2011 Development of a Constitutional Monarchy in Britain

Group Presentations Notes for Graphic Organizer

James I• Conflicts with Parliament/Abuses of Power:• Believed in Divine Right of Kings, which Parliament rejected• The Puritans did not like his strong defense of the Church of England---wished to

remove all traces of Catholicism• This alienated the members of the House of Commons who were mostly Puritans• James inherited a great debt from Queen Elizabeth, and then added to the debt

by spending money on clothes, playing off the debts of his three favorites at a cost of 44,000 pounds, and giving Scottish nobles who visited him in England another 100,000 pounds

• Spoiled his wife and children with jewelry and clothes that he could not afford• Sold office titles and positions in the government to the highest bidder and did

not give them to the most qualified• Increased rent three times on royal lands• Increased the taxes on the middle class• Disbanded Parliament: under James I, Parliament met from 1604-1611, and then

again for only one year in 1621

James I• How Parliament Tried to Stop Him/Limit Abuses:• 1605 Gunpowder Plot by Catholics to blow up James

and Parliament and replace them with Catholic leadership

• Parliament only agreed to give him three subsidies in taxation to try to restrict his spending

• 1603 Millenary Petition: list of grievances by the Puritans about the Church of England---need for reforms

• 1604 Hampton Conference: to address issues, nothing resolved, but Puritans came out as equals

James I

• Results/Effects:• Caused greater economic debt for England• Started the conflict between Parliament and

the Stuart kings• Puritans fled England and settled in the

American colonies• Would be one of the long-term causes of the

English Civil War

Charles I• Conflicts with Parliament/Abuses of Power:• Tried to force the Puritans to conform to the Church of England

practices and provoked problems with Puritan dominated Parliament

• Believed in Divine Right and that there was no need for Parliament---repeatedly disbanded Parliament

• Upset the Presbyterian Scots by trying to force them to use the Common Prayer Book

• Tried to impose more rituals, similar to the Catholic Church, on the Church of England

• Wanted to back King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu in their persecution of the Huguenots, which upset Parliament who were also Protestants

• Imprisoned some of his critics in Parliament like Sir John Eliot

Charles I• Conflicts with Parliament/Abuses of Power:• Ignored the Petition of Right• Abused the martial law tax of Ship Money using it in peacetime to

raise more tax money• Did shakedowns of nobles to get money from them, if they did

not, put them in jail and heavily fined them• Allowed his French Catholic wife to practice Catholicism freely• Persecuted Puritans• Tried to stop all Puritan lecturers at Oxford and Cambridge

Universities• Spent a fortune on the arts that he could not afford buying works

by Van Dyck, Rubens, Titian, and Raphael• Sold monopolies that hurt the economy• Tried to arrest five of the main leaders of the House of Commons

Charles I

• Parliament’s Attempts to Limit Power/Stop Abuses:• Would not grant new taxes each time asked, and

this resulted in them being repeatedly disbanded• Passed the Petition of Right that prohibited Charles

from passing any taxes without the consent of Parliament

• Formed the Parliamentary army, the New Model Army or the Roundheads, and went to war with Charles I---English Civil War

• Won the war, put Charles I on trial, and executed him

Charles I• Results/Effects:• Thousands of Puritans fled England and settled in the

American colonies• Cromwell purged the Parliament of all members who

would not support him…Rump Parliament• Put Charles I on trial and executed him on January 30,

1649• Abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords• Declared England a republic or commonwealth• Named Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector

Oliver Cromwell• Conflicts with Parliament and Abuses of Power:• Found it difficult to work with the Rump Parliament and disbanded it

by military force• Got rid of the House of Commons and created a military dictatorship• Set up the Puritan faith to replace the Church of England• Tore up the constitution that had been written after Charles’

execution…the first of its kind• Put down a rebellion in Ireland…killing 1/3 of the Irish Catholic

population in ten years• Seized the lands of Irish Catholics and gave them to Protestant

soldiers• Moved the Irish Catholics to the worse land in Ireland• Sold Irish Catholic children as slaves in Barbados and the West Indies

Oliver Cromwell• Conflicts with Parliament and Abuses of Power:• Made laws that enforced Puritan morality and

abolished activities deemed sinful like the theatre, music, dancing, betting, gambling, sports, drinking, swearing, wearing make up, wearing fashionable clothes

• Gave religious toleration to all Protestants and Jews, but not to Catholics

• Named his weak and joke of a son, Richard or Tumbledown Dick as his heir and this alienated the New Model Army

Oliver Cromwell

• Parliament’s Attempts to Limit Power and Stop Abuses:

• Opposed Cromwell ruling as a military dictator and this resulted in the House of Commons being disbanded

• 1655 Plot to overthrow Cromwell that was discovered and leaders had to flee

• Attempt to assassinate Cromwell that failed

Oliver Cromwell• Results/Effects:• Increased the hatred and hostilities between

Catholics and Protestants in Ireland and growing resentment of British rule

• Alienated the army who had always been loyal to him

• 1659 forced his son from power• 1660 disinterred Oliver Cromwell’s body, hung it

from the gallows, and then beheaded it• Restoration of the monarchy and the Stuart family

Charles II• Conflicts with Parliament and Abuses of Power:• Issued the Declaration of Indulgence without the consent

of Parliament that suspended all religious laws that persecuted Catholics and Protestant Dissenters---allowed them to meet publicly and worship in their homes

• Secret alliance with King Louis XIV to become an open Catholic and received money to bribe Parliament members

