Tories origin of the word

Below is a detailed article that discusses the Whigs and Tories, political powers in Britain that took shape in the 1680s until the 1850s. Let us discuss both of them below.

Whigs is a British political party in the parliament of the United Kingdom that included England, Ireland, and Scotland. Their fundamentals are based on the constitutional monarchy. This means that they resorted to opposing absolute monarchy.

In the year 1688, the Whigs were in strong opposition of the House of Stuart, a Royal House of Europe. The Whigs were at their highest power during the years 1715 and 1760. They took full control of the government until the reign of King George III. The Whig came to power due to King George I who enabled the Whigs by failing the Jacobite rising.

The years 1714 to 1783 were known as the Whig Oligarchy. The first ever greatest leader of the Whig Party was Robert Walpole – the Prime Minister Great Britain at the time of King George II. He was an able British Statesmen and came to be known as Sir Robert Walpole from 1742 onward.

Origin of the Whigs

The word ‘whig’ originates from the word ‘whiggamor’ which means which literally translates as ‘cattle driver’. The word whiggamor originated from the time of the Whiggamor Raid in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was basically a word to describe the Scottish cattle drivers that came for corn from the Kirk party. Hence, these Scottish rebels were called the whiggamors.

The word ‘Whig’ came into English politics during the passage of the ‘Exclusion bill’ which was a crisis to determine who inherited the throne after the death of King Charles II. The term was abuse to those that wanted to exclude the brother of Charles II – James – the Duke of York, who was Roman Catholic.

History of the Whigs

The Whig supremacy was first seen during the Exclusion Bill crisis where they were against the Roman Catholic brother of King Charles II, the Duke of York – James II. Their rivals, the Tories were in support of absolute monarchy and against the Exclusion Bill. However, in the same year in the months of August and September, there was a large increase in the Tory population.

Hence, King Charles II dissolved the parliament after which they met at Oxford in the month of March 1681. During this time, due to the support of French King Louis XIV, the Whigs crumbled because of his repression. And many of the ministers including Lord Shaftesbury, William Russell, and Sir Thomas Armstrong were executed for treason.

Post the Glorious Revolution of 1688, King William III, appointed Whig as well as Tory ministers in the parliament. It was noticed that the Tory ministers were friendlier and supportive compared to the Whigs. However, the Whig number gradually increased due to the Junto Whigs, a group of young politicians that ran the political group.

Whig Ideologies

In the initial days, the Whigs opposed Catholics as kings. They were of the opinion that the Catholic church was a threat to liberty. Most of the Whig political ideas were based on the political ideas of John Locke, an English philosopher, and physician known as the ‘Father of Liberalism’.

During the 1770s, the ideas were more based on classical liberalism by Adam Smith – a Scottish economist and philosopher.

Leaders of the Whig Party

Robert Walpole was the first well known British statesmen who belonged to the Whig Party. Other well-known members of the Parliament were William Pitt, the Elder, Charles James Fox – British statesmen and son of Henry Fox, Lord Grey – British Statesmen and Prime Minister for 4 years, Lord Melbourne – British Statesmen and right hand to the young Queen Victoria; he also served as Prime Minister, Lord Russell, and Lord Palmerston – both Prime Ministers in the late Victorian era.

Tories

The Tories emerged around the same time the Whigs did, that is, during the years 1678 when the Exclusion bill crisis came up. They were in support of James II, the Duke of York for him to inherit the throne after his brother King Charles II and were also in support of the Catholic emancipation this matter would bring in.

It was founded in 1678. Their ideologies were based on the Jacobite era. Later, it was known as Toryism in the United Kingdom.

The principles and political ideas of the Tory party can be traced back to the English Civil War which divided the country between the Long Parliament and the Royalists. Around the 1760s the party ceased to exist and functioned under another name. They then reemerged in the early 18th century when William Pitt the Younger was the new leader and in charge.

