'Liberty has an Asylum': John Jebb, British Radicalism and the American Revolution

Through a close examination of how a leading English radical perceived the conflict between colonies and parliament, this article adds to our understanding of the process in which the American Revolution influenced the ideology and confidence of British radicals. The example set by the Americans encouraged John Jebb in his agitation for radical religious, educational and political reform, and led him to advocate universal manhood suffrage. Jebb imagined that America was a bastion of enlightened civic vir-tue, an impression strengthened by his acquaintance with the first American minister to Britain, John Adams.