Reactions to the French Revolution I
This seminar will consider radical responses to the French Revolution. In addition to the texts below you should search Eighteenth-century Collections Online for relevant material on the radical response to the French Revolution. For images see the British Museums Collection of Prints and Drawings.
Key Texts
- Gregory Claeys, Political writings of the 1790s : French Revolution debate in Britain and The French Revolution Debate in Britain
- Robert M. Maniquis, 'British radical culture of the 1790s', Huntington Library Quarterly, 63 (2000) [Special issue]
- Gary Kelly, Women, writing, and revolution 1790-1827
- Robert Poole, 'French Revolution or Peasants' Revolt? : petitioners and rebels in England from the Blanketeers to the Chartists', Labour History Review, 74 (2009)
Sources
- Thomas Paine, Rights of Man
- Mary Wollstoncraft, Vindication of the Rights of Men
- The debate on the French Revolution (including work by Price, Godwin, Macaulay, Mackintosh)
- Trial of Mr Thomas Hardy for High Treason (ECCO)
Questions
- How did Paine and Wollstonecraft differ in their interpretation of rights and citizenship?
- Is there anything 'new' about radicalism during the French Revolution?
- How popular was radicalism during the French revolution?
- Who were the key activists and what were their strategies?