamentarians and the select few who might influence parliament. Above all, he highlighted current examples of ministerial dishonesty and mismanagement to generate parliamentary support for a redefined programme of reform, arguing that if corruption were not checked by constitutional reform, then Britain's ability to resist foreign invasion and sustain the war effort would be seriously compromised.