East India Company, 1785-1858

Historical Context Essay

Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Domains

Companies

Dates

Date of occurrence 1600-1945

Places

India (Location)
United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

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It was clear from the Warren Hastings imbroglio that Lord North's Regulating Act of 1773 had made the British nation responsible for what happened in India, but not materially enabled the nation to construct and enforce policy. In 1782-84 debate polarized in London between the managers of Hastings's impeachment in Parliament (Lord North, Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke who favoured bringing Indian affairs under the control of the London Parliament) and a secret committee (Henry Dundas, William Pitt the younger and Lord Shelburne who favoured strengthening the role of the Crown in India). In modern terms this seems to be a simple case of democratic transparency versus secret autocratic

dictat

. The king naturally sided with the autocrats and played a role in bringing the Fox-North…

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872 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "East India Company, 1785-1858". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4146, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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