EnglishConstitutional

Monarchy

Background

(1215-1603)

The Foundation: English Constitutionalisma Magna Carta (1215) a CONTRACT

between the king & aristocracy

a Model Parliament (1295) est. parliamentary “power of the purse”

a Two Houses created after 100 Years’ War (1453)

House of Lords (nobles & aristocracy).

House of Commons (2 burgesses from each town)

a The Elizabethan “Bargain” (1558-1603)

Parliament tax & amend/debate bills

Monarch controls foreign policy

The

Early

Stuarts

(1603-1625)

James I [r. 1603-1625]a Issues/Conflicts:

Did NOT understand English customs (or try to!)

James believed in divine right of kings

Tried to raise £ w/o Parliament’s consent

Alienated the Puritans w/his strong defense of Anglican Church

Accused of pro-Catholic sympathies

a Edge Even

Charles I [r. 1625-1649]

a Issues/Conflicts: Raised £ w/o Parliament’s

consent for war w/ Spain (“ship money”)

Quartered troops in private homes

Signed, then ignored, the Petition of the Right (1628)

Married Catholic Henrietta Marie of France

He & Archbishop Laud sought to impose religious conformity; cause Presbyterian revolt in Scotland

Dissolved “Short” Parliament (1640)

a Edge King

The Civil War

(1642-1649)

English Civil War (1642-1649)

Royalists(Cavaliers)

Parliamentarians(Roundheads) a Causes

Long Parliament (1640-60) passes Triennial Act & executes Laud

Charles fails to dissolve Parliament by force (arrest MPs)

a Cromwell led Roundhead Calvary (New Model Army) that defeated Royal forces at Naseby (1645)

a Cromwell purges House of Commons of Moderates & Presbyterians (“Rump Parliament”)

a Edge Parliament

Regicide Beheading of Charles I, 1649

† The vote by the Rump Parliament was 68-67.

The Interregnum

(1649-1660)

The Interregnum (1649-1660)† Issues/Conflicts:

Cromwell briefly creates republican Commonwealth (1649-53).

Cromwell est. military dictatorship – Protectorate (1653-60)

Adopts mercantilist economic policies (ex. Navigation Acts of 1651)

Religious tolerance for all except Catholics (includes Jews!!!)

Closed theaters, taverns, brothels & banned sporting events

Crushes revolts in Scotland & Ireland (Drogheda Rebellion)

† Edge Cromwell

% Of Land Owned by Catholics in Ireland

[in green]

The Restoration

(1660-1688)Parliament could no more exist without the Crown than the Crown without Parliament. This was the most important lesson of the

English Civil War!

King Charles II [r. 1660-1685]a Issues/Conflicts:

Restored theaters & reopened taverns & brothels

Created the Cabal Favored religious toleration “Cavalier” Parliament passed

Test Act ( 1673) must receive Anglican Eucharist to vote or hold office

Signed secret Treaty of Dover (1670) w/ King Louis XIV to gain £ for Second Anglo-Dutch War

a Edge Parliament (slight)

King James II [r. 1685-1688]

a Issues/Conflicts: Convert to Catholicism Instituted Declaration of

Indulgence (1687) Introduced Catholics into high

command of both army & navy Surrounded himself w/ Catholic

advisors & attacked Anglican control of universities

Camped standing army a few miles outside of London

Claimed power to suspend or dispense w/ Acts of Parliament

a Edge King

The Glorious

Revolution

1688

a Issues/Conflicts: James II’s Catholic wife gave birth to

a son Catholic heir to throne Parliament offers throne to James’s

daughter Mary & her husband William of Orange

William arrives w/ army (Nov. 1688) w/o English opposition James & family flee to France

“Bloodless” Revolution William & Mary accept throne

a Edge Parliament wins!!!

The “Glorious” Revolution: 1688

English Bill of Rights [1689]

a It settled all of the major issues between King & Parliament.

a It served as a model for the U. S. Bill of Rights.

a It also formed a base for the steady expansion of civil liberties in the 18c and early 19c in England.

English Bill of Rights [1689] Main provisions:

1. The King could not suspend the operation of laws.

2. The King could not interfere with the ordinary course of justice.

3. No taxes levied or standard army maintained in peacetime without Parliament’s consent.

4. Freedom of speech in Parliament.

5. Sessions of Parliament would be held frequently.

6. Subjects had the right of bail, petition, and freedom from excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishment.

7. The monarch must be a Protestant.

8. Freedom from arbitrary arrest.

9. Censorship of the press was dropped.

10.Religious toleration.

Responses to the English Revolution

Thomas Hobbes Leviathan (1651)

John LockeTwo Treatises of Gov’t

(1690)

People create gov’ts to protect their natural rights (esp. property rights)

Have the right to change gov’t when they fail to do so

Right to rebellion is protection against tyranny

VS.

a Human life was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish & short”

a Absolute ruler w/ unlimited power needed to keep people in line

a Rebellions by subjects MUST be suppressed

Toleration Act [1689]

a All Protestants permitted to worship freely

a Outlawed Roman Catholics & non-Christians

a Did not extend full political rights to those outside the Church of England.