Tory

The term Tory applied to the Tory Party, the ancestor of the modern UK Conservative Party. To this day it is often used as a shortened alternative for Conservative. A similar usage for Tory exists in Canada to describe its Conservative Party. It was also used during the American Revolutionary War to refer to British Loyalists in the colonies. During the American Civil War, supporters of the Confederacy extended the term to Southern Unionists.

History

The term originates from the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and English Civil War of the 1640s and '50s, when it was used to describe Irish guerrilla fighters. For this usage, see Rapparees. It entered English politics during the Exclusion Bill crisis of 1678–1681. The Whigs (initially an insult — whiggamore, a cattle driver) were those who supported the exclusion of James II from the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland (the "Petitioners"), and the Tories (from the Irish term tóraidhe, modern Irish tóraí — outlaw, robber) were those who opposed it (the Abhorrers).

Related Topics:
Wars of the Three Kingdoms - English Civil War - Irish - Rapparees - Exclusion Bill - 1678 - 1681 - Whig - James II - Irish - Abhorrers

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James II's attacks on the Church of England led some Tories to support the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and during the reigns of William III and Queen Anne they fiercely competed with the Whigs for power, although both monarchs generally tried to employ both Whigs and Tories in ministerial positions. However, the stresses of the continuing War of the Spanish Succession led most of the Tories to withdraw into opposition by 1708, leading to an almost entirely Whig ministry. Queen Anne's discomfort with being dependent on the Whigs led to a reaction in 1710, when she sacked her Whig ministers and replaced them with the Tory ministry of Harley and Bolingbroke, which in 1713 negotiated the Treaty of Utrecht which ended the War of the Spanish Succession but which was denounced by George, Elector of Hanover, who would succeed Anne.

Related Topics:
Church of England - Glorious Revolution - 1688 - William III - Queen Anne - War of the Spanish Succession - 1708 - 1710 - Harley - Bolingbroke - 1713 - Treaty of Utrecht - George, Elector of Hanover

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1714 Bolingbroke sought to bring about a Jacobite restoration, but the plans were thwarted by Anne's death and George's accession. The following year he supported the Jacobite uprising (the "Fifteen"). George I, who had already formed a Whig ministry upon his accession in 1714, dismissed the remaining Tories from office and as a party they were confined to the wilderness for half a century, though occasionally individual Tories held office in the Whig ministries of George I and George II. The Tories ended their opposition in 1757 when they gave support to the coalition government of William Pitt the Elder and the Duke of Newcastle. Upon the accession of George III the old political distinctions dissolved into a mass of personal factions, most regarding themselves as "Whigs". However Tory sentiments remained, most prominently with the writer and critic Samuel Johnson.

Related Topics:
1714 - Jacobite - George II - 1757 - William Pitt the Elder - Duke of Newcastle - George III - Samuel Johnson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The label "Tory" came to be applied to the Prime Ministers Lord Bute (1762–1763) and Lord North (1770–1782) though it is difficult to trace a continuous "Tory Party" from either Bolingbroke or subsequently to William Pitt the Younger and the later Tories, and both ministries largely relied on the support of factions (particularly the Grenvillites and the Bedfordites) who generally saw themselves as Whigs.

Related Topics:
Lord Bute - 1762 - 1763 - Lord North - 1770 - 1782 - William Pitt the Younger - Grenvillites - Bedfordites

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the late 18th century the label of Tory came to be applied to believers in the right of Kings to determine the direction of the state rather than to act merely in accordance with the wishes of parliament, politicians and the powerful families who largely dominated the parliamentary system in the absence of universal suffrage, secret ballots and equal constituencies.

Related Topics:
18th century - Universal suffrage - Secret ballot

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Applied by their opponents to Parliamentary supporters of the ministry of Lord North (1770–1782) and again of those who supported the younger William Pitt (1783–1801), the term came to represent the political current opposed to the "Old Whigs" and the radicalism unleashed by the American and French Revolutions. This was re-enforced by the breakup of the Whig party in 1794 when the conservative group led by the Duke of Portland joined Pitt's government - leaving an opposition rump lead by Charles James Fox. The fear of the Jacobins in France it could be argued helped to make the term 'Tory' respectable once again - by contrast the Foxite Whigs were portrayed as revolutionary demons by cartoonists like James Gillray. However, Pitt rejected the Tory label, preferring to refer to himself as an "independent Whig." The group surrounding Pitt the Younger came to be the dominant force in British politics from 1783 until 1830 and after Pitt's death the term "Tory" was increasingly used by its members instead of 'Pittite' or 'Friends of Mr Pitt'.The first prominent 'new Tory' to accept the old name was George Canning. Despite this, as late as 1812 the government still preferred to label themselves a 'Whig Administration' but very soon after the description 'Tory' had come back into general use for Lord Liverpool's government .

Related Topics:
Charles James Fox - James Gillray - 1783 - 1830 - George Canning - Lord Liverpool

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Generally, the Tories were associated with lesser gentry and the Church of England (or in Scotland the episcopalian church), while Whigs were more associated with trade, money, larger land holders (or "land magnates"), expansion and tolerance. Both were still committed to the political system in place at that time. Neither group could be considered a true political party in the modern sense.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After becoming associated with repression of popular discontent in the years after 1815, the Tories underwent a fundamental transformation under the influence of Robert Peel, himself an industrialist rather than a landowner, who in his 1834 "Tamworth Manifesto" outlined a new "Conservative" philosophy of reforming ills while conserving the good. From then on the subsequent Peel administrations have been labelled Conservative rather than Tory - the older term remained in use and still does today in Great Britain.

Related Topics:
1815 - Robert Peel - Tamworth Manifesto - Conservative

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When the Conservative party split in 1846 on the issue of Free Trade, the protectionist wing of the party rejected the term Conservative. and preferred for to be known as Protectionists or even revive the older term of Tory as an official name. However by the time the Peelites (as Peel's Conservative supporters became so described ) eventually joined the Whigs and Radicals to form the Liberal party in 1859, the remaining Tories had under the leadership of the former Whig Earl of Derby and a former Radical parliamentary candidate Benjamin Disraeli, adopted his label of Conservative as the official name of their party.

Related Topics:
Tory - Peelite - Liberal party - Earl of Derby - Benjamin Disraeli - Conservative

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~