Origin of the Tories

The word Tory has evolved from the Irish word ‘toir’ which means ‘pursue’. Later it was called ‘toiradhe’ in the mid 17th century which was a word for ‘outlaw’. This happened during the Exclusion bill crisis when the Irish peasants settled in the Scottish highlands. These were in support of the Catholic James II – Duke of York.

‘Tory’ was, therefore, an abusive nickname for these supporters of James II.

History of the Tories

Due to Tory support and some other factors, James II inherited the throne. However, he did not favor or promote Catholicism as much. But he noticed that due to this, he was losing on the Tory support. Therefore, he started an aggressive Catholic policy all over England and also expanded it towards Ireland. This led to a massive Revolution of 1688.

The Tories were a powerful and dominant party even during the reign of Queen Anne. However, during this time there was a massive competition between the whigs and the tories. Even King William II, acknowledged that the tories were much friendlier to the royal house and the monarchy than the whigs. All his ministers were Tory but due to the entrance of the Junto Whigs, this had to stop.

The Tory government was largely governed by the Secretary of State – Robert Harley, the first Earl of Oxford. However, when Queen Anne fell extremely sick and died, she was succeeded by George I of Hanover and thus began the Georgian era where the Whigs had a superior role to play.

Tory Ideologies

Tory ideologies are based on conservatism. Today the Tory party is renamed as the Conservative Party. They were based on the principles of Edmund Burke who was later titled the ‘Father of Conservatism’. They were in support of absolute monarchy and emancipation of Catholicism.

They believed in the Church to be the elder governing body. They also were in support of the Church of England which was Anglican.

Leaders of the Tory Party

James II, the Duke of York is regarding as the foremost Tory leader. James Butler – the first Duke of Ormond, and Irish statesman was also a Tory leader. Then came William Pitt the Younger, and Robert Jenkinson – the second Earl of Liverpool and British Statesman and Prime Minister and Arthur Wellesley, who served as Prime Minister twice. Robert Peel is also one of the well-known leaders of the Tory Party. He is known as the Father of Modern British Policing System.

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are battling it out to become the next prime minister after Boris Johnson was forced to quit following a series of scandals.

The winner will be decided by around 200,000 Conservative members, who will vote on the final two candidates over the summer.

Ex-chancellor Sunak has been backed by more MPs than Truss, but the foreign secretary is polling ahead of him with party members.

You have probably heard of the Conservative Party also being described as the «Tory party» in political coverage – but where does that name actually come from and what does it mean?

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Where does the word ‘Tory’ come from?

It originally comes from the Irish Gaelic word tóraidhe, which means outlaw, robber or brigand, and became a term of abuse for an Irish rebel.

It’s relation to the modern-day Conservative Party has been around for centuries, and the Tory Party originated during the reign of Charles II, specifically during the “Exclusion Crisis” from 1679 to 1681.

Parliament was split (sound familiar?) between the «Whigs», who wanted to exclude Charles’s brother, James, from becoming king because he was Roman Catholic, and the «Tories» who supported his claim to the throne.

The Tories won, and James became King James II.

READ MORE: Theresa May refuses to clap Boris Johnson in final dig during standing ovation

Initially, the Tories started supporting a Catholic heir’s rights to succession for the monarchy but later went on to be linked with Anglicanism. 

The Conservative Party was renamed the Conservative and Unionist Party in 1912 after they had allied with the Liberal Union party who opposed the Liberal Party’s stance on the Irish Home Rule.

The Irish Home Rule was a movement that campaigned for self-government for Ireland within the United Kingdom and Ireland which the Conservative and Unionist Party opposed.

However in 1922, Ireland’s independence was granted leading to the renaming of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland in 1927.

Under Sir Robert Peel, the term ‘Conservative’ in reference to the party was officially adopted in 1834. Peel was a two-time prime minister and founder of the Conservative Party. He modernised the party and reconfigured the key parts of old Tory tradition, claiming support for social reform and free trade.

However, despite the introduction of the new party name, ‘Tory’ stuck. The two terms became interchangeable and the older name was used in official titles such as Lord Hailsham’s ‘Toryism and Tomorrow’ 1957 lecture.