• Between 1681-1685 disbanded Parliament and ruled as an absolute monarch

• Strict censorship of books• Closed down coffee houses where people met to debate

politics• Had no legitimate Protestant hei

Charles II• Parliaments Attempts to Limit Power/Stop Abuse:• Restored the Church of England• Refused to give Charles II money in protest against the Declaration of

Indulgence and forced Charles to revoke it• 1679 Passed the Habeas Corpus Act: gave every prisoner the right to

obtain a write ordering that the prisoner be brought before a judge to specify the charges against the prisoner---cannot just throw someone in jail or keep them in jail with a trial

• Parliament debated who should inherit the throne and the House of Commons wanted the Exclusion Act passed that would prevent James II, a Catholic, from taking the throne

• Passed the Test Act that prevented the king from appointing Baptists, Presbyterians, Puritans, Quakers, or Catholics to any government or military position

• Passed the Act of Uniformity, the Conventicle Act, and the Five Mile Act to persecute all Protestant Dissidents and Catholics

Charles II• Results/Effects:• Political parties formed: Whigs and Tories• Tories: the monarch is the supreme power and answerable only

to God and must not be resisted, but the monarch is bound by law. The Church of England is the state church and there should be no religious toleration for Catholic and other Protestants

• Whigs: the monarchs should share power with Parliament. Both are answerable to the people and bound by law. Hereditary succession may be overridden for the common good. The Church of England is too Catholic and should be reformed. There should be religious toleration for all Protestants but no Catholics.

• The Whigs controlled the House of Commons and believed James II would rule as an absolute monarch like King LouisXIV.

James II• Conflicts with Parliament and Abuses of Power:• Believed he could convert England to Catholicism with the right education• After putting down a rebellion led by his illegitimate nephew known as the

Bloody Assizes, he kept his standing army even though not at war any longer

• Trained his army like Louis XIV• Stationed his army in private homes and inns• Formed a top government council of nearly all Catholic advisors• Attended Catholic mass in the royal palace• Encouraged English Catholics to worship openly in public meetings• Approved the building of Catholic chapels and schools• Allowed the printing of Catholic Bibles• Welcomed Catholic missionaries from France, Spain, and Portugal• Tried to repeal the criminal laws persecuting Catholics and Protestant

Dissenters and the Tests Acts, and he disbanded Parliament when they refused

James II

• Conflicts with Parliament and Abuses of Power:• Forged a political alliance with Protestant Dissenters to work against the

members of Parliament• Replaced judges with those friendly to his policies• Sent spies on members of the House of Commons and replaced ones who

opposed his policies• Cracked down on freedom of speech, press, and other civil liberties• Ordered the Church of England followers to disarm• Set up the Commission for Ecclesiastical Causes to punish the Church of England’s

clergy who had defied his orders not to preach against Catholicism• Forced Oxford and Cambridge Universities to accept Catholic students• Had the Archbishop of Canterbury and six other bishops arrested and thrown in

the Tower of London for disobeying him• His second wife gave birth to a Catholic son….meant another Catholic Stuart King

James II• Results/Effects:• Whigs, Tories, Anglicans, Dissenters, and even some Catholics grew critical of James II• A small group of Whigs and Tories invited Prince William of Orange and his wife Mary

to overthrow James II• 1688 Glorious or Bloodless Revolution: William landed in England with more than

20,000 soldiers and was welcomed by the British people• Many of James II soldiers deserted and refused to follow the orders of the Catholic

officers• Violent uprising took place in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and even in the

American colonies• Mobs attacked Catholic chapels, schools, printing shops, and house of James’

government officials• James ordered his army disbanded and canceled his call of a new Parliament• Escaped to France• Returned for one last stand in the spring of 1689 in Ireland and was defeated at the

Battle of the Boyne• Fled to France and lived on the money provided by Louis XIV

William and Mary• Conflicts with Parliament and Abuses of Power:• Did not really have any conflicts with Parliament• They agreed to rule with Parliament as the

dominant power in the constitutional monarchy• Did persecute Irish Catholics with the Penal Laws

that took away all political and economic rights and enforced laws that left Irish Catholics illiterate, living in poverty, and with no civil liberties

William and Mary• Limits on Power:• English Bill of Rights: 1689• No suspending of Parliament’s law• No levying of taxes without Parliament’s consent• No interfering with freedom of speech in Parliament• No penalty for a citizen who petitions the king• No British monarch may be Catholic or marry a Catholic• King could not raise and keep a standing army without Parliament’s consent• Required Parliament to meet on a regular basis• Right to bear arms• Right to a trial by jury• No excessive bails• No cruel or unusual punishments• Created a government based on the rule of law and a freely elected Parliament• Toleration Act of 1689: granted Protestants but not Catholics free public worship• Mutiny Act 1689: Monarch could keep standing army, but most be renewed by Parliament every six

months• Triennal Act 1694: Parliament could not meet for longer than three years, and must meet every three

years• Act of Settlement 1701: Mary’s sister Anne is the heir, and if Anne has not surviving Protestant heirs,

goes to their Protestant German cousins of Hanover…George I

William and Mary

• Effects and Results:• Destroyed the Divine Right of Kings Theory• Parliament became the more dominant power• Led to the creation of the Cabinet System and Prime

Minister, who made most of the decisions and were made up of the majority political party in Parliament

• William appointed bishops to the Church of England who were more open-minded and tolerant

• Created a National Debt to figure out how much was owed and how to start paying it off

• Created the Bank of England and restandardized the coins• Parliament takes over financial control of England