Daniel Foe was born in the formative moment of capitalist Britain and into the class that would do the most to bring it about, the merchant class of the City of London who were leading and profiting from the expansion of internal and colonial trade and whose wealth would soon force a potentially revolutionary confrontation with the power of the Crown. Foe's father, James, was a Presbyterian who had come to London, served an apprenticeship as a tallow chandler and become a successful merchant and freeman of the City of London. It is believed Daniel was destined for the Presbyterian ministry since he attended one of its noted training establishments, the Reverend James Fisher's school in Dorking, Surrey, but at 14 he moved to the Reverend …

2298 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "Daniel Defoe". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 October 2000 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5210, accessed 23 November 2024.]

5210 Daniel Defoe 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.