John Wilkes Quotes

John Wilkes was a British radical, journalist and politician. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of his voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives. In 1768, angry protests of his supporters were suppressed in the St George's Fields Massacre. In 1771, he was instrumental in obliging the government to concede the right of printers to publish verbatim accounts of parliamentary debates. In 1776, he introduced the first bill for parliamentary reform in the British Parliament.

During the American War of Independence, he was a supporter of the American rebels, adding further to his popularity with American Whigs. In 1780, however, he commanded militia forces which helped put down the Gordon Riots, damaging his popularity with many radicals. This marked a turning point, leading him to embrace increasingly conservative policies which caused dissatisfaction among the progressive-radical low-to-middle income landowners. This was instrumental in the loss of his Middlesex parliamentary seat in the 1790 general election. At the age of 65, Wilkes retired from politics and took no part in the social reforms following the French Revolution, such as Catholic Emancipation in the 1790s. During his life, he earned a reputation as a libertine. Wikipedia  

✵ 17. October 1725 – 26. December 1797
John Wilkes photo
John Wilkes: 1   quote 0   likes

John Wilkes Quotes

Similar authors

Daniel Defoe photo
Daniel Defoe 43
English trader, writer and journalist
Joseph Addison photo
Joseph Addison 226
politician, writer and playwright
Samuel Johnson photo
Samuel Johnson 362
English writer
Thomas More photo
Thomas More 26
English Renaissance humanist
Thomas Fuller photo
Thomas Fuller 35
English churchman and historian
John Milton photo
John Milton 190
English epic poet
Thomas Paine photo
Thomas Paine 262
English and American political activist
John Donne photo
John Donne 115
English poet
Henry Fielding photo
Henry Fielding 70
English novelist and dramatist
William Shakespeare photo
William Shakespeare 699
English playwright and poet