Rachel Diaz
IB HISTORY 1
Period 4
7 October 2015
Word Count: 959
Why did the Cato Street Conspiracy occur in 1820 and in what way did it affect Britain?
The two sources I have chosen have proven their authenticity. One being a primary source and the other being written by a real history professor employed at Lancaster University. Both of which explain the revolution known as the Cato Street Conspiracy. Each source explains the different viewpoints and ideas of the conspiracy.
Evans, Eric. "A British Revolution in the 19th Century?" BBC News. Accessed October 4, 2015.
Professor Eric Evans is a history professor at Lancaster University. The article he wrote is a secondary source created February 7th, 2011. BBC published the article
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to their website. The author is a well studied historian and has published several books on 19th and 20th century British history. This article was created to prove how invincible Britain was to the many revolutions that occurred. Its intended audience is high school students and up. In conclusion to this article, Great Britain was not as impenetrable as once thought because the evidence shows that Britain was in fact affected by its many revolutions particularly towards its type of government, a monarchy. The author was evidently on Britain’s side towards the original claim. The effect of the Cato Street Conspiracy is not clearly stated, the author leaves out the effects of each revolution, and great losses for Britain are purposely not addressed. Wilkinson, G.
Theodore. "An Authentic History of the Cato-Street Conspiracy: With the Trials At Large of the Conspirators, for High Treason And Murder; a Description of Their Weapons And Combustible Machines, And Every Particular Connected With the Rise, Progress, Discovery, And." 1820. Accessed October 4, …show more content…
2015. This primary source was written by George Wilkinson in 1820. It was published in the same year by T. Kelly in London. The author is hardly known but the only thing that can be proven is that he was in fact alive during the time of the Cato Street Conspiracy. Wilkinson also knew a lot about the conspiracy and why it was happening. This document exists to inform the readers, who were intended to be the people of that time, about the happenings of this conspiracy and why people were put on trial and killed for it. This document says that there was a reason behind every single one of the conspirators actions. The author was very much involved in the trials of the accused, hence why he has compiled so much information about this. Seeing as none of the accused were put in prison but were hanged shows that during that time, death was the most reasonable of punishments. The only limitation would be that the document is based off of what Wilkinson heard at the trials. So, there is no way to truly verify that the statements were not misinterpreted or tampered with to make the situation look worse or better. The Cato Street Conspiracy occurred in 1820 due to the government issuing repressive measures in order to control the British citizens, causing an uprising in Britain that resulted in death and murder plots. This was during a time of economic downfall and political inequality. After many repressive actions being made by the government, the Combination Acts of 1799 was created. This made “... the gathering of working men with a common purpose” against the law. This was the last straw when it came to the temper of the people of Britain. The leader of the Cato Street Conspiracy was Arthur Thistlewood. This man traveled through France and America while acquiring political views during the journey. After realizing how many human rights were being violated, Thistlewood decided to create a group called the Cato Street Conspirators. This group met secretly and devised a plan to overthrow the government and assassinate the entire Cabinet. However, an informant reported this plan to the authorities and Thistlewood’s plan was foiled. The five conspirators present when the police stormed the premises were put on trial and hanged for treason. For Thistlewood however, after killed a cop in the scuffle, he was executed for high treason. The Cato Street Conspiracy occurred due to the rights of people being manipulated.
When government officials tamper with the people’s freedoms, that is when the citizens get angry. All the plots and murder plans that were talked about each had their own reason. When the government manipulates freedoms in order for them to have more control over the people, revolutions start. Great Britain can say how strong it was at the time, but that does not mean that revolutions did not occur or succeed. When the citizens of Great Britain realized what rights were being abused with the Combination Acts of 1799, a select few decided to take action. Thistlewood was the most angered by this and that is why he became the leader. Some may say that he was the one adding fuel to the fire. The fire in this case being the fellow citizens being affected by the acts. When the group was discovered to be created theories and plotting against the government, the people of Great Britain were alarmed. Even though it was easy creating a conspirator group, it would be very dangerous if caught before any actions could take place. This small revolution was the cause of many more to
follow. The Cato Street Conspiracy occurred in 1820 due to the government issuing repressive measures in order to control the British citizens, which caused an uprising in Britain that resulted in death and murder plots. The whole situation happened because people were willing to fight and give up their lives in order to make sure the people stayed free. If not the citizens of Great Britain, they were saving the country from being at war with itself in the future. “The Cato Street Conspiracy was the last major attempt at insurrection in the post-war period”. Great Britain basically believed that their entire future would be rid of deadly revolutions after this discovery. The citizens were affected in a way that they finally knew how much the government was willing to do to stay in control.
Many people believe that the Boston Tea Party arose just because of the Tea Act that came into play in 1773, but in-fact, this major statement arose from two issues surrounding the British Empire in 1765. The first of the issues was that the British East India Company was at risk of going under and the Parliament was finding ways to bring it back. The second issue was that there was a continuing dispute about the extent of the Parliament’s authority. Many colonists believe that the Parliament went overboard with their power and the people were concerned about the future. Attempting to resolve these two major issues, the North Ministry only worsened the problem and produced a showdown that would eventually result in revolution.
During the 1700’s the Britain Colonist decided to declare war against Great Britain. The war began due to friction between the British colonists over the King's policies. The colonist eventually lost their patience and started a revolution. High taxes, and no religious freedom led the colonist to fight for self government.