Although the party was founded in 1834, it had no written constitution until 1998.

The evolution of both words mirrors the great adaptability of the party, which is thought to be its greatest strength and reason for its enduring hold on power.

How is the term Tory used today?

The term Tory tends to be more derogatory in its usage than Conservative, and practically speaking it’s also a much shorter word. This is particularly useful for journalists writing headlines.

Political rivals tend to use the term Tory when attacking the party, for example referencing Tory austerity or Tory cuts.

As Britain’s oldest political party, Tory precedes the official Conservative name, but is still very much in use today.

This article is about politics in Canada and the United Kingdom. For other uses, see Tory (disambiguation).

A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The Tory ethos has been summed up with the phrase «God, King, and Country».^[1] Tories are monarchists, were historically of a high church Anglican religious heritage,^[2][3] and opposed to the liberalism of the Whig faction.

The philosophy originates from the Cavalier faction, a royalist group during the English Civil War. The Tories political faction that emerged in 1681 was a reaction to the Whig-controlled Parliaments that succeeded the Cavalier Parliament.^[4] As a political term, Tory was an insult derived from the Irish language, that later entered English politics during the Exclusion Crisis of 1678–1681.

It also has exponents in other parts of the former British Empire, such as the Loyalists of British America, who opposed US secession during the American War of Independence. The Loyalists who fled to the Canadas at the end of the American Revolution, the United Empire Loyalists, formed the support base for political cliques in Upper and Lower Canada.

Toryism remains prominent in Canada and the United Kingdom. The British Conservative Party and Conservative Party of Canada, and their members, continue to be referred to as Tories. Adherents to traditional Toryism in contemporary times are referred to as High Tories, who typically defend the ideas of hierarchy, natural order, and aristocracy.

Etymology[edit]

The word Tory originates from an Irish term that was phonetically anglicised.^[5][6] Several Irish words have been suggested as the etymological root for the word Tory. The Irish word toruidhe or toruighe, meaning «to pursue» or «to hunt», is suggested as the origin for the term Tory. From the 1500s to 1600s, the term Tory first emerged to refer to the Irish who were dispossessed of their lands and took to the woods, forming themselves into bands that subsisted on wild animals and goods taken from settlers.^[5] After these activities were suppressed, the term lost its original signification with English-speakers and was used to describe «an outlaw papist» or a «robber that is noted for outrages and cruelty».^[7][8][9] The Irish peasantry also used the term Tory to refer to an outlaw or a miscreant of any kind into the 19th century.^[10] However, because later Conservative and anti-revolutionary parties assumed the term Tory, it has also been suggested that the word originated from the Irish word toir, meaning to give, grant and bestow; or toirbhearl, meaning efficiency, bounty or munificence.^[6]

By the 1640s, the term was used in the English language to refer to dispossessed Irish Catholics.^[8] It was also used to refer to isolated Irish rebels and guerrillas resisting Oliver Cromwell’s Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649 to 1650), who were allied with Cavaliers through treaty with the Parliament of Confederate Ireland.^[11] It was later used to refer to dispossessed Catholic Irish in Ulster following the Restoration.^[8][12] Tory was also used to refer to a rapparee and later applied to Confederates or Cavaliers in arms.^[13]

The term Tory was first introduced in England by Titus Oates, who used the term to describe individuals from Ireland sent to assassinate Oates and his supporters. Oates continued to refer to his opponents as Tories until his death.^[10] The word entered English politics during the 1680s, emerging as a pejorative term to describe supporters of James II of England during the Exclusion Crisis and his hereditary right to inherit the throne despite his Catholic religion.^[8][9][14] After this, the term Tory began to be used as a colloquial term, alongside the word Whig, to describe the two major political factions/parties in British politics. Initially, both terms were used in a pejorative manner, although both later became acceptable terms to use in literary speech to describe either political party.^[6] The suffix -ism was quickly added to both Whig and Tory to make Whiggism and Toryism, meaning the principles and methods of each faction.

