412 Ch. 1 1 • Dynastic Rivalries and Politics
the government. In a parallel struggle on the other side of the Atlantic
Ocean, the American colonists of Britain’s thirteen colonies demanded “no
taxation without representation,” and then, when rebuffed, these “Patri
ots” rebelled against British rule in the War of American Independence.
Elsewhere, similar reform movements on the European continent sought to
reduce absolute rule (as in Denmark), prevent it from lapsing into despo
tism (as in France), or wanted to prevent the imposition of a stronger cen
tralized authority (as in the Dutch Republic). Other movements for reform
challenged what seemed to be unwarranted privileges, again most notably
in France. In every Western country, more information about political
events in other states was available through newspapers and gazettes, as
well as from merchants, travelers, and diplomats. In Britain and parts of
Western Europe, political clubs also reflected greater preoccupation with
politics. These reform movements, then, influenced each other, however
indirectly.
British Radicals
In the 1760s in Britain, ordinary people demanded electoral reform, and
some even called for universal male suffrage. Reformers asked that con
stituencies be redrawn so that rapidly growing industrial regions in the north
of England be appropriately represented in Parliament, and that London,
which was grossly underrepresented, elect more MPs. Moreover, shouts for
more liberties came from ordinary people without the right to vote.
John Wilkes (1727-1797), the son of a successful London malt distiller,
was an MP of modest means and a Protestant Dissenter. Charming, witty,
and reckless, Wilkes leapt into the public eye in 1763 with the publication
of his newspaper, the North Briton. Issue number 45 attacked the
government—and the king himself directly—for signing the compromise
Treaty of Paris with France that year, ending the Seven Years’ War. The king
ordered “that Devil Wilkes, a trumpet of sedition,” arrested for libel. Wilkes
announced that he considered his arrest a blow against liberty and the con
stitution by the unjust, arbitrary power of government; it was “a question of
such importance,” as he declared at his trial, “as to determine at once,
whether English Liberty be a reality or a shadow.” The court freed Wilkes
after a week in jail on the basis of parliamentary immunity. Wilkes tri
umphantly boasted that his fate was tied to “that of the middling and infe
rior set of people” in Britain.
Fearing prosecution for pornography—the government had dug up a
bawdy old poem he had written—since the House of Commons had lifted
parliamentary immunity, Wilkes left for France in 1764. Upon his return
four years later, he was arrested, tried, and convicted, and then freed after
thousands of people demonstrated on his behalf. Wilkes then stood for
election in Middlesex, the county making up most of metropolitan London
north of the Thames and outside of “The City.” With the support of mer