Constructing Ionian identities: the Ionian Islands in British official ...

Chapter 2: The critics of the Constitution of 1817.
Introduction
Reactions to the Ionian constitution were varied in the years that followed.
Three reactions stood out: the British parliamentary debates on the Ionian
Constitution four years after it was adopted; criticisms of Maitland’s conduct of
government in the Islands made by a senior British official William Henry in 1820;
and the sustained challenge from a native Ionian, Ioannis Capodistria, between 1818-
1820. These critics challenged Maitland’s administrative competence, power and
responsibility, authority and legitimacy over the Ionian people.
British Parliamentary reactions to Maitland’s rule in the Islands (1818-1824)
Between 1816-1824 the House of Commons held five debates about the Ionian
Islands. Three of these were instigated by the Radical MP Joseph Hume. 1 An analysis
1 There were several debates over the issue. Radicalism in Britain was a multi faced phenomenon, but
many Radicals in the first half of the nineteenth century held common adversaries and temperament
such as a dislike for landed aristocracy and Church and their privileges and a sense of urgency on the
need for parliamentary reform, such as manhood suffrage, the secret ballot, annual parliamentary
elections, equal electoral districts, and free trade. In the 1830s and 1840s Radicalism centred around
the activities of the Anti-Corn Law League, the Owenites, and Chartism. On foreign policy some
supported a non-intervention policy, while others supported intervention and war for idealistic
reasons. The majority of Radicals also supported the Empire, arguing for concessions on
constitutional liberties, and reducing the military costs for British taxpayers. Thompson D., The Early
Chartists, (London, 1971); Royle E., Radical Politics 1790-1900: Religion and Unbelief, (London,
1971). On Radicals and British foreign policy, see Taylor J. P., The Trouble Makers: Dissent over
Foreign Policy 1792-1939, (Bloomington, 1958); Brock P., “Polish Democrats and English Radicals
1832-1862: A Chapter in the History of Anglo-Polish Relations” in Journal of Modern History, 25,
(1953), pp. 139-156. On radical support for the European national movements in Hungary, Poland and
Italy, see Finn M., After Chartism: Class and Nation in English Radical Politics 1848-1874,
(Cambridge, 1993); O’Connor M., The Romance of Italy. On Radicals and Empire see Taylor M., The
Decline of British Radicalism, 1847-1860, (Oxford, 1995); Burroughs P., “Parliamentary Radicals and
the Reduction of Imperial Expenditure in British North America, 1827-1834”, Historical Journal, 11,
(1968), pp. 446-461.
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