Prague Papers on the History of International Relations (Jun 2016)
Edinburgh Conventions of the Delegates as One Example of British Radicalism in the 1790s
Abstract
From the 1760s, the question of parliamentary reform in Britain concerning the amendment and extension of suffrage was an important topic of differing intensity. It was a so-called extra-parliamentary movement which endeavoured to reach its objective by means of petitions. The right to petition was an important part of British basic rights contained in the Bill of Rights of 1689. However, the radical reformers of the 1790s who demanded parliamentary reform differed in objectives from their predecessors. The aims of the new radicals were annual parliamentary elections and universal suffrage. Their objective was to achieve parliamentary reform by legal and constitutional means, while openly rejecting violent revolutionary methods. Membership consisted mainly of the working class, with unlimited entry to these strictly organised societies. These societies were so unique precisely because they rejected political exclusivity. The topic of my work is focused on the period of the Edinburgh Conventions which were held three times between 1792 and 1793. Their aim was not to replace the British Parliament with a new legislature according to the French example, but an endeavour to act together on a plan of reform and then to draw up a petition to Parliament. Nevertheless, the last Convention was forcibly dissolved by local authorities and their leading members were brought before a court and sentenced to fourteen years’ transportation in the subsequent political process.
