English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution

  1. Elizabeth I Successor
  2. No direct successor
  3. Crown went to nearest relative – James VI of Scotland – James I of England
  4. England remained Protestant.
  1. James I
  2. Financial Problems
  3. Little income
  4. Had to rely on Parliament
  5. Had no tact – offended Parliament regularly
  1. Puritans
  2. Wanted James to “purify” Church of England – thought it was too “Catholic” in it’s practices
  3. Puritans began to ban together against James I
  1. Major accomplishment was having a translation of the Bible created which lasted throughout history.
  1. Charles I
  2. Son of James
  3. Same financial problems, many caused by war
  4. Kept dissolving Parliament when they wouldn’t agree with him
  5. 1628 Charles had to call Parliament together for funds
  6. Parliament forced Charles to sign Petition of Right
  7. no imprisonment without due cause
  8. no levying taxes without Parliament’s consent
  9. no quartering of soldiers in private homes
  10. no martial law in peacetime
  11. Charles signed and ignored it. Disssolved Parliament
  12. Forced people to give him loans to get money
  1. Civil War Breaks Out
  2. Charles made many mistakes that made him unpopular
  3. Offended powerful Puritans
  4. Tried to force Presbyterian Scots to convert to Anglican practices – Scots rebelled and threatened to invade England
  5. Charles then needed money to raise an army to fight the Scots off – had to call Parliament
  6. Parliament passed laws to limit the royal power
  7. Charles tried to arrest Parliament’s leaders (who escaped)
  8. Many English people rebelled – Charles had to leave London
  9. Charles raised an army in north England – English Civil War begins.
  1. Cavaliers Vs Roundheads
  2. Cavaliers – Loyal to the monarch
  3. Roundheads – Loyal to the Puritans – Leader was Oliver Cromwell – Army was the New Model Army
  4. Cromwell and Puritans win the war, arrest Charles I, try him for treason against Parliament, and behead him.
  1. Cromwell’s Reign
  2. Cromwell abolished monarchy and established a commonwealth (republican form of government) but in essence ruled England as a dictator.
  3. Cromwell attacked Irish rebellion with great cruelty, gave Irish land to English citizens.
  4. Tried to “purify” England by
  5. outlawing entertainment – plays, card games, walking in the park, closed pubs after supper, dancing, sports
  6. allowed all formed of Christianity except Catholicism
  7. Did allow Jews to return to England
  8. Rules until his death because he was decisive and organized, but the people of England had had enough. When his son tried to take over they refused to allow him to and returned to a Parliamentary monarchy by asking Charles I’s son to rule. He became Charles II.
  1. Charles II
  2. Restoration – era is called this because he restored the monarchy
  3. Passed Habeas Corpus law –
  4. gave every prisoner the right to obtain a writ or order that he be brought before a judge to hear the specific charges against them.
  5. This guaranteed that no one could beheld prisoner indefinitely.
  6. Judge decided if the prisoner should be tried or set free.
  1. Charles II Successor
  2. He had no children
  3. His brother James was considered a Catholic
  4. First political parties of England –
  5. Whigs – those who opposed James as next king
  6. Tories – those who supported James
  7. James becomes king – James II of England
  1. James II
  2. Openly sympathetic to Catholics
  3. appointed Catholics to high offices (against the law)
  4. Dissolved Parliament (even though rules said he couldn’t)
  5. James and his first wife (a Protestant) had two daughters – Mary and Anne
  6. James and his second wife (a Catholic) had a son
  1. Glorious Revolution
  2. English people terrified that the son would be raised Catholic and convert England back to Catholicism (here we go again!)
  3. James II’s oldest daughter, Mary was currently married to Prince William of Orange (Netherlands)
  4. Seven members of Parliament invited William and Mary to overthrow James (for the Protestant cause)
  5. William and Mary agreed – their battleships sailed for England
  6. James II became so scared that he fled England without a fight – Bloodless Revolution also known as Glorious Revolution
  1. Constitutional Monarch
  2. Conditions for William and Mary to rule had to sign the Bill of Rights 1689 – monarch agreed to
  3. no suspending of Parliament’s laws
  4. no taxes without a specific grant from Parliament
  5. no interfering with freedom of speech in Parliament
  6. no penalty for citizens who petition the king about grievances
  1. Cabinet System
  2. After 1688 no monarch could rule without consent of Parliament
  3. Parliament could not rule without consent of the monarch
  4. In 1700’s the above stalemate solved by development of the cabinet
  5. Cabinet made up of officials who represented the majority party in Parliament but acted in the ruler’s name
  6. Over time the cabinet became the center of power and policymaking