The colonists took up arms against their officials because they were unhappy how they were all wealthy lawyers. This all happened because of the population increase during the early 1760´s. People other than farmers started inhabiting the Carolinas. The crops of the farmers failed causing many farmers to go into debt. The lawyers were needed for the farmers to straighten out the money they owed to the government. The lawyers were then able to gain powerful positions in the government because the farmers were indebted to them. By 1764, thousands of colonists were unhappy with the tyranny the rich officials had created. The taxes became high and the tax collectors corrupt. They would remove the records of the taxes they collected just so they could go back and get more money. The Regulators began attacking officials the the government and destroying court houses. The Regulator Movement eventually fell apart because of the lack of control by the many leaders of the rebellion. This event fueled the American Revolution because of the similarities of the the tyrannical leaders of both
Nash’s argument can be supported by one primary source and that is the “Letter to the Lords of Trade” by Governor Francis Bernard. This source compels more to Nash because of the mob acting upon economical issues. The poor people were in no need to have changes because the poor can certainly not afford the cost of taxed items. Thus the poor people “gathered together, crying Liberty and property; which is their usual notice of their intentions to plunder and pull down a house” (Bernard 6). Therefore Nash can relate this because he believed in the economical injustice; however the first primary source catches no interest into Nash since his focus is on the actions and economic circumstances. Additionally Nash is questioning on why this happened because no matter what rich is rich and poor will be poor. Thus Bernard becomes the voice of the common people and “it is no such thing: great pains are taken to separate the two riots: what was done against Mr. Oliver is still approved of , as a necessary declaration of their resolution not to submit to the Stamp Act”
As it was universally hated by all colonists and colonies, there was a large movement to repeal it (the Sons of Liberty among other movements). Britain rescinded this act, but then replaced it with the Townshend Acts, leading to further cooperation and rebellion. Foner explains why suddenly colonists began to cooperate and see themselves as American, “Many Americans concluded that Britain was succumbing to the same pattern of political corruption and decline of liberty that afflicted other countries. The overlap of the Townshend crisis with a controversy in Britain over the treatment of John Wilkes reinforced this sentiment… In addition rumors circulated in the colonies that the Anglican Church in England planned to send bishops to America… which sparked fears that the bishops would establish religious courts like those that had once punished dissenters.” (Foner
A Fierce Discontent by Michael McGerr delves into the revolution of values from the victorian era to the progressive within the late nineteen century to the early twentieth century. McGerr’s major argument is the contrast between this set of values. The gilded age which McGerr focuses is the period where progressive values begin to take form and societal change ensues. The victorian values are values which epitomizes the British culture as just the name of the era is derived from queen Victoria. Alternatively the progressive era was a political reform focusing on anti corruption, women suffrage, and fixing the social problems plaguing society. McGerr argues that the victorian era and progressive era strikes few similarities within the
For a colony of the British government to rebel against the large, wealthy English country needed to take an extreme amount of resentment towards that group. The British themselves caused this resentment towards the English government. Act passes by the government caused this feeling; these acts began with the quartering acts of 1765. The quartering act of 1765 confirmed the colonist’s need for an independent, free nation because of subjugation of the colonists by the English government. This subjugation spurred a movement that ended in revolution.
There are four major reasons that the rebellion of the colonists accumulated into a full scale revolution. The most indistinct of these four reasons is the old societal legacies of the colonies, namely: social, political, religious, and economic values. These deeply rooted values were ingrained and inherited from the generations of colonists, and once the British began upsetting those values, resentment set in and began to undermine the British authority. For example, many of those who came to America were of British decent; they loved being English and fancied that, as colonists, they were taking part in the building of a bigger and stronger British Empire. But to those in England, the Americans were no better than barbarians. The English did not view A...
Firstly, (re-presentation) the media language used to describe the initial events of the riots was exaggerated. Strong words/phrases like, “Anarchy”, “The Battle Of London”, and “the rule of the mob” or “Police and the riot blunders” were the headlines on widely distributed newspapers. These exaggerated headlines make it seem as if that there was a political motive behind these riots and that the riots were planned attacks (rebellion) to take over the country’s capital. Furthermore, the rioters were described as young and opportunist people who were benefiting from the looting. The media also reported the different types of merchandise the looters had obtained in the course of the riots. Images of looters posing in front of the merchandize they had obtained were shown in the media and this tempted others to participate in the riots as well because the merchandise looked so easy to
O'Brien, Patrick, and Roland Quinault, eds. The Industrial Revolution and British Society. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.
New York City, in the first half of the eighteenth century, was a growing seaport city, with people of many walks of life, comingling to create one of the most important trade cities in colonial America. With such a diverse representation of people living and working relatively close to one another, extenuating circumstances, fears, based on race and biases against the lower classes, many of its citizens were manipulated into a belief that an uprising was found out and suppressed.
.... The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century. NYC.: Oxford University Press, 1981.Print.
The Victorian Era in English history was a period of rapid change. One would be hard-pressed to find an aspect of English life in the 19th century that wasn’t subject to some turmoil. Industrialization was transforming the citizens into a working class population and as a result, it was creating new urban societies centered on the factories. Great Britain enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity at home and thus was extending its global reach in an era of New Imperialism. Even in the home, the long held beliefs were coming into conflict.
The 'Standard'. 2011. The. BBC - History - British History in depth: Britain, the Commonwealth and the End of Empire, 3 March 2011. Accessed 11 April 2014. Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/endofempire_overview_01.html. Eckstein, Alexander.
Evans, Eric J. The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain. London and New York: Longman, 1996.