Abstract
At the close of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain experienced chronic price rises and periods of desperate unemployment. It is the latter factor which appeared to be the catalyst in the periods of political upheaval but when relative stability returned agitation turned to demanding better conditions and wages.
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Further reading
E. P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class (1966);
E. J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution 1789–1848 (1962);
A. Briggs, The Age of Improvement (1959);
F. C. Mather, Chartism (1972);
D. Jones, Chartism and the Chartists (1975).
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© 1980 Neil Tonge and Michael Quincey
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Tonge, N., Quincey, M. (1980). Were the Working Classes Revolutionary?. In: British Social and Economic History 1800–1900. Documents and Debates. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-04991-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-04991-2_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-27452-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-04991-2
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