Revolutions in
England
1603-1689
A. Limited Monarchy
 1600s = Absolute Monarchy was the
rule.
 England was the exception.
 King John agreed in the year 1215
to share power with the wealthy
members of society.
 Magna Carta (Great Charter)
A. Limited Monarchy (c0nt.)
 The wealthier classes in England were
represented in a two house body called:
Parliament
House of
Commons
House of
Lords


Seats elected by the
middle class.
Seats inherited by
members of the
landowning
A. Limited Monarchy (c0nt.)
 Parliament traditionally held the
“power of the purse.”

Parliament controlled access to the
wealth of the country.
 If the king needed money, he would go
to Parliament and ask them to pass tax
laws.
B. James I
 Tudor monarchs:
Henry VIII (1509-1547)
Edward VI (1547-1553)
Mary I (1553-1558)
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
 Elizabeth never married and never had
children. She died without an heir.
B. James I (cont.)
• James VI, King
of Scotland.
• First cousin of
Elizabeth I.
• A member of the
Stuart family.
B. James I (cont.)
 In 1603, James traveled south and
became King James I of England.
 In Scotland, James ruled as an
absolute monarch.
 Wrote a book called The True Law of
Free Monarchies.
B. James I (cont.)

James had no love for Parliament.
 James asked to be called “King of
Great Britain,” Parliament refused.
 James asked for money to fight wars,
Parliament refused.
 Parliament tried to squeeze James by
putting him on a budget.
B. James I (cont.)
 James preferred to ignore
Parliament and rule without their
input.
 In 1625, James died.
 He left his thrones (and his poor
relationship with Parliament) to
his son, Charles I.
C. Charles I
• Charles Stuart
• King of England
and Scotland
• 1625-1649
C. Charles I (cont.)
 Charles intended to rule with
absolute power.
 Instead of asking Parliament for
money, he took “forced loans.”
 Those who refused to pay were
often imprisoned.
C. Charles I (cont.)
 In 1628, Charles assembled
Parliament to ask for taxes to pay for a
possible war with Spain & France.
 Parliament demanded that Charles
accept a contract called the “Petition
of Right.”
C. Charles I (cont.)
 Petition of Right:
1) No forced loans.
2) No imprisonment w/o
just cause.
3) No quartering troops in
private homes.
C. Charles I (cont.)
 Charles agreed to the Petition but
then dissolved Parliament for 11 years.
 This was called the “Eleven-Year
Tyranny.”
 In 1640, rebellion in Scotland caused
Charles to call Parliament again and
ask for money.
C. Charles I (cont.)
 The House of Commons called the
king out:
1) No taxes w/o consent.
2) Triennial Act.
3) Dissolved only with consent.
4) Passed a resolution officially
calling
Charles a tyrant.
C. Charles I (cont.)
 Charles brought 400 soldiers into the
H of C and demanded the arrest of five
of its leaders.
 The H of C considered this an act of
war by the king and organized an army.
 In 1642, the English Civil War began.
D. The Civil War
 The English Civil War was fought
from 1642-49.
 The issue was POWER.
 Would the king get all of it, or
would the common people get
some, too.
D. The Civil War (cont.)
Charles I
Church
Lords
Peasants
 The King’s army was known
as the “Cavaliers.”
D. The Civil War (cont.)
House of
Commons
Middle class
townspeople
 The Commons army was called
the New Model Army and
nicknamed the “Roundheads.”
D. The Civil War (cont.)
v.
D. The Civil War (cont.)
 In 1649, the King’s army was
crushed after a series of defeats.
 Charles I was captured and put
on trial in front of a court set up by
the House of Commons.
 He was found guilty of being a
tyrant and sentenced to death.
Charles I
“A king has no superior jurisdiction on earth”
E. The Commonwealth &
Restoration
 After executing the King, the Commons
voted to abolish the House of Lords and
the monarchy.
 They proclaimed England a republic
called the Commonwealth.
 Oliver Cromwell was the most powerful
figure in the new government.
E. The Commonwealth
& Restoration (cont.)
• Oliver Cromwell
• Member of the
House of
Commons
• General in the
New Model
Army
E. The Commonwealth &
Restoration (cont.)
Scotland
1650
Ireland
1649
E. The Commonwealth &
Restoration (cont.)

Back in London, Cromwell found the
House of Commons doing nothing but
arguing.
 In 1653, he dismissed the members
and proclaimed himself “Lord
Protector of the Commonwealth.”
 The government was now a military
dictatorship.
E. The Commonwealth
& Restoration (cont.)
 When Cromwell died in 1658, his title
passed to his son Richard.
 Richard did not have the support of
the army.
 The army leaders called for Parliament
to be reconvened.
E. The Commonwealth &
Restoration (cont.)
 Parliament decided to restore the
limited monarchy.
 They offered the throne to the oldest
son of Charles I who had spent most
of life in France.
 In 1660, he was crowned Charles II.
E. The Commonwealth &
Restoration (cont.)
• Charles II
• King of
England,
Scotland &
Ireland
• 1660-1685
F. The Glorious
Revolution
 Charles II maintained a peaceful
relationship with Parliament.
 In 1685, he died without a legitimate
child to inherit his throne.
 The crown was passed to his younger
brother, who became James II.
F. The Glorious
Revolution (cont.)
• James II
• King of
England,
Scotland &
Ireland
• 1685-1688
F. The Glorious
Revolution (cont.)
 James spent most of his life in France.
 James envied French kings and wanted
to rule the way they did.
 He appointed Catholics to high
government offices in violation of laws
passed by Parliament.
F. The Glorious
Revolution (cont.)
 When Parliament protested, James
shut them down.
 To avoid another conflict, Parliament
decided to wait James out.
 James married twice, his first wife
was a Protestant who gave him a
daughter, Mary, who was next in line.
F. The Glorious
Revolution (cont.)
 When his wife died, James remarried
– to a Catholic – who in 1688 had a
son, also named James.
 Now, Parliament decided to move.
 Mary was married to her first cousin,
a powerful Dutch prince, named
William of Orange.
F. The Glorious
Revolution (cont.)
 In 1688, William & Mary brought
their army and marched on James II.
 When the British Army refused to
fight, James II fled back to France.
 William & Mary became joint rulers
of England.
F. The Glorious
Revolution (cont.)
F. The Glorious
Revolution (cont.)
 In 1689, Parliament had William & Mary
sign the English Bill of Rights:
1) Parliament’s laws are supreme.
2) Approval needed to raise taxes
or an army.
3) Protected free speech.
4) Guaranteed right to trial by jury, and
outlawed cruel and unusual
punishment.
G. Hobbes & Locke
Revisited
 Hobbes wrote Leviathan in 1651.
 He saw the execution of Charles I
and the Civil War as an example of
how rebellion leads to the state of
nature.
 He concluded that a ruler should
have absolute power and that the
people should not rebel.
G. Hobbes & Locke
Revisited (cont.)
 Locke published his Two Treatises of
Government in 1689.
 He had seen three bad rulers
overthrown and successfully replaced
by better ones.
 He concluded from this that
rebellion was sometimes a good and
necessary thing.