Abstract
In December 1779, mounting taxes, economic distress, and lack of success in the War of American Independence unleashed a political and popular movement in Britain called ‘economical reform.’ The movement for economical reform began as a political struggle in Parliament between the Crown and the Opposition. The initial objective of the Opposition was to reduce the influence of the Crown — the honors, patronage, contracts, and other benefits used by the King and his ministers to strengthen their political support in Parliament and in elections. The Opposition was supported by a powerful surge of public opinion. In midcourse, economical reform shifted to an emphasis on better management of the finances — improved collection of the revenue, recovering balances held by offices of tax collection and expenditure, reform of accounts and audit, abolition of sinecures and fees, and establishment of a systematic process of debt reduction. The investigations and reforms of the 1780s were the crucial first step in the long-term reform of the administrative structure.
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© 2007 Earl A. Reitan
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Reitan, E.A. (2007). Introduction. In: Politics, Finance, and the People. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230211032_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230211032_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-35796-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-21103-2
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