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Whig and Tory
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Full-length portrait of King George III in a red military uniform and black bicorne hat, standing outdoors with a distant building and cloudy sky in the background. William Pitt the Younger Charles James Fox Benjamin Disraeli William Ewart Gladstone
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Full-length portrait of King George III in a red military uniform and black bicorne hat, standing outdoors with a distant building and cloudy sky in the background.
George III George III.

Whig and Tory

historical political party, England
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History

Whig and Tory, members of two opposing political parties or factions in England, particularly during the 18th century. Originally “Whig” and “Tory” were terms of abuse introduced in 1679 during the heated struggle over the bill to exclude James, duke of York (afterward James II), from the succession. Whig—whatever its origin in Scottish Gaelic—was a term applied to horse thieves and, later, to Scottish Presbyterians; it connoted nonconformity and rebellion and was applied to those...

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