Sir Robert Peel

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how Sir Robert Peel is deservedly considered one of Britain's great Prime Minister's and how he will always be viewed as a controversial party leader. This paper attempts to put forward the view of the new revisionists, arguing that Peel was a hindrance to his party and led them to failure. It then counters this argument it with a strong defense of his record.

From the Paper:

"Historians have lined up on either side of this debate, some coming to bury Peel, some to praise him. Gash has been the most fulsome in praise, aiming to rejuvenate Peel's reputation both as a great statesman and great Party leader, seeking to compare his hard achievements and competence positively with the elan and aura of the other Great mid Victorian conservative, Disraeli. Robert Blake has devoted much material to praising the latter, seeing him in many ways as the father of modern Conservatism. However, this grand old man of Conservative history began his great synoptic work with Peel, a clear demonstration of the importance Blake offers him in the beginnings of modern Conservatism . Most clearly on the attack against Peel's record are a new revisionist school, led by Newbould, seeking to dismantle the carefully created Gash masterpiece of Peel the munificent statesman and master politician. The historiography is rich and varied, but all agree that Peel's impact on mid Victorian Britain was tremendous, if incendiary."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adelman, P Peel and the Conservative party 1830-1850 London : Longman, 1989
• Blake, R Conservative party from Peel to Churchill London : Arrow, 1998, c1997.
• Briggs, A Sir Robert Peel London, 1970
• Clark, G Peel and the Conservative Party London, 1964 Peel and the Conservative Party
• Gash, N The Life Of Sir Robert Peel After 1830 London, 1972

More papers on Sir Robert Peel:

• Term Paper # 127481 : "Sir Robert Peel and Police Patrols"
• Comparison Essay # 117058 : "Where Have Peel's Police Gone?"
• Essay # 51926 : "Peel and the Conservative Party"

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