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Prime Minister Robert Harley

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(The way a Pamphlet looked)

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(City of Edinburgh)

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Defoe was convinced he would have never been free again because of his crimes, but everything changed when he met Prime Minister Robert Harley who proposed him to work as a spy in the Whig party on behalf of the crown in exchange for freedom, money and amnesty.

Defoe accepted and decided to found a new journal named "The Review" and that gave him the pretext to travel around Britain.

He played a main role in convincing the Scottish Parliament to sign the Act of Union of 1707, a treaty that unified Scotland and England.

He used his journal as a mean of propaganda, while staying in touch with the crown.

He stayed in Edinburgh for a while to monitor the separatist actions and notify any sort of uprising.

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In 1701 he wrote a political satire called “The True-Born Englishman” in which he legitimized William of Orange’s succession to the throne ridiculing the English people and Tories for their xenophobia.

In 1702 he wrote an ironic pamphlet called "The Shortest Way with Dissenters" mocking the bigotry of Tories and their religious discrimination. The new queen, Anne, perceived it as threatening so she got Defoe arrested with the accusation of defamation of the English Church.

He was brought to the pillory three times, but he got flowers thrown at him.

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Daniel Defoe, began his political career in the Whig Party as he respected their fight for freedom and their cosmopolitan ideals.

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House of Commons from The Microcosm of London vol1

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Daniel Defoe was born in London in 1660 into a family of Dissenters.
When he was younger he studied a lot to undertake a career as a merchant.
He often failed his businesses and in 1692 he went bankrupt.
He was able to slowly repay his debt with desperate businesses, like a brick factory and wine trading. He then began working as a spy for the government and, in the last period of his life, he wrote his novels, like Robinson Crusoe, Colonel Jack, Roxana...
He died in 1731 in London.