CONSTITUTIONALISM
• France, Prussia, Russia - absolute states
• England, Holland - constitutional states
• Constitutionalism is limiting the govt. by law
(may be written or unwritten)
• May be monarchies or Republics
• This is not democratic (no franchise for all)
• Yet England would experience the last of the
great Religious Wars
• 1603 James I (Stuart)
replaced Elizabeth (Tudor)
• Believed he was only
responsible to God and had
control over everything which
conflicted with the principle
of due process
• Wrote The True Law of Free
Monarchy wanted freedom
from government,
churchmen, and customs
• “wisest fool in Christendom”
• He could not live with the financial constraints
of Parliament
• House of Commons governed the royal finances
• The members of the Commons were better
educated than in previous govts.
• James died (1625) and was replaced by his son
Charles I
• Charles I (1625) tried to rule
without Parliament and it
almost crippled the country
• Parliament didn’t trust
Charles and wouldn’t give
him money
• Many people believed the Reformation had not
gone far enough
• Most English were Calvinists, most zealous
were Puritans dissatisfied with the Anglican
Church
• James I and Charles I gave the impression of
being sympathetic to Catholicism
• 1629 - Charles tried to rule without Parliament
• Parliament could only meet when summoned by
the monarch
• Charles wanted ship-money from all towns not
just coastal towns – landowners rejected his plan
• Charles supported archbishop of Canterbury
William Laud’s goal of religious uniformity
Laud insisted on complete uniformity with the
“Court of High Commission”
• Wanted to impose on the Scots:
a) new Anglican prayer book
b) bishoprics
• Both rejected by the Scots who rebelled
• Charles was forced to recall Parliament to get
funds
• Parliament was not willing to trust the king with
an army
• Long Parliament sat from 1640-1660
• a) 1641 Triennial Act - king must summon
Parliament every 3 years
b) Impeached archbishop Laud
c) Abolished the Court of High Commission
• Charles, fearful of an uprising, agreed
• The Irish also rebelled and Charles couldn’t stop
them
• Charles recruited army from nobility (Cavaliers)
• Parliament recruited an army (Roundheads)
• The English Civil War (1642-9) did not resolve
the problem of who would hold the power
• 1649-1660 is the “Interregnum” or Puritan
Commonwealth
• Thomas Hobbes Leviathan, sovereignty is
derived from the people, the power of the ruler
is absolute but not divine - this pleased no one
• Theoretically, power rested with parliament
• The army controlled Parliament, Cromwell
controlled the “New Model Army”
• “Protectorate” Cromwell’s rule was a military
dictatorship
• The army prepared a
constitution:
a) executive power rested with
Cromwell and a council of state
b) a triennial Parliament
c) Parliament can raise taxes
• Cromwell tore up the document
• Cromwell:
a) divided the country into 12 military districts
b) The Instrument of Government gave religious
freedom to all, except Catholics
c) crushed rebellions in Ireland
d) enforced the Navigation Acts (English goods English ships)
e) welcomed Jews
• The state:
a) censored the press
b) forbade sport
c) closed the theaters
• Cromwell was an absolutist - died 1658
The Restoration - 1660
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Reestablished the monarchy - Charles II
Both houses of Parliament were restored
Law courts restored
Local govt. through Justices of the Peace
Failed in two areas
• What was the attitude of the state towards
Puritans, Catholics, and dissenters?
• What was the relationship between king and
Parliament?
Test Act of 1673
• To enforce religious conformity those
who refused to receive the sacraments of
the Church of England:
a) could not vote
b) hold public office
c) preach or teach
d) attend university
e) assemble for meetings
CABAL
• 5 advisors appointed by the king, also members
of Parliament:
Clifford; Arlington; Buckingham; AshleyCooper; Lauderdale
• Gave rise to ministerial responsibilities
• Parliament did not give Charles enough money
to rule - but acknowledged his divine right
• For 200,000 pounds, Charles agrees to:
a) relax laws against Catholics
b) re-catholicize England
c) support France against the Dutch policies
d) convert to Catholicism
• The people feared:
a) a Catholic dynasty
b) hated Louis XIV and absolutism
c) hated Catholicism
• The Commons passed a bill excluded Catholics
for the throne
• Charles dissolved Parliament - the bill never
passed
• James II succeeded his brother
• James appointed Catholics to high positions contrary to the Test Act
• James suspended the law at will and England
feared absolutism
• He also declared religious freedom for all
• Two events signaled revolution
i) seven bishops were arrested for not complying
with the Declaration of Indulgence
ii) James’s second wife produced a male heir
Wealthy English men offered the throne to
James’s Protestant daughter Mary and
William
Triumph of Government
• The “Glorious Revolution” had very little
blood and was the end of divine-right
monarchy in England
• William and Mary accepted the throne
but recognized the supremacy of
Parliament
• The rights of the people were listed in the
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights
• Laws were made by parliament and could not
be suspended by the Crown
• Parliament had to be called at least every 3
years
• The Crown would not interfere with Parliament
• Judges would be independent
• No standing army in peace time
• English monarch must be Protestant
• Freedom of worship to Protestant dissenters
• Feb 13, 1688, the Declaration
of Rights was accepted and
proclaimed by William and
Mary. Declaration had three
main parts: 1. an indictment
of James II and his
transgressions,
2. a declaration of the rights
of citizens.
3. William and Mary declared
King and Queen of England,
with William to exercise all
power during his lifetime.
John Locke
• Second Treatise of Civil Government defended
the revolution:
a) People set up governments to protect life,
liberty, and property
b) If government oversteps the bounds then it is
tyranny, people have a natural right to revolt
• The revolution was not democratic
• Sovereignty rested with Parliament
• Parliament reflected the Upper Class
• Created a constitutional monarchy - the age of
aristocratic government
The Dutch Republic
• 1581 - 7 provinces of the Union of Utrecht form United
Provinces
• Independence confirmed by Treaty of Westphalia
(1648)
• Led to the “Golden Age” of the Netherlands
• Power was held by regents in an oligarchy
• States General handled foreign affairs
• States General appointed stadholders (representatives)
in each province
• Holland (largest navy) dominated
• Dutch were republicans and Calvinists
• Political success based on economic
prosperity
• *They were tolerant of religion
• Toleration attracted investment
• Herring fishing was the cornerstone of their
success
• Profits stimulated shipbuilding
• Became transporters - not exporters
• 1602 - Dutch East India Company created, a
joint-stock company
• East and West India Companies became tools
of imperialism
Spanish Decline
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No middle class
Agricultural decline
Population decline
Failure to invest wisely
Intellectual isolation (religious reasons)
Increase in Dutch and English trade with Americas
Americas develop local industries
Increasing royal expenditure
• 1715 Spain a second-rate power
• Several times the king declares bankruptcy and cancels
national debt
• People dropped out of society or turned to religion
• High rents and taxes drove peasants off the land
• Philip IV left control to Count-Duke Olivares
• Olivares believed in imperialism
• Imperialism meant conflict with the Dutch