James II (ruled 1685-88)
-least successful of Stuarts
-upheld divine right of kings; took opposition to policies
personally
-attempted to return C of E to Rome.
1673 Test
Act
resigned as Lord High Admiral
marriage to Mary of Modena
Parliament refused grant to Charles
Exclusion Crisis of 1678-81
-set off by "Popish Plot"
(Jesuits would kill Charles II and place James on throne)
-led to legislation to exclude James from throne
introduced by Anthony Ashley Cooper,
Earl of Shaftesbury,
and supporters, known as Whigs
Charles dissolved parliament
moved parliament to royalist Oxford
-Whigs opposed by Sir Thomas Osborne, Earl
of Danby, and Tories
-court party based on union of crown and church.
-Whigs failed to exclude James
1)disagreed on successor (Mary/Duke
of Monmouth?)
2)feared civil war
-Shaftesbury arrested for treason
-other Whigs implicated in Rye
House Plot
-Charles reorganized local government: Whigs replaced
by Tories
-clergy preached sinfulness of resistance
James II’s Reign
-succeeded peacefully in February 1685
-believed Catholic king never safe
-June 1685, 6000 peasants supported rebellion led by
Duke of Monmouth
quickly routed
dealt with harshly (“Bloody
Assizes”)
Judge Jeffreys condemned 300 to death
sold 800 more into slavery in the
West Indies
-used rebellion as excuse
to increase size of army
to appoint RCs to positions in military
and government
to move the Anglican Church closer
to the Roman Catholic
Henry
Compton, Bishop of London, suspended
V-C of Cambridge
dismissed for refusing degree to monk
25 fellows
of Magdalen College, Oxford, expelled
for refusing to
elect Catholic
president
transformed
Magdalen into Catholic seminary.
-sent envoys to Mary and Anne asking them to convert
-turned to the Whigs (thought ties with Dissenters made
receptive to toleration)
April 1687
Declaration of Indulgence gave Disssenters and Catholics
full religious freedom
Archbishop of Canterbury, William
Sancroft, and six other bishops
imprisoned when protested its illegality
“Protestantism and Liberty”
-10 June 1688 son born to James and Mary baptized into
RC faith
-7 prominent Englishmen sent invitation to William,
Prince of Orange, and wife Mary to
come to England to defend "Protestantism and Liberty"
fearful of Catholic dynasty
James Edward was “warming
pan” baby
-November 1688 William and Mary landed in England
ships powered by “Protestant
Wind”
James fled London and took refuge
in France
60 peers and 300 former members of
H of C invited William and Mary
to take over
Convention
Parliament called for February 1689
Glorious Revolution
-William asked to issue writs for a Convention
Parliament to draw up settlement for English church and state
-declared that James had abdicated and throne was vacant
-offered joint crown to William and Mary
-accepted parliamentary limitations on sovereignty
-resulted in the establishment of a limited
or constitutional monarchy
Declaration of Rights (later Bill of
Rights)
-guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of elections, parliamentary
approval of taxation, and the right to petition
-forbade cruel and unusual punishment, standing armies, suspension
of the law, and due process
-stated that no Catholic could succeed to throne of England
Claim of Right
-Scottish Estates approved a similar document in April 1689
-stated that no Catholic could succeed to throne of Scotland
-established Presbyterianism as the Church of Scotland and maintained
Scottish legal system
Other Consequences of Glorious Revolution
-Mutiny Act in 1689 limited
royal use of martial law to one year
-Toleration Act of 1689 gave
freedom of worship to Dissenters but kept Test and Corporation Acts and the
penal laws against Catholics
-England involved more in continental warfare
Nine Years’ War (1688-97)
instigated by Louis XIV's provision of
men, money, and ships to James II
sailed to Ireland to recover the throne of
England
defeated by William 1690 Battle
of the Boyne
legislation reduced RCs to virtual slavery:
could not hold office,
sit in parliament, vote in elections,
serve on jury, practice
law, teach school, purchase land,
or own horse worth
more than £5
N.B. Scots fared better:
Presbyterianism recognized as C of Scotland
Annual parliaments and new sources of revenue
needed
1693 permanent national
debt
1694 Bank
of England
Victories in the War
of Spanish Succession (1702-13) established
England as major force in continental politics
Act of Settlement of 1701
-caused by Mary's death in 1694, William’s failure to
remarry, and Anne's loss of only surviving child, Duke of Gloucester in
1700
-succession would pass to Anne upon William’s death and
then to Princess Sophia of Hanover
and heirs
-ruler must be practicing Anglican
-could not leave England without the consent of parliament
-England not automatically obliged to defend ruler's
foreign territories
-office holding closed to foreigners
-all ministerial decisions made in Privy Council and
properly minuted
Social Contract Theory of Government
-Bill of Rights, Toleration Act, Mutiny Act, Triennial
Act, and Act of Settlement political embodiments of John
Locke's social contract theory of government
-government was agreement between ruled and ruler for
the purpose of protecting life, liberty, and property
-premise of Treatise on Government
radical: Revolution ultimate safeguard of the law