During the American Revolution, the term Tory was used interchangeably with the term Loyalists to refer to colonists who remained loyal to the Crown during that conflict.^[8] The term contrasts the colloquial term used to describe supporters of the revolution, Patriot.

Political history[edit]

Towards the end of Charles II’s reign (1660–1685) there was some debate about whether his brother, James, Duke of York, should be allowed to accede to the throne because of James’s Catholicism. «Whigs», originally a reference to Scottish cattle-drovers (stereotypically radical anti-Catholic Covenanters), was the abusive term directed at those who wanted to exclude James on the grounds that he was a Catholic. Those who were not prepared to exclude James were labelled «Abhorrers» and later «Tories». Titus Oates applied the term Tory, which then signified an Irish robber, to those who would not believe in his Popish Plot and the name gradually became extended to all who were supposed to have sympathy with the Catholic Duke of York.^[15]

United Kingdom[edit]

The Tory political faction originally emerged within the Parliament of England to uphold the legitimist rights of James II to succeed his brother Charles II to the thrones of the three kingdoms. James became a Catholic at a time when the state institutions were fiercely independent from the Catholic Church—this was an issue for the Exclusion Crisis supporting Patricians, the political heirs to the nonconformist Roundheads and Covenanters. During the Exclusion Crisis, the word Tory was applied in the Kingdom of England as a nickname to the opponents of the bill, called the Abhorrers. The word «Tory» had connotations of Papist and outlaw derived from its previous use in Ireland.^[16][17]

There were two Tory ministries after James II acceded to the throne: the first led by the Earl of Rochester, the second by Lord Belasyse. A significant faction took part in the Glorious Revolution the military coup d’etat that ousted James II with the Whigs to defend the Church of England and definitive Protestantism. A large but dwindling faction of Tories continued to support James in exile and his Stuart heirs to the throne, especially in 1714 after the Hanoverian Succession by George I, the first Hanoverian monarch. Although only a minority of Tories gave their adhesion to the Jacobite risings, this was used by the Whigs to discredit the Tories and paint them as traitors. After the advent of the Prime Ministerial system under the Whig Robert Walpole, Lord Bute’s premiership in the reign of George III marked a revival. Under the Corn Laws (1815–1846) a majority of Tories supported protectionist agrarianism with tariffs being imposed at the time for higher food prices, self-sufficiency and enhanced wages in rural employment.

English Tories from the time of the Glorious Revolution up until the Reform Act 1832 were characterised by strong monarchist tendencies, support for the Church of England and hostility to radical reform, while the Tory party was an actual organisation which held power intermittently throughout the same period.^[18] Conservatism began to emerge in the late 18th century—it synthesised moderate Whig economic policies and many Tory social values to create a new political philosophy and faction in opposition to the French Revolution. Edmund Burke and William Pitt the Younger led the way in this. Interventionism and strong armed forces were to prove a hallmark of Toryism under subsequent prime ministers. The word Conservative began to be used in place of Tory during the 1830s, as Robert Peel’s followers began to re-interpret elements of Tory tradition under a banner of support for social reform and free trade.^[14] The party was eventually succeeded by the Conservative and Unionist Party, with the term Tory enduring to become an interchangeable phrase with Conservative.^[14]

Canada[edit]

The term Tory was first used to designate the pre-Confederation British ruling classes of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, known as the Family Compact and the Château Clique, an elite within the governing classes and often members within a section of society known as the United Empire Loyalists. The United Empire Loyalists were American loyalists from the Thirteen Colonies who resettled elsewhere in British North America during or after the American Revolutionary War.

