From Sedgemoor to Netherwood: History from Below

This chapter looks at Morton’s overlooked but central role in the development of “history from below” and labour history, and how his work anticipated E. P. Thompson’s Making of the English Working Class. This chapter turns to the important Historians’ Group gathering at Netherwood and Morton’s much appreciated presentation on “The Role of the Common People in the History of British CapitalismCapitalism.” Influenced by Iris MorleyMorley, Iris and Dona TorrTorr, Dona, there is discussion of how Morton’s thinking in the 1950s functioned as a qualification of his earlier critiques of ultraleftismUltraleftism in A People’s History of EnglandMorton, Arthur LeslieBooks and pamphlets: (1938). This is shown through a comparison between his 1938 book and his publications in the 1950s on the topics of, e.g., the “left-wing” of the English RevolutionEnglish Revolution, Sedgemoor and 1688, ChartismChartism, the role of women in history, the importance of lost causes, and the present-day possibilities for realising the past potential for the transformation of England. During this period, Morton developed his construction of an English radical traditionEnglish radical tradition from John BallBall, John to the Communist-led working class.