What were the ideas of the British Radical Whigs and how did they influence the American colonists?

     The Radical Whigs of Britain were also known as the Commonwealth Men during the 18^th century, and they were the only ones complaining about the corrupt form of government that had developed outside of the British Constitution. They wanted to form a Republic and they viewed the current governmental system as a threat to liberty. They believed that the conspirators creating the government would eventually work their way into the ministry and cause tyranny. The funny part of the whole thing was that they viewed the King as impossible to corruption, they considered him loyal and smart, but felt he could be deceived. They felt that in order to avoid corruption a person had to be virtuous and/or disinterested.

     In their opinions the corruptions could only lead to three things: the increased debt of Britain, increased taxes, and the creation of a standing army. Once all this happened then the conspirators would start to take away other rights such as trial by jury, and taking away all property rights from their subjects. In order to appeal to the public the urgency of their worries they wrote in newspapers, and published books and pamphlets. Unfortunately for them, the people of Britain just did not care at the time. The colonists on the other hand were very literate and loved to read. They were constantly sending off to England requesting new books and literature to read. The merchants who made money selling books, newspapers, and pamphlets were unwilling to send over their popular material to the colonists. They were, however, willing to send over the pile of rubbish published by the Whigs just to get rid of it. When the colonists received this material they mistakenly thought that it was mainstream thought in England, and so when the corrupt governmental process started to spread through the colonies they were unwilling to accept it.