THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY 1660-1740

Kennalee Davis, Lily Fisher, D’Edtra Rogers, Sarah Heller, Catherine Colbran

CH

AR

LES

II

“God will not damn a man for taking a little un-regular pleasure along the way”

Throne restored to him in 1660 after Oliver Cromwell’s rule.

The time in which he and James II ruled and restored power to the Stuarts is called the Restoration.

Reopened London theaters and canceled prohibition against women playing female roles. (YEAH!!!)

CHARLES VS. PARLIAMENT

Conduct foreign policy on his own

Choose his ministers Call Parliament into

session Dismiss Parliament Veto Parliament’s

legislation Override any

Parliamentary law

Impeach royal ministers

Control state finances

Charles II Parliament

Officially Anglican Family is Catholic Supports religious

toleration within England

Mostly Anglican Wanted to enforce

the use of the Book of Common Prayer

Enacts Clarendon Code

Charles II Parliament

Clerendon Code- (that font is

called “Clerendon Condensed) Law of 1661 requiring clergy and officeholders to swear allegiance to the Anglican Church and banning non-Anglican Protestants’ public worship.

Approximately 10% of clergy refused the Clarendon Code and Anglicanism.

These people were known as dissenters.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS… People were suspicious that Charles’ want for

religious toleration was because of his family, and became even more suspicious of this when Charles allied with Louis XIV in the Dutch War of 1672.

Charles and Louis signed a treaty in secret that took Parliament’s power to control government funds. Charles promised to convert to Catholicism when he could without tearing apart England.

He was converted on his deathbed.

JAM

ES

II?

After Charles died, he had no legitimate heir. So, his brother, James, had to take over. However, he was Catholic, and Parliament did not like that. They hated Catholics, as well as dissenters. Because of this hatred, and those who fought against it, two parties emerged- the Tories and the Whigs.

TORIES AND WHIGS Tories- supporters of

strict hereditary succession to the thrown, even if that meant a Catholic king, because they believed the family’s right to the throne was divine, and denying the right was a sin.

Whigs- people who believed in the necessity of a Protestant monarch, even if this meant that the rule of strict heredity would have to be violated.

JOHN LOCKE

Political philosopher who argued that legitimate government followed the contractual theory.

This theory states that the English Monarchy is based on a contract between the rulers and the people, who are represented by Parliament, which could be broken for a good reason.

Who was he? Contractual Theory

While these debates raged on, a sort of press emerged. The press encouraged political and philosophical discussion about what was going on in the country as far as the new parties, who should rule, and other similar issues.

In absolutist monarchies around the continent, such as France, this was considered to be exceptionally odd, and unwanted in their countries.

JAM

ES

II!

James II was crowned in the Anglican tradition publicly, and in the Catholic tradition privately. He had two heirs, Mary and Anne, by his first marriage. The girls were raised Protestant, which is why there wasn’t too much of an outrage when he was crowned. In his second marriage, he had 10 children, and none of them survived.

JAMES’ RELIGIOUS TOLERATION

Granted Catholics the right to practice their religion publicly

He overrode the Clarendon Code, which forbade non-Anglicans holding official positions, to give Catholics and dissenters high positions.

SU

RP

RIS

E!

James II’s second wife gave birth to a baby boy, which scared all of the Protestants and horrified Parliament. Tories and Whigs alike were not okay with an all-Catholic monarchy.

Rumors spread that the pregnancy was a fake, and the child was sneaked into the palace in a bed-warming pan.

William, the husband of Mary, came to England to defend Protestantism.

James panicked, sent his wife and son out of the country, and escaped to France.

When James left, Parliament considered him abdicated, and asked Mary, next in line, to rule. She agreed only if she could rule alongside her husband. Together, they created the first double monarch. Next was the Glorious Revolution (the year proceeding the abdication of James II, and the rule of William and Mary). A Bill of Rights was passed, which was very Whig in nature.

BILL OF RIGHTS Monarchs rule not by divine right, but by

contract Suspending, changing, or demolishing a law

without Parliament’s consent is illegal King cannot raise private army Subjects can petition Subjects have the right to a jury trial Subjects have the right to no cruel or unusual

punishment, excessive bail, or excessive court fines However, Bill of Rights did not grant the

right to vote for representatives in the House of Commons.

TOLERATION ACT Religious toleration for all! (except

Unitarians) Repealed oppressive portions of the

Clarendon Code Office holders must take Holy Communion in

the Anglican Church Evaded by dissenters by taking communion

once a year in an Anglican Church, which infuriated the Anglicans

Strengthened ParliamentParliament was controlled by large-scale

landowners.

1701- Royal judges given life tenure, and can only be dismissed by Parliament

Strengthening of the Rule of Law 1689- the end of absolutism in England, and

the beginning of the Constitutional Monarchy Rule of Law- principle that law has a higher authority that rulers, governments, and officials; rulers must obey the laws.

Constitutional Monarchy-Form of government in which the monarch and legislature rule as partners following the principles of the rule of law

William and Mary waged a twenty five year war against France. Whigs liked it, because they didn’t like Louis XIV. Tories did not support the war because of the raised taxes.

Parliament controlled taxes, and the Monarchy controlled foreign policy. They had to work together, because of the war, which was good for the government.

Both William and Mary died without an heir, so Anne, the other daughter of James II took the throne. She, too, died without an heir, so Parliament turned to the German son of James I’s granddaughter, Sophia, whose name was George.

Also, during the rule of Queen Anne, the Act of Union was signed, making Scotland an official part of Great Britain.

GEORGE I Middle aged when

crowned king Spoke no English Communicated in

French

Victorious against the French

Signed Treaty of Utrecht

TREATY OF UTRECHT Recognized George I as the King of Great

Britain Gave Britain Gibraltar, Hudson’s Bay Nova

Scotia, Newfoundland, and asiento. Asiento gave Britain a monopoly on the slave

trade to the Americas, and the ability to trade with Spainish settlements

James II’s son rose up in Scotland and tried to take back the throne, after George was crowned king. He was not successful. The Tories sympathized with him, and the Whigs, because of this, accused the Tories of treason. George already had a preference towards the Whigs, so the Tories became a minority in England for 45 years.

SIR

RO

BER

T

WA

LP

OLE

Leader of the Whigs and the most important minister in England from 1721 to 1742.

Created political stability within England during his reign.

Stayed in the House of Commons, though he was offered a position in the House of Lords.

Emphasized good manners in politics, and thought they went a long way.

A new era of national unity was ushered in, and the English thought of themselves as privileged to live there. They thought of themselves as “free-born” and all the people in the Catholic countries, such as France, Spain, and Ireland, as “slavish”. The Irish were excluded completely, and thought of as lower. The English and Scottish started profiting increasingly from trade.

Squirrels with light sabers!