The land question in Anglo-French political economy, 1750-1830

Abstract

This thesis examines the political economy of land reform in Anglo-French political economy between c. 1750 and 1830. One of the main aims is to provide a comprehensive historical answer to the vexed question about the seeming discrepancy between the rhetoric and reality of land reform, especially in the American Revolution and in British political economy from Adam Smith to Thomas Paine and beyond. In doing so, the thesis explores, among other things, the way in which parental affection became a central topic of discussion in the debates about land reform and inheritance in the 18th and early 19th century. More specifically, the thesis shows how parental affection became a source of optimism in the late 18th century, only to become associated with great fear following the French Revolution. More broadly, the thesis provides a reinterpretation of Anglo-French political economy that places questions regarding the tenure, transfer and taxation of land at the centre of political economy. Another aim of this thesis is to show how the question of agricultural self-sufficiency was connected to the problem of jealousy of trade between nations, as well as to show how the debate about the best organisation of agriculture, often referred to as the ‘large farm-small farm debate’, was not merely a debate about economic efficiency but involved a much starker choice between civilisation and barbarism. Most importantly, however, it is a central claim of this thesis that the political economy of the Anglo-French world between 1750 and 1830 had as one of its primary concerns the question whether civilisation could be entrusted to the living; that is, whether the will of the dead, insofar as it pertained to the distribution of land, ought to curtail the will of the living generation.

Date of Award	2 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Richard Whatmore (Supervisor)