The independent man

‘Independence’ was an important ideal for men in Georgian England. In this period however, the word meant much more than simply the virtues of self-sufficiency and impartiality. Most people believed that obligations absolutely compromised freedom and conscience, whereas ‘independence’ was associated with manly virtue and physical vigour. Fundamentally, the political world was thought to consist of ‘independent men’, exercising their consciences and standing up for the general good. As such, Georgians thought about political action and masculine virtue very differently to the ways in which we do today.

In this important new study, Matthew McCormack establishes the links between the histories of masculinity and politics, highlighting the centrality of ‘manly’ ideals in the political world and – conversely – the role of politics in the operation of gender ideology. The book will be welcomed by students and specialists alike with interests in politics, gender studies or British history in the period.

Contents
List of figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Gender, obligation and political virtue
2. Act the part of honest independent men
3. From the Civil War to the Seven Years War
4. Declarations of Independence, 1760–76
5. Rethinking the independent Englishman, 1770–97
6. Anti-Jacobinism and citizenship, 1789–1815
7. Independence versus Old Corruption, 1815–29
8. Independence and the Reform debates, 1830–2
Conclusion
Index