Bernard Bailyn goes into much greater detail giving specific examples of oppositional ideology in both England and especially the colonies. In regards to the colonies, he deals specifically with each big city and the socio-political events of that city. I think that his thoughts are very well researched and it was very interesting to see where the revolutionary ideology was born. Also looking at the politics and not just the actual historical events of the time allows for a greater understanding of the context of the whole situation.

With these new views on parties grew new more liberated views and open expression of opposition. The voice of the opposition was found in newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and even sometimes the ballads and poetry of the time. The most influential writers of that left-wing libertarian group were John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. These two collaborated first in The Independent Whig and then in a series of articles signed “Cato” which appeared in The London Journal and The British Journal. There were 144 articles published between November 1720 and December 1723 and they were all compiled into a four-volume book called Cato’s Letters. The political theory of these works was greatly Lockean dealing greatly with inalienable rights and the contract theory of government. Cato’s Letters would become a key part of the political ideology of the American colonies and the articles would be cited extensively in the publishings of the revolutionaries. For these radical thinkers, the world of politics had become a struggle between power and liberty.

On the right-wing of the opposition, the key publishing was The Craftsman, which was largely written by Henry St. John Bolingbroke. The Craftsman was published weekly or semi-weekly for a full decade, from 1726 to 1736, and then republished into a thirteen volume book. The ideas of The Craftsman merge with some of the fundamental points of Cato and in fact quotes the writings of Trenchard and other libertarians. This was “the first example in British political history of an effective long-term propaganda campaign.”(p45) The opposition focused largely on the fear of a rising “money interest” and the corrupt “Robinarchs”. The dominant mood was still optimistic, and the political culture of England was composed of a felling of national superiority based on civil and political achievements. But the critics of the government still condemned the officials as corrupt “Robinarchs” who coveted power above all else. Both sides of oppositional literature of this period in England contained the ideas, fears and beliefs that would become the building blocks of eighteenth century American politics.

With the colonies growing by leaps and bounds, its inhabitants were looking for more control over their own lives. Although the colonial governments were growing in power and support, the British statesmen at home refused to evolve with the developing colonies. Few British statesmen and politicians understood what this development meant. Those who did understand were unprepared to accept, as Charles M. Andrews wrote," that the empire was not a single state made up of a mother country and her dependencies, but rather a group of states equal in status, with coordinate legislatures and a common king.” Thus the political struggles of the mid-eighteenth century reflect this. At this time England was not willing to accept the maturation of the American colonies, like a parent refusing to

Some topics in this essay:
Brown University, House Lords, Bolingbroke Craftsman, Glorious Revolution, Charles Andrews, American Revolution, Church England, England American, Cato’s Letters, Houses England, american colonies, eighteenth century, cato’s letters, american politics, functioning branches government, oppositional ideology, history institutions, institutions government, formal institutions, house lords, eighteenth century england, struggles authority,