1. Constitutionalism: Parliament Limits the English Monarchy While France and later Prussia, Russia and Austria evolved into absolutist states, England and Holland evolved toward constitutional states. Constitutionalism: –The limitation of government by law. –Implies a balance between the authority and power of the government, on the one hand, and the rights and liberties of the subjects, on the other.

2. Constitutionalism: Parliament Limits the English Monarchy Two kinds of constitutions: –Written (U.S.) –Unwritten/Partly written Based on judicial decisions, traditional procedures and practices, and parliamentary statutes. –E.g., England, Canada, and Dutch constitutions. Two kinds of constitutional governments: –Constitutional Republic Sovereign power resides in the people and is exercised by their representatives. –Constitutional Monarchy King or queen serves as the head of state and has some residual political authority but the ultimate power rests in the people.

3. Constitutionalism: Parliament Limits the English Monarchy Constitutionalism vs Democracy In a democracy all the people have the right to either participate directly or indirectly in the government of the state. In the 17 th century, this was not true.

4. Constitutionalism: Parliament Limits the English Monarchy 16 th Century: Balance with Parliament By the 1500s, Parliament had won several important rights. 1. Approval of new taxes. 2. Passage of laws proposed by the monarch. 3. Advised monarchs on policy. But, monarchs still held the upper hand. 1. Named all officials and judges. 2. Summoned and dismissed Parliament. 3. Conducted foreign policy. 4. After 1534, headed the Church of England.

5. Parliament Limits the English Monarchy The Tudors: forceful personalities but recognized the value of good relations with Parliament. –Henry VIII won Parliament’s approval to establish the Church of England. –Elizabeth I managed to keep a balance between exercising her power and giving in to Parliament.

6. Parliament Limits the English Monarchy James I and the Divine Right of Kings Elizabeth died in 1603 without heir. English crown passed to her cousin of the Scottish ruling family (the Stuarts), James VI of Scotland, crowned King James I of England.

7. The Stuart Monarchy

8. Parliament Limits the English Monarchy James was well-meaning and a scholar. –Supervised a new translation of the Bible, known as the King James version. –Wrote The True Law of Free Monarchies, presenting his belief that kings ruled by divine right. Argued that kings should have no restraint on power so that they could rule for the good of all people. –A stick in the eye of Parliament.

9. Made up of 2 houses (bicameral): Structure of 17th Century Parliament Nobles only. Appointed by the crown. Served for life. House of Lords Mostly wealthy landowners known as gentry, or merchants. Elected. House of Commons

10. Dominated by the gentry who wanted political power corresponding to its economic strength. Increased wealth during the previous 100 years produced a better educated and more articulate Commons. Sale of monastery land, increased commerce & agriculture, and expanding economy contributed to a strong Commons. Members were willing to be taxed if they had a say in how those taxes were spent and in forming state policy. Unlike France, there was no social stigma attached to paying taxes.

11. Issues Between James I and Parliament 3 main sources of quarrel: ReligionMoney Foreign Policy

12. Religion Puritans wanted the Anglican Church purified of Catholic rituals and ceremonies. Independent local congregations rather than rule by bishops and archbishops appointed by the king.

13. Religion Some Puritans were powerful merchants who served in Parliament. House of Commons sympathized with the Puritans. I’ll make no changes in church organization, and you Puritans must leave!!

14. Money James constantly needed money--a lavish spender. –England in debt to bankers for its wars vs Spain. Parliament often refused James’s proposals for new taxes unless he would accept Parliament’s wishes on religious matters. –James would lecture Parliament on divine right and then dismiss them. Forced to find other sources of money. –Solution: revived feudal fines and increased customs duties. Went directly to the crown. Technically legal, but further angered Parliament.

15. Foreign policy Parliament was critical of James’s negotiated peace with Spain. –Ulterior motive: attempted arrangement of marriage between his son Charles and a Spanish princess.

16. Charles I and Parliament James’s son Charles I inherited the throne in 1625. Divine rightist. Tax proposals were turned down by Parliament. Response? Demanded “loans” from individuals. Imprisoned anyone who refused.

17. Charles I and Parliament By 1628, Charles’s need of funds was so severe he was forced to recall Parliament. Parliament’s response: the Petition of Right. Conditions? –No forced loans or taxes without Parliament’s consent. –No imprisonment without cause. –No housing soldiers in private homes without owner’s consent. Once Parliament approved his tax request, Charles dissolved it. –Ruled for the next 11 years without recalling Parliament. Ignored the Petition of Right and returned to the policies of his father.

