William Pitt the Younger addressing the House of Commons, 1793. Some historians argue that his success was inevitable given the decisive importance of monarchical power; others argue that the King gambled on Pitt and that both would have failed but for a run of good fortune. William Pitt the Younger was one of the most extraordinary figures in British history. The national debt soared to £679 million,[e] more than double the GDP. Several MPs suggested it might be better to abandon the expedition, but Pitt insisted that Britain had given its word of honour that it would protect the French planters from their former slaves, and the expedition to St. Domingue could not be abandoned. The contemporary satire The Rolliad ridiculed him for his youth:[26], Many saw Pitt as a stop-gap appointment until some more senior statesman took on the role. When news of this spread, it was assumed Fox and his associates had tried to bring down Pitt by any means. In September 1780, because of his youth, he failed to secure election to Parliament for Cambridge University but four months later was provided with a seat for Appleby in Westmorland, on condition that he should resign it should his views and those of his patron diverge. The talented collaborators of his […] ISBN 978-0-582-05279-6. But, in effect, the alliance served only one useful purpose: Prussia’s diplomatic support enabled Pitt in 1790 to triumph over the Spanish without having to go to war in the Nootka Sound dispute. As a younger son, Pitt the Younger only received a small inheritance. France, meanwhile, saw its navy shrink by more than half. His mother, Hester Grenville, was sister to former prime minister George Grenville. But those who conducted the impeachment acted with unwarrantable rancour; the trial dragged on for seven years and, although Hastings was finally acquitted, the expenses almost ruined him. The Prince, however, was a supporter of Charles James Fox. [50] The Pitt government waged a vigorous propaganda campaign contrasting the ordered society of Britain dominated by the aristocracy and the gentry vs. the "anarchy" of the French revolution and always sought to associate British "radicals" with the revolution in France. for Sarum. He also ended an inappropriate division of authority in India by making the governor general supreme over the subordinate governments of Bombay and Madras. (previous page) (Pitt.) [48] The King had in 1791 offered him a Knighthood of the Garter, but he suggested the honour go to his elder brother, the second Earl of Chatham. He also received the support of the House of Lords, which passed supportive motions, and many messages of support from the country at large, in the form of petitions approving of his appointment which influenced some Members to switch their support to Pitt. A fifth of Britain's imports were smuggled in without paying taxes. Pitt originally aligned himself … In 1786 a supplementary act increased the authority of the governor general over his own council. Pitt also supported parliamentary reform measures, including a proposal that would have checked electoral corruption. Historians conclude that the loss of the American colonies enabled Britain to deal with the French Revolution with more unity and organisation than would otherwise have been the case. Prime minister at the age of twenty-four, he went on to dominate British politics for two decades, presiding over such complex and treacherous national crises as the … Fortunately for Pitt, the King recovered in February 1789, just after a Regency Bill had been introduced and passed in the House of Commons. Thus, the Spanish claim to a monopoly of trade and settlement on the western seaboard of North America was finally destroyed. The heavy death toll caused by yellow fever, the much dreaded "black vomit", made conquering St. Domingue impossible, but an undeterred Pitt launched what he called the "great push" in 1795, sending out an even larger British expedition. "The political theory of William Pitt the Younger,", Richards, Gerda C. "The Creations of Peers Recommended by the Younger Pitt,", Wilkinson, D. "The Pitt-Portland Coalition of 1794 and the Origins of the 'Tory' party", Foster, R. E. "Forever Young: Myth, Reality and William Pitt,", Ledger-Lomas, Michael. [32] Pitt was appointed, along with Lord Sydney, who was appointed President. [62] The British attempt to conquer St. Domingue in 1793 ended in disaster; the British pulled out on 31 August 1798 after having spent 4 million pounds (roughly £400.00 million in today's money) and having lost about 100,000 men − dead or crippled for life, mostly from disease – over the preceding five years. "The Memory of Burke and the Memory of Pitt: English Conservatism Confronts its Past, 1806–1829,", Turner, Simon. His administration secure, Pitt could begin to enact his agenda. Parliament began to enact repressive legislation in order to silence the reformers. In 1776, Pitt, plagued by poor health, took advantage of a little-used privilege available only to the sons of noblemen, and chose to graduate without having to pass examinations. Pitt was an expert in finance and served as chancellor of the exchequer. "William Pitt the Younger" in R. Eccleshall and G. Walker, eds., Cooper, William. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). William Pitt the Elder, British prime minister (1766–1768); William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806), son of the above and British prime minister (1783–1801, 1804–1806); William Pitt may also refer to: . Pitt’s intervention in eastern Europe, however, bore no such marks of triumph. The Younger Pitt (Profiles In Power). The French Revolution had revived the agitation for parliamentary reform, dormant since a bill introduced by Pitt in 1785 had been defeated, but the cause of reform was soon discredited because its advocates were thought to approve of the violence in France. Pitt, however, took the unprecedented step of refusing to resign, despite this defeat. [93], William Pitt the Younger was a prime minister who consolidated the powers of his office. The biography of Pitt by John Ehrman, The Younger Pitt (1969), is an outstanding work of scholarship which deals exhaustively with Pitt's early years, to 1789. [15] Pitt's entry into parliament is somewhat ironic as he later railed against the very same pocket and rotten boroughs that had given him his seat. Early returns showed a massive swing to Pitt with the result that many Opposition Members who still had not faced election either defected, stood down, or made deals with their opponents to avoid expensive defeats. Important older works include P. H. Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt (4 vols., 1861-1862), and Lord Rosebery, Pitt (1891). This comment captures well the tense, paranoid atmosphere of the 1790s, when people were being encouraged to report "radicals" to the authorities. [66] The United Irishmen Society was very anti-clerical, being equally opposed to the "superstitions" promoted by both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic church, which caused the latter to support the Crown. [92], Pitt became known as a "three-bottle man" in reference to his heavy consumption of port wine. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He had considerable influence in strengthening the office of the prime minister. Two decades was extremely delicate and because his father strongly had, `` for purity! The author, a British politician, has written a book on William Wilberforce and. 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