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Liberty and Peace in the Life and Works of Richard Cobden
This List Is By:
Dr. David M. Hart
Liberty Fund, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Director of the Online Library of Liberty Project at Liberty Fund, Inc.
B.A. (Macquarie), M.A. (Stanford), PhD (King’s College Cambridge).
Richard Cobden was a leading British 19th century classical liberal who worked to bring about free trade, government reform, and peace. This colloquium will explore various aspects of Cobden’s life, in particular his ideas on free trade, limited government, war and peace, and the American Civil War.
For additional reading see:
- Subject Area: War and Peace
- School of Thought: The Manchester School of Economics
- Richard Cobden (1804-1865)
Session I: Free Trade (Reading 1)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance. Chapter: FREE TRADE. V. LONDON, SEPTEMBER 28, 1843.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/927/104869 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session I: Free Trade (Reading 2)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance. Chapter: FREE TRADE. X. LONDON, MAY 8, 1844.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/927/104874 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session I: Free Trade (Reading 3)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance. Chapter: FREE TRADE. XIX. LONDON, DECEMBER 17, 1845.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/927/104883 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session II: Limited Government (Reading 1)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance. Chapter: FINANCE. II. MANCHESTER, JANUARY 10, 1849.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/927/104892 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session II: Limited Government (Reading 2)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 2 War, Peace, and Reform. Chapter: PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. V. ROCHDALE, AUGUST 18, 1859.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/931/104921 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session II: Limited Government (Reading 3)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 2 War, Peace, and Reform. Chapter: EDUCATION. III. MANCHESTER, DECEMBER 1, 1851.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/931/104924 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session II: Limited Government (Reading 4)
John Morley, The Life of Richard Cobden (London: T. Fisher Unwiin, 1903). Chapter: Cobden to W. C. Hunt on the Hours of Labour.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/1742/90632 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session III: Peace and War (Reading 1)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 1 Free Trade and Finance. Chapter: FINANCE. IV. INTERNATIONAL REDUCTION OF ARMAMENTS. HOUSE OF COMMONS, JUNE 17, 1851.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/927/104894 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session III: Peace and War (Reading 2)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 2 War, Peace, and Reform. Chapter: PEACE. I. WREXHAM, NOVEMBER 14, 1850.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/931/104914 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session III: Peace and War (Reading 3)
Richard Cobden, Speeches on Questions of Public Policy by Richard Cobden, M.P., ed. by John Bright and J.E. Thorold Rogers with a Preface and Appreciation by J.E. Thorold Rogers and an Appreciation by Goldwin Smith (London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1908). 2 volumes in 1. Vol. 2 War, Peace, and Reform. Chapter: PEACE. II. MANCHESTER, JANUARY 27, 1853.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/931/104915 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session III: Peace and War (Reading 4)
This chapter comes from longer work entitled “Russia” (1836).
Richard Cobden, The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, with a Preface by Lord Welby, Introductions by Sir Louis Mallet, C.B., and William Cullen Bryant, Notes by F.W. Chesson and a Bibliography, vol. 1, (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1903). Chapter: CHAPTER IV: protection of commerce
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/82/39701 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session IV: Cobden’s View of the U.S. and the Civil War (Reading 1)
This reading comes from a work entitled “England, Ireland, and America” (1835).
The second reading for this session is Hobson, J A, Richard Cobden: The International Man, (London: T Fisher Unwin, 1919) “The Civil War and The Sumner Letters” (Extracts) - not available online
Richard Cobden, The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, with a Preface by Lord Welby, Introductions by Sir Louis Mallet, C.B., and William Cullen Bryant, Notes by F.W. Chesson and a Bibliography, vol. 1, (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1903). Chapter: Part III: america.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/82/39688 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session VI: Contemporary and Subsequent Views of Cobden (Reading 1)
Also read M Paul Leroy-Beaulieu “Richard Cobden: His Work and the Outcome of His Ideas” in Richard Cobden and the Jubilee of Free Trade, (London: T Fisher Unwin, 1896) pgs 77-126 - not available online.
Richard Cobden, The Political Writings of Richard Cobden, with a Preface by Lord Welby, Introductions by Sir Louis Mallet, C.B., and William Cullen Bryant, Notes by F.W. Chesson and a Bibliography, vol. 1, (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1903). Chapter: INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION By Sir Louis Mallet, C.B.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/82/39677 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session V: Critical Views (Reading 1)
Archibald Alison, Essays: Political, Historical, and Miscellaneous, (Edinburgh: Blackwoods, 1850) pgs, 362-388 and 618-660 - not available online
Friedrich List “Introduction” to The National System of Political Economy in Margaret E Hirst The life of Friedrich List (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1909) pgs, 286-318 - not available online. Or read an alternate version of the Introduction to List’s The National System of Political Economy which we do have online below.
Friedrich List, The National System of Political Economy by Friedrich List, trans. Sampson S. Lloyd, with an Introduction by J. Shield Nicholson (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1909). Chapter: SOME EXTRACTS FROM THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/315/30239 on 2008-02-06
The text is in the public domain.