Objections to the British Funding-System and the National Debt 1793-1821: A New Perspective

After more than two decades of warfare with France between 1793 and 1815 the British National Debt stood at £844,300,000, over 200% of GDP.1 Where did this money come from? Using often overlooked contemporary objections to the workings of the British funding-system a surprising paradox is explored. A paradox centred around the fact that the government’s ostensible creditors often had, in reality, very little ‘real’ money to lend. Indeed, they were often reliant for their own solvency upon the very government they were lending to. By viewing the workings of the British funding-system not only through the prism of economic developments, but also through the prism of power relations, it is demonstrated how the objections raised towards this system contain many pertinent observations that remain relevant over two centuries later.