A Journal of the Plague Year Read Online

Window tax imposed in England. Licensing Act lapses, suspending formal censorship of the press.

1697

Defoe publishes first major work, An Essay upon Projects.

Treaty of Ryswick ends War of the League of Augsburg. Louis XIV recognizes William III as king of England.

1698

Lex Talionis; or, An Enquiry into the most Proper Ways to Prevent the Persecution of the Protestants in France.

Launch of Darien scheme, an unsuccessful attempt by Scotland to establish a colony on the isthmus of Panama.

1701

Defoe becomes a household name with publication of The True-Born Englishman, a verse satire defending William III.

James II dies in exile. Louis XIV declares his grandson king of Spain, invades the Spanish Netherlands, and recognizes James II’s son as James III.

1702

The Shortest Way with the Dissenters, a satire on the extremism of High Church Tories such as the preacher Henry Sacheverell, leads to issue of a warrant for Defoe’s arrest.

Death of William III and accession of Queen Anne. Outbreak of War of Spanish Succession, fought by a European coalition, including England, to prevent the Bourbon dynasty inheriting the Spanish throne.

1703

Defoe imprisoned and pilloried for his authorship of The Shortest Way, released after intervention by Robert Harley, Speaker of the House of Commons and Secretary of State, but now financially ruined.

Southern England battered by the great storm of 26–7 November.

1704

Harley recruits Defoe as a political agent. Defoe publishes The Storm and launches the Review, a periodical on politics, trade, and religion (1704–13).

Whigs secure electoral victories, bringing the Whig Junto to power. British Forces capture Gibraltar and defeat the French at the Battle of Blenheim.

1706

Defoe publishes Jure Divino, a verse satire on arbitrary rule. Second bankruptcy. Sent to Scotland to advance the interests of political union with England, and publishes vigorously in this cause until 1710.

English, Dutch, and German troops defeat the French at the Battle of Ramillies. French fleet destroyed in Toulon.

1707

Defoe is closely involved in political manoeuvres and negotiations leading to the Union.

Act of Union between England and Scotland creates the unitary state of Great Britain.

1708

Defoe reports to London on elections in Scotland, and serves the new ministry under Sidney Godolphin until 1710.

Attempted Jacobite landing at the Firth of Forth. General election brings in a moderate Whig and Tory administration.

1709

Publishes The History of the Union of Great Britain.

Copyright Act establishes limited protection of literary property.

1710

Defoe returns to Scotland to calm fears over High Church Tory extremism in England. He serves Robert Harley’s ministry 1710–14.

Impeachment trial of Sacheverell. Whigs lose their majority in parliament. Harley becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer and starts secret peace talks with France.

1711

Defoe makes his final visit to Scotland. Publishes An Essay on the History of Parties, reviewing past legislation against Dissenters and attacking the Bill against Occasional Conformity.

South Sea Company established. Occasional Conformity Act prevents Dissenters and Catholics from taking occasional Anglican communion to qualify for public office.

1713

Defoe suffers further arrests for debt and, following publication of Reasons against the Succession of the House of Hanover and two other ironic tracts, seditious libel; successfully petitions Queen Anne for pardon.

Treaty of Utrecht ends War of the Spanish Succession. Britain secures the Asiento, the monopoly on trading slaves to Spanish America. General election results in a massive Tory victory.

1714

Defoe writes in defence of his patron Harley, against charges of high treason.

Schism Act requires all teachers to conform to Church of England. Death of Anne and accession of George I, inaugurating Whig political supremacy until 1760.

1715

Defoe’s career as a hired party writer drawing to a close. Publishes volume i of The Family Instructor, his first conduct manual, and a partly autobiographical text, An Appeal to Honour and Justice.

Major Jacobite rebellion in Scotland. With Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke, Robert Harley is impeached for treason. Bolingbroke flees to France.

1716

Defoe edits Mercurius Politicus (1716–20), a moderate Tory monthly journal.

Upsurge in piracy on the eastern seaboard of North America at about this time.

1717

Defoe writes for Nathaniel Mist’s Tory Weekly Journal (1717–19).

Failure of the impeachment trial against Harley.

1718

Publishes A Continuation of Letters Written by a Turkish Spy at Paris and volume ii of The Family Instructor.

Austria, Britain, France, and the United Provinces launch War of the Quadruple Alliance (to 1720) to halt Spain’s territorial ambitions in Italy.

1719

Defoe founds Whig journal the Manufacturer, which runs from January to September. Publishes Robinson Crusoe (April) and The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (August).

Scheme for colonizing the mouth of the Orinoco is published in Mist’s Weekly Journal. British troops defeat a Jacobite force at Glen Shiel. Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts repealed.

1720

Defoe pursues his career as novelist with Memoirs of a Cavalier, Captain Singleton, Serious Reflections … of Robinson Crusoe; 18–22 August: The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.

South Sea Bubble provokes stock market collapse and financial scandal. Quarantine to stop spread of plague from Marseilles, where 40,000–60,000 die.

1721–2

Defoe is now earning an estimated £1,000 or more per annum from his activities with various political journals.

Atterbury Plot, a Jacobite conspiracy involving Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester.

1722

Defoe leases several hundred acre near Colchester, Essex. Publishes Moll Flanders, Religious Courtship, A Journal of the Plague Year, Colonel Jack.

Robert Walpole becomes de facto Prime Minister, using revelation of the Atterbury Plot to discredit the Tories and consolidate his grip on power.

1723

Defoe starts an abortive plan to establish a tile works.

Bolingbroke returns from exile. Waltham Black Act adds fifty capital offences to penal code.

1724

Defoe publishes Roxana, A New Voyage round the World, and volume i of A Tour thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain (volume ii, 1725; volume iii, 1726).

Thomas Longman purchases the stock and household goods of William Taylor, publisher of Robinson Crusoe, for £2,282 9s. 6d.

1725

Defoe undergoes a successful operation to remove bladder stones. Publishes volume i of The Complete English Tradesman (volume ii, 1727).

Treaty of Vienna: Austria pledges to assist Spain in recovering Gibraltar from Britain.