George Cruikshank's Violence For Reform

Furthermore, the violence for reform in France incited British reformers to form societies and demand for British people to be represented with a just government. Eric Evans argues that societies, such as the London Corresponding Society, were set up to achieve parliamentary reform inspired by the French; cartoons of were made to mock the constitution and King George III, this placed the King and upper classes in a threatening position unless they began reform. Their political aims were identical to those of the French as they wanted to replace the aristocracy with a government which they had voted for. This is shown through the satirical cartoon made by George Cruikshank who was a caricaturist and did not hold strong political beliefs, thus …show more content…
Riots and the outbreak of violence in Britain created fear for the British constitution since the French revolution had successfully influenced rebellions in other European countries. Protests demanding change became common, including the Spa Field riots, Derbyshire rising and Peterloo massacre. A year after the end of the wars with France, demonstrations were being planned for reform; this was due to the fact that businesses had to close down after the war since there was no longer a demand for war material, this left many unemployed. C R Fay argues that Peterloo massacre was a result of inefficient police and the conditions the lower class people worked in – including shopkeepers and manufacturers; this suggests that it was not due to the influence of the French revolution but rather the troops. This suggests that people were influenced by the French revolution to a small extent as they wanted better political leaders who they could vote for. The aim of the meeting at St Peter’s Field was to “listen to speeches demanding parliamentary reform”. From this it is evident that the French revolution did not influence much violence since the aim of this meeting was to keep it as a non-violent event; however, the meeting ended in violence which was largely due to the attempt to break up the meeting. The English radical writer William Hone and cartoonist George Cruikshank released “A Slap At Slop” to show the problems in the constitution; the news sheet was published in 1921 to highlight the “abuses of the political office” and how the constitution was failing to look after its citizens. Hone was a reformer and he released this news sheet criticising the Peterloo massacre as it was a non-violent protest which resulted in the officer's killing 11 people and injuring many others. William Hone had radical political and religious ideas which he expressed through his pamphlet and