In the 18th Century, the British Industrial Revolution marked a profound shift within the population. The feudal system was replaced by a more capitalist one, where the society were no longer divided between various titles such as monarchs, nobles or peasants, but between only two distinct groups: the Bourgeoisie, known as the owners of the means of production, and the new working class, also called the Proletariat. This new established system, just like the old feudal one, was characterized by the domination of the ruling class over the laborers. However, the constant needs by the capitalists to earn more than their competitors gave birth to a new level of exploitation never achieved before. The workers were drained from their personal lives in the pursuit of making more money. This, and other factors led to a revolt of the working class, and at the same time to the rise of the radical press. This essay will first enumerate the origins of the radical press, then discuss its importance during the first half of the 19th Century, and finally describe its sharp fall.
Even though the British Industrial Revolution was one of the main reason encouraging the working class to organize the radical movement, it is certainly not the only one. In fact, the birth of the radical press took its origin back in the 17th Century, with the Levellers and the Diggers, both campaigning for equality before the law and the extension of suffrage, but also against the enclosures by landowners. The French Revolution of 1789 was also a reminder to the British population that they were being exploited by the Bourgeoisie. The events in France were highly publicized in the British press, with famous newspapers such as the Times having reporters in Paris to cover the subject (Barker and Burrows, 2002). In his book The Rights of Man, written in 1791, Thomas Paine, strong supporter of the French Revolution described this exploitation.
