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RADICAL (Lat. radix, a root)

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 793 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RADICAL (See also:Lat. radix, a See also:root)  , in See also:English politics, a See also:term applied to politicians who See also:desire to make thorough, or See also:radical, changes in the constitution and in the social See also:order generally . Although it had been used in a somewhat similar way during the reign of See also:Charles II., the term Radical, in its See also:political sense, originated about the end of the 18th See also:century, probably owing its existence to Charles See also:James See also:Fox, who, in ,1797, declared that " radical reform " was necessary . The ideas of the first Radicals were borrowed largely from the authors of the See also:French Revolution . The word was more generally employed during the disturbed See also:period between the See also:close of the See also:Napoleonic See also:wars and the passing of the See also:great Reform See also:Bill of 1832, and was applied to See also:agitators like See also:Henry See also:Hunt and See also:William See also:Cobbett . After the Reform Bill had become See also:law, the See also:advocates of violent See also:change were See also:drawn into the Chartist See also:movement, and the Radicals became less revolutionary both in speech and See also:object . Thus in 1842 an observer writes:—" The term Radical, once employed as a name of See also:low reproach, has found its way into high places, and is gone forth as the See also:title of a class who See also:glory in their designation." About this See also:time many members of See also:Parliament were known as Radicals, among these men being See also:George See also:Grote and See also:Joseph See also:Hume . The Radicals never formed ' a distinct party in the See also:House of See also:Commons, and subsequently they formed simply the advanced See also:section of the Liberal party . For a few years in the 19th century the wearing of a See also:white See also:hat was looked upon as the distinguishing See also:mark of a Radical, a hat of this See also:colour having been worn by Hunt when addressing meetings . See W . See also:Harris, See also:History of the Radical Party in Parliament (1885); S . See also:Bamford, Passages in the See also:Life of a Radical (new ed., 1893) ; C . B .

Roylance See also:

Kent, The English Radicals:_ an See also:Historical See also:Sketch (1899) .

End of Article: RADICAL (Lat. radix, a root)
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