William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was born on 28 May 1759

William Pitt the Younger was a Tory of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Prime Minister from 1783 to 1801, and again from 1804 until his death,
(he was first minister, as the title of Prime Minister was not made official until 1905).

 Rein of George III,  

Son of fellow PM "William Pitt the Elder".

He was the youngest man ever to hold this office 24

He always considered himself to be an "independent Whig".

He represented a rotten borough, he pursued parliamentary reforms to make the institution more democratic, given that only land-owners and potwallopers could vote. He also favoured abolition of the slave trade.

He served in high office at a time when Parliament gave no wages, Pitt's family were not wealthy and as a younger son his own inheritance was a modest one.

Pitt failed to achieve all of the reforms he wanted, like Catholic emancipation and the abolition of slavery, but he promoted freedom and human dignity at a time when many opposed the notion of equal value, and argued that European superiority gave them the right to rule the world.



His first major piece of legislation as Prime Minister was the India Act 1784, which reorganized the British East India Company and kept a watch over corruption.

Pitt had to concern himself was the national debt thanks to the rebellion of the North American colonies. Pitt imposed new taxes.

After the French Revolution began in 1789, French nationalists vowed to help other European revolutions.

On February 1, 1793, the French declared war on Great Britain, forcing Pitt to declare war on France.

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