In post-Confederation Canada, the terms «Red Tory» and «Blue Tory» have long been used to describe the two wings of the Conservative and previously the Progressive Conservative (PC) parties. The dyadic tensions originally arose out of the 1854 political union of British-Canadian Tories, French-Canadian traditionalists and the monarchist and loyalist leaning sections of the emerging commercial classes at the time—many of whom were uncomfortable with the pro-American and annexationist tendencies within the liberal Clear Grits. Tory strength and prominence in the political culture was a feature of life in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Manitoba.^[19]

By the 1930s, the factions within Canadian Toryism were associated with either the urban business elites, or with rural traditionalists from the country’s hinterland. A «Red Tory» is a member of the more moderate wing of the party (in the manner of John Farthing and George Grant). They are generally unified by their adherence to British traditions in Canada.^[20]

Throughout the course of Canadian history, the Conservative Party was generally controlled by MacDonaldian Tory elements, which in Canada meant an adherence to the English-Canadian traditions of Monarchy, Empire-Commonwealth, parliamentary government, nationalism, protectionism, social reform and eventually acceptance of the necessity of the welfare state.^[21]

By the 1970s, the Progressive Conservative Party was a Keynesian-consensus party. With the onset of stagflation in the 1970s, some Canadian Tories came under the influence of neo-liberal developments in the United Kingdom and the United States, which highlighted the policies for privatization and supply-side interventions. In Canada, these tories have been labeled neoconservatives—which has a somewhat different connotation in the United States. By the early 1980s, there was no clear neoconservative in the Tory leadership cadre, but Brian Mulroney (who became leader in 1983) eventually came to adopt many policies from the Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan governments.^[22]

As Mulroney took the Progressive Conservative Party further in this direction, with policy initiatives in the areas of deregulation, privatization, free-trade and a consumption tax called the Goods and services tax (GST), many traditionally-minded Tories became concerned that a political and cultural schism was occurring within the party.

The 1986 creation of the Reform Party of Canada attracted some of the neo-liberals and social conservatives away from the Tory party and as some of the neoconservative policies of the Mulroney government proved unpopular, some of the provincial-rights elements moved towards Reform as well. In 1993, Mulroney resigned rather than fight an election based on his record after almost nine years in power. This left the Progressive Conservatives in disarray and scrambling to understand how to make Toryism relevant in provinces such as Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia that had never had a strong tory tradition and political culture.

Thereafter in the 1990s, the Progressive Conservatives were a small party in the House of Commons of Canada and could only exert legislative pressure on the government through their power in the Senate of Canada. Eventually, through death and retirements, this power waned. Joe Clark returned as leader, but the schism with the Reformers effectively watered down the combined Blue and Red Tory vote in Canada.

By the late 1990s, there was talk of the necessity of uniting the right in Canada, to deter further Liberal Party majorities. Many tories—both red and blue—opposed such moves, while others took the view that all would have to be pragmatic if there was any hope of reviving a strong party system. The Canadian Alliance party (as the Reform Party had become) and some leading tories came together on an informal basis to see if they could find common ground. While Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark rebuffed the notion, the talks moved ahead and eventually in December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative parties voted to rejoin into a new party called the Conservative Party of Canada.

After the merger of the Progressive Conservatives with the Canadian Alliance in 2003, there was debate as to whether the «Tory» appellation should survive at the federal level. Commentators speculated that some Alliance members would take offence to the term. Nevertheless, it was officially adopted by the merged party during the 2004 leadership convention. Stephen Harper, former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015, regularly refers to himself as a Tory and says the new party is a natural evolution of the conservative political movement.^[23][24] However, there were some dissident Red Tories who were against the merger. They formed the rival Progressive Canadian Party.

United States[edit]

The term «Loyalist» was used in the American Revolution for those who remained loyal to the British Crown. About 80% of the Loyalists remained in the United States after the war. The 60,000 or so Loyalists who settled in Nova Scotia, Quebec, the Bahamas, or returned to Great Britain after the American War of Independence are known as United Empire Loyalists.^[25]

On February 12, 1798, Thomas Jefferson (of the Democratic-Republican Party) described the conservative Federalist Party as «[a] political Sect […] believing that the executive is the branch of our government which the most needs support, [who] are called federalists, sometimes aristocrats or monocrats, and sometimes Tories, after the corresponding sect in the English Government of exactly the same definition».^[26] However, that was clearly a hostile description by the Federalists’ foes of whom Jefferson was one and not a name used by the Federalists themselves. The Federalist Party was dissolved in 1835 with no successor parties.

