The 1794 Treason Trials, arranged by the administration of William Pitt, were intended to cripple the British radical movement of the 1790s. Over thirty radicals were initially arrested; three were tried for high treason: Thomas Hardy, John Horne Tooke and John Thelwall. In a repudiation of the government's policies, they were exonerated by three separate juries in November 1794 to great public rejoicing. The treason trials were an extension of the sedition trials of 1792 and 1793 against parliamentary reformers in both England and Scotland.
Read more about 1794 Treason Trials: Historical Context, Treason Trials of 1794, Trial Literature, Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words treason and/or trials:
“There’s such divinity doth hedge a king
That treason can but peep to what it would,
Acts little of his will.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It is time to provide a smashing answer for those cynical men who say that a democracy cannot be honest, cannot be efficient.... We have in the darkest moments of our national trials retained our faith in our own ability to master our own destiny.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)