The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III facts for kids

The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III is a famous history book. It was written by Lewis Namier and first came out in 1929. This book completely changed how people understood politics in the 1700s. Before this book, many historians believed that English politics always had two main parties, like teams. Namier's book showed that this wasn't quite true, especially when George III became king.

What the Book is About

This book looks closely at the Parliament of Great Britain in the 1760s. It focuses mainly on English politics. Namier was an expert on this topic. His main idea was that British politics in the mid-1700s wasn't really about strong political parties. Instead, it was more about personal friendships and alliances. Powerful people worked together in groups, not always as part of a big party. This idea went against the old belief that two parties always controlled everything. By studying many individuals, the book changed how we see politics back then.

Namier's Big Idea

Namier disagreed with a common idea about King George III. Many thought the king was trying to take power away from Parliament. They believed he used corruption to control politicians. This, some argued, even led to losing the American colonies.

However, Namier's book said something different. It argued that British politics in the 1700s was run by powerful families. These families had many people who depended on them for support. The King's Court was just one of these powerful groups. They all used similar ways to get what they wanted.

Namier suggested that King George III actually represented the country's interests. He was perhaps more focused on the nation than other rich families. These families often controlled Parliament for their own benefit. This way of doing politics was part of a long tradition. English freedom, Namier believed, grew slowly over time. It wasn't just from fighting against powerful aristocrats.

How the Book is Organized

The book has nine chapters. The first two chapters look at the backgrounds of people who became Members of Parliament (MPs). It describes different types of MPs without focusing on parties. Then, there's a chapter about how elections worked in different areas of England in 1760.

Next, there are two essays on specific national topics. One essay re-examines the 1761 British general election. Another essay looks at how The Duke of Newcastle managed secret government money. Namier tried to show that this money was used to help well-connected people who were struggling. It wasn't mainly used to unfairly influence Parliament. The book even includes copies of these secret money accounts.

A second part of the book explores specific towns that had MPs. It first looks at Shropshire, a county that was quite independent. Even though it was in a more conservative area, it sent MPs who were part of the Whig group. This was because of the influence of Henry Herbert, the Earl of Powis and Robert Clive. Namier showed that even here, personal rivalries were more important than party loyalty.

Then, the book looks at the Cornish borough seats. These were often seen as "rotten boroughs" because they were easily controlled. Namier showed that these areas were less controlled by rich families than other counties. Finally, the book analyzes two towns, Harwich and Orford, whose MPs were managed by the government. It also includes short biographies of MPs who received secret payments. This was to show that these payments didn't really give the government much control.

Namier's Research Method

Namier used a special research method called prosopography. This means studying the lives of many people in a group. He looked at every Member of Parliament (MP) and noble person in the British Parliament in the late 1700s. His research showed that local interests, not national ones, often decided how MPs voted.

Namier strongly believed that the Tories and Whigs were not tightly organized parties. Instead, they were changing groups of people. Their opinions on issues changed all the time. Namier thought prosopography was best for studying small groups like the House of Commons. However, he didn't think it worked well for very large groups.

Namier's detailed studies showed that politics in 1760 was mostly about individuals trying to gain power and influence. It wasn't so much about big ideas like freedom or democracy. It also wasn't about fighting foreign kings or the effects of new technology. Historian Richard J. Evans noted that Namier believed people's "deep-seated drives and emotions" explained politics. Namier himself spent many years in psychoanalysis.

Other Books Like This

In 1930, a year after The Structure of Politics, Namier published England in the Age of the American Revolution. This book continued his way of analyzing history. In the 1930s, these two books were often studied together. The second book aimed to prove that George III was not trying to take away American freedoms. Many of Namier's students also wrote similar books. They used his methods to study 18th-century English politics. An example is John Brooke's book about Charles Townshend.

In 1931, Namier became a professor at Manchester University. He then focused more on diplomatic history, which is about how countries deal with each other. But in 1953, he retired from Manchester. In 1957, a second version of Structure of Politics was published. After retiring, Namier also worked more on the History of Parliament series. He focused on the same time period in the mid-1700s. His student and co-editor, John Brooke, finished that volume after Namier's death.

Namier's writing for the History of Parliament series looked at the social backgrounds of MPs. He also studied how they were connected to each other. This was similar to the first chapters of Structure of Politics. He believed that "the social history of England could be written in terms of the membership of the House of Commons."