18. Charles I and Parliament Charles’s unpopularity grew during the 1630s for 3 reasons. –1. Appointments of controversial officials. William Laud: Archbishop of Canterbury. –Persecuted the Puritans and other dissenters.

19. Charles I and Parliament –2. Used special courts to silence opposition. No common law, no juries. –3. In 1638, tried to impose Anglicanism on Scotland. Official Scottish religion was Presbyterianism. Scots responded by raising an army and threatening to invade England.

20. Charles I and Parliament The Long Parliament Scottish invasion forced Charles to recall Parliament in 1640 in order to acquire the money to equip and pay the army. Met off an on for the next 20 years. Ultimately, this parliament would lead a revolution against the king. Initial concern? –How to limit the king’s power and how to remove unpopular officials.

21. Charles I and Parliament Parliament demanded the impeachment of Laud for abuse of power. –Convicted and executed. Eliminated the king’s special courts. Passed the Triennial Act –Required the king to call Parliament at least once every 3 years. Refused to give Charles an army to put down the Scottish threat. Condemned Charles as a tyrant.

22. Charles I and Parliament Irish rebellion in 1641 coupled with the Scottish invasion threat put Charles at the mercy of Puritan-controlled Parliament. –June 1642, Parliament sent Charles “Nineteen Propositions” that made Parliament the supreme power in England. –Charles’s response? –Led an armed band of royalist supporters into Parliament in an unsuccessful attempt to arrest outspoken members. –Use of force made compromise impossible. –In reaction, a mob of furious Londoners rioted outside the King’s palace. Charles escaped and in 1642, both the king and Parliament raised their own armies and civil war began.

23. The English Civil War (1642-49) Cavaliers—House of Lords, aristocracy, large landowners, church officials, more rural- less prosperous, N & W England. Roundheads—House of Commons, Puritans, merchants, townspeople, more urban-more prosperous, S & E England. People of all classes fought, but generally were aligned as follows:

24. The English Civil War (1642-49) Oliver Cromwell –1645, reorganized Parliament’s army as the New Model Army. –Defeated the cavaliers and in 1646 captured Charles I.

25. The English Civil War (1642-49) Why did they win? 1. Superior economic and financial resources. 2. Control of the fleet. 3. Army’s faith in its cause.

26. The English Civil War (1642-49) Puritans proceeded to remove all opponents from Parliament, creating the so-called Rump Parliament. The army put Charles on trial for treason. In 1649, a court ordered his execution. Beheaded on 1/30/1649. Charles was the first European monarch to be put on trial and executed by his own people. Gone was the doctrine of divine right.

27. Puritanical Absolutism in England: Cromwell & the Protectorate Rump Parliament House of Commons abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords. –Proclaimed England a republic, called the Commonwealth. –Cromwell was chosen to lead. High moral principles. Supported religious toleration for all Protestants, but not for Catholics.

28. Cromwell & the Protectorate War left England bitterly divided. –Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Puritans differed about the kind of government England should have. –One such group, the Levellers, demanded that titles of nobility be abolished and that all Englishmen should have the right to vote.

29. Cromwell & the Protectorate By 1654, Parliament was so divided that Cromwell decided to dissolve it. Took the title of Lord Protector and ruled as a military dictator until his death in 1658. –Imposed strict Puritan rule. –Closed theaters, banned newspapers, dancing, dueling, swearing. –Tried to bring Scotland and Ireland under tighter English control. They resisted, so Cromwell crushed the Scots and suppressed Catholic rebels in Ireland.

30. Cromwell & the Protectorate Repressive rule had citizens longing for the return of the monarchy. –When Cromwell died in 1658, the army recalled Parliament. In 1660, Parliament invited Charles’s son, living in exile in France, to return to England as King Charles II. This return to monarchy is known as the Restoration.

31. The Restoration Under Charles II As a condition of rule, Charles had to agree to respect the Magna Carta and the Petition of Right. Result? –The creation of a constitutional monarchy. A closet-Catholic! –Urged religious tolerance.

32. The Restoration Under Charles II Required any person holding public office to belong to the Anglican Church. Also excluded dissenters from the military and universities. Limited religious services, ultimately driving hundreds of Puritan clergy from their churches. Parliament’s response was the Clarendon Code.

