1710

1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710

political events

Britain achieves her first clean-cut peaceful transfer of power. The Conservative Party wins a clear majority in the October parliamentary elections and ousts the Whig government headed by the duke of Marlborough. The Tory cause has gained popular support as the result of the trial and conviction in March of political preacher Henry Sacheverell, who has attacked the Whig ministry, been impeached at the instigation of Lord Treasurer Sidney Godolphin, and suspended from preaching for 3 years. An ally of Marlborough who has remained loyal to the Jacobite cause, Godolphin is dismissed by Queen Anne, who replaces him with Robert Harley, 48, a former Whig who has gradually changed his political views to become the leader of the Tory and Anglican party. The queen has gradually been soured on Marlborough through the subtle intrigues of Abigail, Lady Masham (née Hill), a cousin of the queen's onetime court favorite Sarah Churchill. Lady Marlborough introduced Cousin Abigail to the court but has now been displaced by her as confidante to the queen and the power behind the throne.

British forces occupy Acadia again but leave the French Acadians in peace (see 1632; 1711 Nova Scotia, 1713).

Robert Hunter arrives at New York June 14 to take over the duties of provincial governor of New York and New Jersey (see 1709). Now 43, Hunter will be governor until 1720, insisting on parliamentary legislation for colonial finance. Governor Hunter's fleet of eight ships brings more than 2,800 Palatine Germans to settle on the Hudson and produce naval stores. The Germans were driven from their homes by French invaders and seek refuge in America. About 470 have died on the voyage, and the survivors are not permitted to set foot in the city, whose population is now close to 6,000. A committee whose members include colonist Robert Livingston has been appointed to manage the affairs of the Palatines, and they are directed to land on Nutten (Governors) Island, where carpenters set up temporary houses and a hospital (see 1711).

Colonel Peter Schuyler of the New York colony takes five Iroquois chiefs to the court of Queen Anne to impress them with Britain's power.

human rights, social justice

English woman of letters Lady Mary Pierrepont, 21, writes July 10 to Bishop Burnet, "I am not now arguing for an equality of the two sexes. I do not doubt God and nature have thrown us into an inferior rank; we are a lower part of the creation, we owe obedience and submission to the superior sex, and any woman who suffers her vanity and folly to deny this, rebels against the law of the Creator, and the indisputable order of nature." Daughter of the 5th earl of Kingston, Lady Mary has taught herself Latin, speaks it as well as any man, and is better read than most. To her suitor, Edward Wortley Montagu, 32, who has tried to determine the size of her dowry, she writes in November, "People in my way are sold like slaves; and I cannot tell what price my master will put on me." Wortley Montagu is a close friend of London essayists Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele (see 1712).

exploration, colonization

Explorer Daniel Greysolon, sieur Duluth (or Du Lhut), dies at Montreal the night of February 25 at age 70 (approximate).

technology

Pennsylvania "Dutch" gunsmiths in the next decade will develop the Pennsylvania rifle, whose spiral bore will make it far more accurate than the smooth-bored muskets used by hunters and military forces in most of the world.

science

Astronomer Ole Römer (Roemer) dies at Copenhagen September 23 at age 65, having served as mayor, senator, and head of the kingdom's state council. He reordered Denmark's system of measuring and registration and introduced a new, rational system for numbers and weights (the previous system was so confusing that it hampered trade).

literature

A British copyright law established by Queen Anne will be the basis of all future copyright laws. It provides protection for 14 years and copyright can be renewed for 14 years.

Nonfiction: Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge by Irish philosopher George Berkeley, 25, inaugurates the empiricist school of philosophy. He first propounded his system of subjective idealism (Berkeleianism) last year in "An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision."

theater, film

Theater: The Rival Queens; with The Humours of Alexander the Great by Colley Cibber (burlesque), in June at London's Haymarket Theatre.

Britain's new copyright law provides little or no protection for playwrights, most of whom sell their works to theaters or publishers for small sums and depend for their living on benefit performances (see 1833).

architecture, real estate

St. Paul's Cathedral is completed at London to designs by Sir Christopher Wren, now 77, and Nicholas Hawksmoor, now 49 (see 1667).

London's Marlborough House is completed in Westminster to designs by Sir Christopher Wren.

Castle Howard is completed in Yorkshire for Charles Howard, 36, 3rd earl of Carlisle. Designed by John Vanbrugh with help from Nicholas Hawksmoor, the imposing country house has taken 9 years to construct.

Venice's baroque Palazzo Ca'Pesaro is completed for the powerful Pesaro family to designs by the late Baldassare Longhena.

food and drink

Britain imports 60,000 pounds of tea, up from about 20,000 in 1700. By the end of the century, the figure will have topped 20 million pounds (not counting the considerable quantities smuggled in from France) as tea becomes a respectable alternative to beer and wine in a time when it is still unsafe to drink unboiled water (see 1797).

Britain's new copyright law has no effect on cookbooks, whose authors continue to plagiarize each other's work, repeating the same recipes over and over again and pirating new ones, often without changing a word.

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