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The Restoration & the 18th Century

Growth of towns/cities
1. National population almost doubled to 10 million
2. Public spaces gave life to London & other cities
  1. Theatres (reopened at start of Res.)
    1. Concert halls
  2. Shopping districts
    1. Coffeehouses
    2. Libraries
    3. Art exhibitions
  3. Outdoor spaces
    1. Pleasure gardens
    2. Parks e.g. St James'
3. Transport developments
  1. New canals built
  2. This stimulated ...
    1. Domestic trade
    2. Industry
    3. Travel
Religion & Politics
1. Return of Charles Stuart in 1660 (Charles II)
  1. Attempted to consolidate royal power
    1. Dissolved Parliament when he defeated the Exclusion Bill
      1. This divided politics into two parties
        The Whigs
        King's opponents
        Appealed to both landed gentry & urban merchants
        Anti-government radicalism
        The Tories
        King's supporters
    2. Catholic sympathies
  2. Ruled until 1685
    1. Succeeded by James II
      1. Catholic
      2. Challenged by William of Orange and his wife Mary (James' daughter) in 1688
        Protestant
        James II fled to France
        The 'Bloodless or Glorious Revolution'
        Followed by James II's younger daughter, Princess Anne
        1702-14
        Anne followed by George I
        1714-27
        Followed by George II
        1727-60
        First Hanoverian king
2. Protestant Dissenters & Catholics excluded from public life
  1. Couldn't attend uni, vote, or own land
3. The War of the Spanish Succession (1702-13)
  1. England defeated France & Spain
  2. Highly profitable for Whig lords & London merchants
    1. New colonies and slave trade increase
      1. Slaving contracts with Spanish Empire
    2. Wealth did not reach the masses of the poor
      1. Spread of 'loyalty vs. liberty' idea
      2. Excluded from social advancement & education
Culture
1. Aristocratic culture led by Charles II
  1. Right of the elite to act as they wished
    1. Emergence of celebrity culture
  2. Celebration of pleasure
    1. Excessive ...
      1. Drinking
      2. Debauchery
      3. Sexuality
  3. Distrust of dogmatism
    1. Overconfidence in human reasoning = supreme disaster
    2. Materialist philosophies
      1. Derived from ancient Epicurean thought
2. Global travel
  1. Better understanding of nature
    1. Scientific discovery & exploration
      1. Natural laws e.g. Newton
      2. Affected religious attitudes
        Some intellectuals embraced Deism
        Reliant on reason and nature, not scripture
  2. Interaction with foreign societies
    1. Better understanding of human/societal norms
3. Position of women
  1. Initiated modern feminism
    1. Political rights & liberty did not extend to women
  2. Female education advocated by some to improve sociability
4. Rise of sensibility
  1. Social conduct based on instinctual feeling
    1. Fostered philanthropy
      1. Social reforms
        Abolition of slave trade
        Relief for imprisoned debtors
        Founding of hospitals
        Homes for penitent prostitutes
    2. Evangelical revival began in 1730s
      1. Methodism
Literature
1. Diary-keeping, journaling & elaborate letter-writing
  1. Testified to growing importance of the private, individual life
    1. See Frances Burney's journals
    2. Historical records of changing society
2. Literary production
  1. Fewer legal restraints on printing
    1. However licensing controls were tightened by Printing Act of 1662
      1. Not renewed in 1695 by William III
    2. Authors could still be prosecuted and convicted, however
      1. e.g. Daniel Defoe was pilloried & jailed for 'seditious' pamphlets
    3. Printing styles changed - more readable
  2. Copyrights held by booksellers
    1. Booksellers operated like publishers of today
    2. Payments to authors varied
      1. The poor were excluded from publishing
        Formal education tended to be vital for would-be authors
        Humanistic tradition
  3. Publication by subscription
    1. Patronage & literary capitalism
      1. Led to authorial fortunes
      2. Subscribers rewarded with 'special editions'
      3. Used to encourage smaller projects e.g. women's poetry
        Female authors
        Excluded from uni; faced other forms of repression
        Women did begin to publish widely
3. Newspapers
  1. First appeared in 1702
    1. The Daily Courant
    2. First magazine appeared in 1731
      1. The Gentleman's Magazine
  2. First Stamp Act (1712) put tax on all newspapers, ads, paper & pamphlets
    1. Raised government revenue & did not deter publishing market

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The Restoration & the 18th Century

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	Created by Kathryn Kilby over 9 years ago