33. The Restoration Under Charles II Emergence of Political Parties During the reign of Charles II, 2 political parties emerged in England. –1. The Tories: Generally supported the king and the Anglican Church. –2. The Whigs: Wanted to strengthen Parliament. Fiercely anti-Catholic.

34. The Restoration Under Charles II The Whigs saw a problem brewing in that Charles had no heir. Should he die, the throne would pass to his brother James, who was openly Catholic. Solution? Parliament tried to pass the Exclusion Act, which would have barred James from inheriting the throne. In 1679, the Tories were able to defeat the Exclusion Act, but only because they agreed to compromise and accept another piece of legislation (“Quid pro quo”).

35. The Restoration Under Charles II The Habeas Corpus Act. Most basic guarantees of individual rights. Protects a person from arbitrary arrest. A writ of habeas corpus was an order from a judge to bring a prisoner before him and to state the charges against that person. –Judge would then decide whether that person was to be held over for trial. Made it illegal to hold a person in jail without a trial and that a person could not be imprisoned twice for the same crime.

36. James II and the Glorious Revolution 1685, James inherited the throne as King James II. –Effectively ended the peaceful relations between Parliament and king. –James wanted absolute power and claimed the right to suspend the law. –Ignored the Clarendon Code and placed Catholics in high government posts and in the army.

37. James II and the Glorious Revolution Parliament protested but didn’t move against him. Why? –Anticipated the ascendancy of one of his Protestant daughters to the throne.

38. James II and the Glorious Revolution 1688, James’s second wife, a Catholic, gave birth to a son. –Automatically the heir to the throne. Parliament’s response? –Invited Mary, James’s oldest daughter, and her husband, Prince William of Orange, ruler of the Dutch Netherlands, to take over the English throne.

39. James II and the Glorious Revolution James fled the country. William and Mary agreed to rule jointly. Parliament made their rule conditional. What condition was applied? In 1689, Parliament had the couple sign a Bill of Rights to ensure its power and protect English liberties.

40. The Glorious Revolution Provisions of the Bill of Rights: King couldn’t raise taxes or maintain an army without the consent of Parliament. King couldn’t suspend the law. Freedom of debate in Parliament. Meaning? Also protected individual rights. –Guaranteed the right to trial by jury. –Outlawed cruel and unusual punishment. –Limited the amount of bail that could be imposed on a person held for trial. The signing of the Bill of Rights ended the bloodless revolution the English call the Glorious Revolution.

41. The Glorious Revolution Parliament had placed significant restrictions on the power of the monarchy. But were English government and society truly democratic? No! Why? –1. Few people had the right to vote. –2. Members of Parliament were not paid. So what? –3. Religious toleration remained limited. 1689, Parliament passed the Act of Toleration. –Assured all Protestants freedom of worship, but did not give the same right to Catholics and followers of other religions.

42. The Glorious Revolution Ireland and Scotland 1689, James II, who had fled to Ireland, led a rebellion hoping to regain the throne. Defeated by William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne.

43. The Glorious Revolution 1701, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement. –Stated that only an Anglican could inherit the English throne. Parliament then imposed harsh penalties on the Irish Catholics. –Prohibited from buying or inheriting land from Protestants. –Prohibited from election to the Irish Parliament, making it easy for the Protestant minority to rule. These policies bred resentment among the Irish Catholics.

44. The Glorious Revolution Act of Union Since James and his heirs were Scottish, Parliament passed the Act of Union, which the Scots reluctantly accepted in 1707. What did it do? –Joined the kingdoms of England and Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

45. Parliament Limits the English Monarchy 1. Political parties gained a more well-defined role in Parliament. Whigs fought to limit royal power. Tories fought to defend royal power.

46. Parliament Limits the English Monarchy 2. The cabinet system evolved. King William appointed his chief ministers from the party that held the majority of seats in Parliament. –This group of ministers was referred to as his “cabinet.” –Each member was responsible for a department of government.

47. Parliament Limits the English Monarchy Members remained members of Parliament, meaning they could both vote for their own policies and try to convince others to do the same. Eventually, a cabinet would stay in power as long as Parliament approved its policies.

48. Parliament Limits the English Monarchy 3. Office of prime minister came into being. The cabinet gained much of its power during the reign of George I, who spoke only German and didn’t understand English politics. –He relied heavily on Sir Robert Walpole, an able and powerful Whig member of Parliament. –Although he didn’t use the title, he is usually considered the first prime minister.