Blackwell Reference Online

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Fifty years ago historians studying eighteenth-century Britain would probably have agreed on what were its most important features. These historians stressed the aristocratic nature and characteristics of Britain, with a long-established landed elite dominating politics and society. They would have emphasized widespread support for a limited monarchy and have highlighted the prestige of a parliament dominated by the landed elite, but they would also have stressed that government and parliament did little to interfere with the lives of most British subjects. They would have acknowledged the importance of agriculture, but would have recognized the growing wealth of the country based on commercial and industrial improvements. They would have praised Britain as an enlightened, modernizing society, becoming increasingly urbanized, secularized and tolerant. They would have celebrated the military, naval and imperial successes which Britain gained in her long rivalry with France, with but a passing nod to the failure in the War of American Independence. Aristocracy, stability, improvement and growing prosperity would have been regarded as the principal features of eighteenth-century Britain. Today, historians of eighteenth-century Britain are much more sharply divided over what they regard as its central features. There are those who see Britain as very like the anciens régimes of continental ... log in or subscribe to read full text