ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book seeks to examine the use of religion as a catalyst and a new motivation for popular radicalism. It explores Christian radical responses to the French Revolution, the post-Napoleonic readjustments, movement for parliamentary reform, the agitation for reform in the factories, reactions to the revisions in the Poor Law and Chartism. Coloured etchings with an array of symbols and text, resulting in what Dorothy George terms a ‘graphic pamphlet,’ gave way to black-and-white lithographs bound in a series, which in turn gave way to the widespread publication of cartoons in forums such as Punch. Historically, the influence of religion on political and social issues has been an area of considerable debate. Christian radical interpretations of Scripture were based in part on radicals’ challenge to long-established assumptions about faith and the socio-political order.
