Property, Patriotism and Independence: The Figure of the ‘Freeholder’ in Eighteenth‐Century Partisan Print

Abstract

AbstractThis article accounts for the changing usage of the term ‘freeholder’ across a series of political battles fought throughout the eighteenth century, tracking its implementation in both cheap and privileged print from the end of Queen Anne's reign to the dawn of the America Revolution. Analysis of the term offers an insightful perspective on the epistemic reconfigurations of the associative links between property, patriotism, partisanship and public responsibility throughout the eighteenth century. Considering ballads, pamphlets and periodicals produced by Whigs, Tories and the opposition, this article focuses particularly on the writing of Joseph Addison, Francis Atterbury and Henry St John.