England and the Glorious Revolution

Monarchs Clash with Parliament : James I He came to power after Elizabeth I (who spent too much money and left

the government in debt) He believed kings should have absolute power and argued with

parliament over money and how much power parliament should have over the king

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Charles I Fights Parliament

·      Charles always wanted money from parliament to fight wars with France and Spain. When they didn’t give it to him, he dissolved parliament

·      1628 Petition of Right- parliamanet forced him to sign it, which gave more power to parliament

·      Charles ignored the petition but it was an important step because it said the law was higher than the king

·      1629 dissolved parliament

English Civil War (1642 – 1649) 1641 parliament passed law to limit royal power Protests against Charles and he fled north Civil war- Charles and the Royalists (Cavaliers)

against the Puritans 1646 Oliver Cromwell defeated Charles’s Cavaliers 1649 Charles put on trial for treason and

subsequently put to death- this was the first time that a ruler was put on trial and executed

Cromwell’s Rule 1649 Cromwell abolished House of Lords and

monarchy and established a commonwealth Drafted a constitution but it was not used- he tore it

up and ran the country as a dictator 1649 Cromwell had to put down a revolt in Ireland

Cromwell favored religious tolerance (including Jews) except for Catholics

Charles II Reigns Restored monarchy = Restoration Charles restored the theater, events, arts

(things the Puritans had banned) 1679 - Established habeas corpus- the law

gave prisoners the right to obtain a writ or document ordering the prisoner to be brought before a judge (instead of the king deciding the sentence)

James II and the Glorious Revolution 1685- Charles died and James II became king-

he was a Catholic king and he moved against the English protestants

Glorious revolution- bloodless overthrow of James in 1688 when James’s protestant daughter and husband, William of Orange in the Netherlands

Political Changes Constitutional monarchy- laws limit the power of the ruler Bill of rights, which the U.S. uses to create its own Bill of

Rights later Habeas corpus- can’t imprison anyone without a trial Checks and balances system

Cabinet system- cabinet was the link between the monarchy and parliament

Leader of the cabinet is the leader of the majority party in parliament and also prime minister

After 1688 there was no British monarch and king was unable to rule without consent of parliament