John bright biography wikipedia

ohn Bright was born in Rochdale in 1811, the son of a Quaker cotton spinner. He was educated at a succession of Quaker schools in the north of England, where he developed a lifelong love of the Bible and of the 17th-century English Puritan poets, especially Milton.

John bright biography wikipedia

Quaker beliefs shaped his politics, which consisted mainly of demands for an end to social, political, or religious inequalities between individuals and between peoples. The Brights were benevolent employers, but their faith in self-help and independence placed Bright at the head of the manufacturers who opposed factory legislation, trade unions, and social reform.

While still in his 20s he had led a successful campaign in Rochdale against the payment of compulsory taxes for the Anglican Church.

When the Anti-Corn-Law League was formed in 1839 he became one of the leading members and worked closely with Richard Cobden in the campaign for the repeal of the Corn Laws. By 1841 he had emerged as the chief supporting speake