Whigs, Tories, and the Taxation of Augustan England, 1689-1715

Abstract

After the Glorious Revolution of 1688 the divisions within English society found additional expression through political parties as contemporaries staked out ideological positions on numerous issues and crises facing the nation. While the parties fought over issues of sovereignty and governance, the development of a taxation regime, required to pursue and support the nation’s almost constant wars on the continent, was also drawn into this contest. The nature of the debates over taxation on landed property provides an important lens through which to understand the ideological positions of both Whigs and Tories over matters of not only political economy, but religion, society, and governance. The English Land Tax, is one of the most important fiscal instruments of Augustan England and reveals how Whigs and Tories articulated positions on the aftermath of 1689, on the financial revolution that followed, and on the nature of governance at the beginning of the ‘long eighteenth century.’