Pitt (the Younger), William

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Pitt (the Younger), William (1759–1806) British statesman, prime minister (1783–1801, 1804–06). The second son of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, he entered Parliament in 1781, became chancellor of the exchequer in 1782 and shortly after became Britain's youngest prime minister, aged 24. Pitt's reputation rests chiefly on his financial and commercial reforms in the 1780s that restored British prosperity and prestige after the disaster of the American Revolution. During his first administration, the India Act (1784), the Constitutional Act (1791) dividing Canada into French and English provinces, and the Act of Union with Ireland (1800) were passed. Pitt resigned in the face of George III's refusal to consider Catholic Emancipation. In 1804, he returned to power and continued to hold office until his death. His second ministry was marked by coalition with Russia, Sweden and Austria against Napoleon I. Pitt stoutly defended his Tory views against his arch Whig rival, Charles James Fox.

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