Later the Democratic-Republican Party splintered in different parties, with the two dissidences being the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. The rest of the party would become the Democratic Party. The Republican National Party would then merge with the Whig Party, giving rise to what would be called the Second Party System.^[27] Before the American Civil War two major parties dominated the political landscape: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party. A British traveler in the US at the time, due to the names of the parties being partially similar to of the parties of his homeland, could considered the Democrats at this time period to be the «American Tories»,^{[citation needed]} as the party that opposed them was called the «Whig Party» in addition to the fact that the Democratic Party of the epoch had positions considered conservative at the time (for example, it was against the abolition of slavery). But the term «tories» had already completely fallen out of favor in the US.

The Whig Party was dissolved in 1856, but before this year most Northern Whigs eventually joined the anti-slavery Republican Party and most Southern Whigs joined the nativist American Party (dissolved in 1860). After the war the then conservative Democratic Party and the then liberal Republican Party became the two major political parties in the country. During the 20th century the two parties had an ideological shift: the modern Republican Party became a conservative party, meanwhile the modern Democratic Party, on the other hand, became a liberal party (the meaning of «liberal» in the United States is often different from that known in other countries of the English-speaking world, as the word almost everywhere in the world refers to classical liberalism — which is even defended by Republicans —, in the United States it is used usually to describe advocates of interventionist policies aimed at social democracy or social liberalism).

Texas Revolution[edit]

In Texas in 1832–1836, support for the Texas Revolution was not unanimous. The «Tories» were men who supported the Mexican government. The Tories generally were long-term property holders whose roots were outside of the lower south. They typically had little interest in politics and sought conciliation rather than war. The Tories wanted to preserve the economic, political and social gains that they enjoyed as citizens of Mexico and the revolution threatened to jeopardize those gains.^[28]

Current usage[edit]

Tory has become shorthand for a member of the Conservative Party or for the party in general in Canada and the UK, and can be used interchangeably with the word Conservative.^[14]

North America[edit]

In the United States, Tory is often used as a historical term to describe supporters of Great Britain during the American Revolution. However, in Canadian parlance, British supporters during the revolution are called Loyalists, with the term Tory being used as a contemporary political term.^[29]

In Canada, a Tory refers to a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, while the party as a whole are colloquially referred to as the Tories.^[14][29] In addition to the federal party, the term has been used in Canada to refer to members of provincial Conservative/Progressive Conservative parties, or the party as a whole. It is also used to refer to the Conservative Party’s predecessor parties, including the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The term is used in contrast to the Grits, another colloquialism for the Liberal Party of Canada. LGBTory is an advocacy group for LGBT supporters of the Conservative Party of Canada and provincial conservative parties.

In Canada, the terms «Blue Tory» and «Red Tory» have been used to describe the two different factions of the federal and provincial conservative parties. The term «Purple Tory» was also used by the former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Tim Hudak, to describe himself. Hudak used the term «Purple Tory» in an effort to avoid a strong ideological stance, and to provide a conciliatory position between red tories and blue tories.^[30] In addition, the term «Pink Tory» is used in Canadian politics as a pejorative term to describe a member of the conservative party who is perceived as liberal.

United Kingdom[edit]

In the United Kingdom, the Conservative and Unionist Party is often colloquially referred to as the Tories, both by themselves and by opponents, and also in the media. Members and voters of the party are also often referred to as «Tories» as well. In Scotland, the term Tory is used to describe members and supporters of the Scottish Conservatives, or to accuse other parties of being insufficiently opposed to that party. For example, members and supporters of the Scottish Labour Party (especially those from the «Blairite» faction) may be referred to as Red Tories by traditional Labour members and advocates of an independent Scotland. Similarly, Labour supporters have referred to Scottish National Party members and supporters as being Tartan Tories.^[31]

The British Broadcasting Corporation’s own style guide permits the use of the term Tory, although requires the term Conservative be used in its first instance.^[14]

Australia[edit]

