Unit Six

Western Civilization

THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION_1wb

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

1. RELIGION: What role did Religion play in western civilization?

2. GROWTH OF THE NATION-STATE: How has the rise of the Nation as a political,

economic, social and cultural institution influenced world events?

3. WARFARE: How has the nature of War and Peace impacted world history?

4. SOCIAL ADVANCEMENTS: How has the growth and evolution of Social Classes

influenced world civilization?

OVERVIEW:

This English Revolution unit could easily be called the Rise of Parliamentary Democracy. The two seem forever linked in our minds. Therefore in this unit we will focus on both. We will first trace the evolution of Parliament as an institution up to Era of the English Revolution. We will then outline the three stages of this English Revolution. The last part of the unit will then return to the development of Parliament as a form of government.

Parliament emerged out of the feudal system as a means by which the kings and queens of England could seek the advice and consent of their peers in council. It was never intended to represent all the people of England, especially those in the middle and lower classes. In the 15^th and 16^th century, Parliament met more and more often. Soon Parliament created its own rules, officers, and a means to record its proceedings.

In 1603, Queen Elizabeth died. She had granted Parliament many of its rights. She was succeeded to the throne by a new king from Scotland, James I. James had been ruling in Scotland for 36 years. He was used to ruling without the aid of his Parliament and moreover, considered himself a divine right monarch. Furthermore James inherited a deeply divided church. It is not hard to see how quickly James estranged himself from his English citizens. His son Charles I would continue these confrontations. By the 1640’s these issues had become the source of the English Civil War, the first stage in the English Revolution.

In the second stage of the English Revolution you will read about how Parliament took the lead in removing King Charles and executing him. Parliament and it leaders were in the forefront of the Civil War and in the establishment of the Commonwealth, the republican form of government that replaced the monarchy. Oliver Cromwell emerged as the leader of that government.

The third stage would begin with the monarchy being restored to England in 1660 in the form of Charles II, the son of Charles I. Soon his brother James II would force a second removal of a monarch. The British call it the Glorious Revolution because it was less violent and destructive than the first. It led in 1688 to the accession of William and Mary as constitutional monarchs.

After 1688 Parliament was the real leader of the British government. It had to develop the actual means to govern England. The parliamentary system of government that we see today in the United Kingdom was that answer.

As we see, long before the turmoil and excesses of the French Revolution, the English Revolution had very quietly brought down a divine right monarchy, established a republic, replaced the monarchy, and developed a constitutional-monarchy system of government that has lasted to this day.

CONTENT QUESTIONS:

1. Why did the English kings call Parliament?

2. What were the major causes of the English Civil War?

3. What were the goals and the results of the English Revolution?

4. What accounts for the rise of Cromwell?

5. How would you evaluate Cromwell’s role in history?

6. Of what constitutional significance was the Revolution of 1688?

7. How did parliamentary democracy evolve after 1688?

KEY TERMS:

Divine Right of Kings James I

James II Charles I

Charles II Oliver Cromwell

Restoration Petition of Rights

Bill of Rights Act of Settlement

Parliament Long Parliament

Test Act “Pride’s Purge”

Glorious Revolution New Model Army

Puritans Anglicans

Roundheads Cavaliers

Royalists Independents

Whigs and Tories William and Mary

Battle of the Boyne United Kingdom

Toleration Act Robert Walpole

Stuart kings Hanoverian kings

Parliamentary democracy Prime Minister

Speaker of the House Declaration of Indulgences

Commonwealth Great Protestation

Ship money Rump Parliament

Instrument of Government Cabinet

“James III” Model Parliament

“Diggers” “Levelers”

Magna Carta Scottish kirk

House of Commons House of Lords

Magna Carta Edward I

Presbyterians Archbishop Laud

Penal Code for Ireland Act of Settlement

Bill of Rights Plantagenet kings

Star Chamber Tudor kings

George I New Model Parliament

Rotten Boroughs Great Reform Act of 1832

TIME LINE:

1066 Battle of Hastings; William I first Norman king; Curia Regis

1166 Constitutions of Clarendon

1215 King John forced to sign the Magna Carta (Great Charter)

1295 Edward I summons Model Parliament

1603 James I becomes king of England and the United Kingdoms

1625 Charles I becomes king

1628 House of Commons passes Petition of Rights

1629 Charles dissolves Parliament

1639 Bishop wars cause Charles to request new taxes

1640 Charles calls Short Parliament

1640 Charles calls Long Parliament

1641 Parliament asserts it authority over the Crown passes Triennial Act, dissolution of prerogative courts, and prevents dissolution of parliament without its consent

1642 Charles attempts to arrest five leading members of Commons

Civil War begins

1645 Creation of New Model Army

Parliament wins Battle of Naseby

1648 “Pride’s Purge” -one hundred members are expelled from parliament

1649 Charles I executed

Abolition of House of Lords

Proclamation of the Commonwealth

1653 Cromwell named Lord Protector

1658 Cromwell l dies

1659 Restoration bring Charles II to the Throne of England

1660 1685 Charles II dies and is replaced with his brother James II

1672 Parliament enacts Test Act to prevent Roman Catholics from holding office

1685 James II becomes king of England

1688 Declaration of Indulgences suspends laws against Catholics and Non-Conformists

Glorious Revolution- James II flees

1689 William and Mary come to throne of England; Declaration of Rights

Bill of Rights passed

1690 Locke's greatest work, Two Treatises of Government

William III defeats James II at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland

1701 Act of Settlement gives Parliament legislative supremacy

1702 Anne I becomes last Stuart monarch

1707 Act of Union unites England and Scotland

1714 George I becomes first Hanoverian king

1732 Robert Walpole called first Prime Minister

SOURCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

A. Bibliography:

Anchor, Robert. The Enlightenment Tradition. (1967).

Brinton, Crane. Anatomy of Revolution. (1957).

Cruickshanks, Eveline. The Glorious Revolution. (2000).

Cruickshanks, Eveline, Stuart Handley, and D. W. Hayton, eds. The History of

Parliament: The House of Commons, 1690-1715. 5 volumes. (2003).

Coote, Stephen. Royal Survivor: The Life of Charles II. (2000).

Coward, Barry. Oliver Cromwell. (2000).

Fraser, Antonia. Oliver Cromwell. (1973)

Fraser, Antonia. Royal Charles: Charles II and the Restoration. (1979).

Haythornthwaite. Philip. The English Civil War. (1996).

Hibbert, Christopher. Cavaliers and Roundheads. (1993).

Kenyon, John. The Civil Wars of England. (1989).

Machin, Ian. The Rise of Democracy in Britain, 1830-1918. (2001).

Porter, Roy The Enlightenment. (2001).

Smith, Lacey Baldwin. This Realm of England 1399 to 1688. (5th ed. 1988).

Trevelyan, G. M. England Under the Stuarts. (21st ed. 1949) (1980 reprint).

Wedgewood, C. V. The King’s War. (1997). Revolution 1603-1714

B. Web Sites:

The Enlightenment - http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/hum_303/enlightenment.html

The Enlightenment - http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook10.html

English Parliament - http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/British%20Parliament

How Parliament works - http://www.britannia.com/gov/gov10.html

The English Revolution - http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook06.html

Women and the Revolution- http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/history/virtual/reading/core4-

03r03.htm

The English Revolution - http://college.hmco.com/history/west/mosaic/chapter10/module39.html

English Revolution from the Left - http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj84/cox.htm

All About the English Revolution - http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~crossby/ECW/

Oliver Cromwell - http://www.olivercromwell.org/

English Revolution - http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/english/

English Revolution - http://www.open2.net/civilwar/