The Rockingham Connection and the Second Founding of the Whig Party, 1768-1773

ELOFSON, W. M.

ISBN 10: 0773513884 / ISBN 13: 9780773513884

Published by McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, 1996

About this Item

x, 266 p. 24 cm. Brown cloth in dustjacket. A little soiling to jacket.

Seller Inventory # 152668

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Rockingham Connection and the Second Founding of the Whig Party, 1768-1773
• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal
• Publication Date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0773513884
• ISBN 13: 9780773513884
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Britain

About this title

Synopsis

Elofson reveals that the Rockinghams, far more than previously recognized, were governed by a coherent set of constitutional ideals and argues that they saw "party" not primarily as a means to office but as a vehicle for public-spirited men to "secure the predominance of right and uniform principles" in the operation of the state. He examines the ideological writings of Edmund Burke, the Party's noted and prolific publicist, placing them in their political context and providing a new analysis of Burke's renowned pamphlet Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770). Throughout, Elofson illustrates the ways in which the Rockinghams altered and redefined the Whig Party and its principles as they took the first halting steps toward a program of constitutional amendment, establishing their place not only in Whig but in British constitutional development.

About the Author

W. M. Elofson is assistant professor of history, University of Calgary.