Title page from the first edition of Thomas Paine's Rights of Man

The Revolution Controversy, a British pamphlet war over the French Revolution, lasted from 1789 through 1795.^[1] The pamphlet war began in earnest after the publication of Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), which surprisingly supported the French aristocracy. Because he had supported the American colonists in their rebellion against England, his views sent a shockwave through the country. Many writers responded, defending the French revolution, among them Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin.^[2] Alfred Cobban calls the debate that erupted "perhaps the last real discussion of the fundamentals of politics in [Britain]".^[3] The themes articulated by those responding to Burke would become a central feature of the radical working-class movement in Britain in the nineteenth century and of Romanticism.^[4] Most Britons celebrated the storming of the Bastille in 1789, believing that France's monarchy should be curtailed by a more democratic form of government. However, by December 1795, after the Reign of Terror and war with France, there were few who still supported the French cause. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 325 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (405 × 746 pixel, file size: 14 KB, MIME type: image/png) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 325 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (405 × 746 pixel, file size: 14 KB, MIME type: image/png) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other persons of the same name, see Thomas Paine (disambiguation). ... Thomas Paine wrote the Rights of Man in 1791 as a reply to Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke, and as such, it is a work glorifying the French Revolution. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729[1] – July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ... Reflections on the Revolution in France is a work of political commentary written by Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, first published on 1 November 1790. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... For other persons of the same name, see Thomas Paine (disambiguation). ... Mary Wollstonecraft (circa 1797) by John Opie Mary Wollstonecraft (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher and feminist. ... William Godwin William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English political and miscellaneous writer, considered one of the important precursors of both utilitarian and liberal anarchist thought. ... Romantics redirects here. ... Combatants French government Parisian militia (predecessor of Frances National Guard) Commanders Bernard-René de Launay â€  Prince de Lambesc Camille Desmoulins Strength 114 soldiers, 30 artillery pieces 600 - 1,000 insurgents Casualties 1 (6 or possibly 8 killed after surrender) 98 The Storming of the Bastille in Paris occurred on... For the Doctor Who British TV serial, see The Reign of Terror (Doctor Who). ...

Burke's Reflections

Title page from Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

Responding in part to a sermon defending the French revolution given by the Dissenting clergyman Richard Price entitled A Discourse on the Love of our Country (1789), Edmund Burke published his Reflections on the Revolution in France in an effort to advance arguments for the current aristocratic government. Because Burke had previously been part of the liberal Whig party, a critic of monarchical power, a supporter of the American revolutionaries, and a critic of government graft in India, most in Britain expected him to support the French revolutionaries. When he failed to do so, it shocked the populace and angered his friends and supporters.^[5] Burke's book, despite being priced at an expensive three shillings sold an amazing 30,000 copies in two years.^[6] Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729[1] – July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ... Reflections on the Revolution in France is a work of political commentary written by Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, first published on 1 November 1790. ... English Dissenters were dissenters from England who opposed State interference in religious matters and founded their own communities over the 16th to 18th century period. ... Richard Price (February 23, 1723 – April 19, 1791), was a Welsh moral and political philosopher. ... Reflections on the Revolution in France is a work of political commentary written by Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, first published on 1 November 1790. ... The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid 19th centuries. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... This article is about coinage. ...

The Reflections defended "the aristocratic concepts of paternalism, loyalty, chivalry, the hereditary principle" and property.^[7] Liberals such as William Godwin, Paine, and Mary Wollstonecraft, argued instead for republicanism, agrarian socialism, and anarchy.^[8] Most of those who came to be called radicals emphasized the same themes: "a sense of personal liberty and autonomy"; "a belief in civic virtue"; "a hatred of corruption"; an opposition to war because it only profited the "landed interest"; a critique of the monarchy and the aristocracy and its perceived desire to draw power away from the House of Commons.^[9] William Godwin William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English political and miscellaneous writer, considered one of the important precursors of both utilitarian and liberal anarchist thought. ... Mary Wollstonecraft (circa 1797) by John Opie Mary Wollstonecraft (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher and feminist. ... Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, with an emphasis on liberty, rule by the people, and the civic virtue practiced by citizens. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subjfuck grapesect to control by the community[1] for the purposes of increasing social and economic equality and cooperation. ... Anarchy (from Greek: anarchía, no authority) has a popular meaning of disorder[1]. However it has a more precise meaning in political philosophy to describe any human society which exists without a state. ...

Burke criticized the view of many British thinkers and writers who had welcomed the early stages of the French Revolution.^[10] While the radicals saw the revolution as analogous to Britain's own Glorious Revolution in 1688, which had restricted the powers of the monarchy, Burke argued that the appropriate historical analogy was the English civil war (1642-1651) in which Charles I had been executed in 1649. He viewed the French Revolution as the violent overthrow of a legitimate government, contending that citizens do not have the right to overthrow their government. Civilizations and governments, he maintained, are the result of social and political consensus; their traditions cannot be challenged—the result would be anarchy. The Revolution of 1688, commonly known as the Glorious Revolution, was the overthrow of James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange). ... For other uses, see English Civil War (disambiguation). ... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ...

Notes

Bibliography

• Butler, Marilyn, ed. Burke, Paine, Godwin, and the Revolution Controversy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. ISBN 0521286565.