In Australia, Tory is occasionally used as a pejorative term by members of the Australian Labor Party to refer to conservative members of the Liberal Party of Australia and National Party of Australia parties (who are in a long-standing coalition).^[32] The term is not used anywhere near as often as in the UK and Canada, and it is rare – though not unheard of – for members of those parties to self-describe as «Tories». Chief Justice Garfield Barwick titled his memoir A Radical Tory.^[33] A moderate faction of the Australian Greens has been pejoratively dubbed the Tree Tories by the hard left faction.^[34][35]

Modern proponents[edit]

• Cornerstone Group – Conservative Party (UK) faction
• The Dorchester Review – history and commentary magazine founded in Canada
• The Salisbury Review – political quarterly founded in the United Kingdom

See also[edit]

• Tory socialism
• Tory Party (disambiguation)

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• W. Christian and C. Campbell (eds), Parties, Leaders and Ideologies in Canada
• J. Farthing, Freedom Wears a Crown
• G. Grant, Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism
• G. Horowitz, «Conservatism, Liberalism and Socialism in Canada: An Interpretation», CJEPS (1966)
• Joyce, P. W. (2018). The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places. Creative Media. ISBN 9781377939018.

External links[edit]

• Tory Act University of Tulsa; Order of the Continental Congress, Philadelphia, 2 January 1776
• The Elections in England—Tories and Whigs Marxists.org (Karl Marx in the New York Tribune, 1852)

A Tory ( English [tɔːri] , most Tories , most German and Tories ) is a supporter of conservatism in the United Kingdom with a positive attitude to the British monarchy . Originally these were the opponent of the liberal Whigs in the UK which differs from a loose grouping ( Court Party to German court party ) to the so-called Tory Party developed.

History of the Original Tories

The terms Tory and Whig came up in 1679 when the future King James II was to be excluded from the line of succession by the Exclusion Bill because he was a Catholic. In contrast to the Whigs, the Tories did not want exclusion from the line of succession, with which they also represented the opinion of the then King Charles II . As a result of the Glorious Revolution of 1688/89, the Tories came closer to the Whigs, so that they now also aspired to a more moderate, constitutional monarchy . Under Queen Anne , the Tories increasingly advocated the Anglican Church . Since they decided against the future King George I on the question of the successor to Anne , the Tories lost influence over the Whigs. Both parties eventually ceased to exist as a separate group. A new Tory Party, headed by William Pitt the Younger , was formed in 1783.

Other uses of the term

Today, the members of the Conservative Party of the British Parliament or their supporters and sympathizers Tories are mentioned above all . The Conservatives in Canada are also commonly referred to as «Tories», today mainly the supporters of the Conservative Party . Before and during the American War of Independence , the supporters of the monarchy and the King of England in the North American colonies were known as «Tories» or as loyalists .

Word origin

The exact origin of the word is not completely clear, but in some places it can be read that the name is a blurring of the Irish call: «Tar a rí» , which means «Come, O King»; this was the battle cry of the supporters («cavaliers») of King Charles I of England in the English Civil War . Scientific sources derive the word from the Middle Irish word tóraidhe , neuirisch TORAI — » Outlaw «, «cops» from the Irish Toir , «persecution» ago that outlaws «pursued were Men». A Tory was originally an Irish peasant dispossessed by English settlers in the 17th century , who then roamed around and robbed. The term denoted disenfranchised losers who in turn no longer respected rights.

See also

• List of UK Prime Ministers — it shows when the country was ruled by a Tory Prime Minister
• United Kingdom Political System
• List of parties in the United Kingdom

Individual evidence

1. ^ Article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica on Whigs and Tories
2. ↑ So with effect on the German-speaking area Georg Quabbe , Tar a Ri. Variations on a conservative theme , Berlin 1927.
3. ^ Entry «Tory» from Webster’s New World Dictionary & Thesaurus , version 2.0 for PC, 1998; Entry «Tory» from Answers.com online dictionary.
4. ↑ Tory . In: Oxford English Dictionary . Retrieved June 20, 2014.