How revolutionary, in the years to 1701, was the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89?

Slide 1

• How significant were revolutionary ideals in the establishment of a Constitutional Monarchy?

Revolutionary ideals behind James' overthrow

• 1688: Clear James had lost the confidence of much of the political nation.
• It seemed fears that previously caused the civil war had come to fruition: a Catholic was on the throne, and he wanted to be an absolute monarch.
• James began modelling his rule on despotism seen in France under Louis XIV.
• Many hoped James would be succeeded by his protestant daughter, but the Queen gave birth to a son and Catholic heir in June 1688.
• Historical interpretations of James overthrow:
• Traditional interpretations accepted that the GR was the result of a foreign invasion and wasn't instigated by the native population.
• Popular view that it was bloodless - Macauley contrasted it with the French revolution, and concluded it was the least violent revolution in history.
• More recent interpretations have claimed the revolution should be seen a violent, especially in Ireland and Scotland.
• Macauley also believed the King's overthrow came about due to a moderate political consensus.
• Marxist historians have presented 1688 as a continuation of the 'bourgeoisie revolution' of 1649, where the propertied classes overthrew a monarchy that restricted their economic livelihoods.

Revolutionary Ideals Continued:

• James reissued the Declaration of Indulgence in 1688, giving toleration to all religious groups, Protestant and Catholic.
• Opponents of the Declaration objected to the fact that James was attempting to overrule Parliament, pamphleteering began shortly. (Gilbert Burnet's 'Ill Effects of Animosities among Protestant's in England detected' was an early piece of Williamite propaganda).
• Burnet explained both Charles II and James II had attempted to create divisions among Protestants to pursue their agenda of promoting Catholicism.
• He also claimed that in 1687, James had transgressed the constitution and laws of England, thus virtually disposing himself from government.
• In the end, political change resulted from James resigning voluntarily. This was necessary for the revolution to take place because even if the commons had managed to security a majority against James, the Lords would have rejected.
• Many within the political and religious establishment were in favour of divine right and hereditary monarchy so there is a strong chance James would have kept the throne otherwise.
• The Whig argument at the time, was that James had broken a solemn contract with his people and John Locke suggested that the Revolution was an opportunity for people in Parliament to alter the constitution.
• Locke and Whigs believed that if a ruler attempted absolutism, citizens had the right to remove them.

Significance of the Bill of Rights, 1689

• Terms for a political settlement weren't immediately clear - Convention Parliament hastily elected, for 22 Jan.
• The crown was offered to both William and Mary, and a Declaration of rights was presented at the same time.
• At the end of 1689, the declaration was modified and many terms were placed on the statute book as the Bill of Rights.
• Often cited as a significant constitutional document and the clause for calling elections to be regular and free reflected resentment among MPs at attempts by the Crown to intimidate them.
• The Bill is also important because it made certain the legal position of the army, which had been in doubt. The clause stating a force couldn't be raised or kept in times of peace without Parliament's consent was a direct reaction to forces of Charles II, which could have been used to enforce absolutism.
• A number of mutiny acts were also passed from 1689, ensuring the King could not court martial without parliament's consent. Each act was only valid for a year, so King had to recall parliament regularly.
• Parliament asserted its military control through the Bill of Rights, but many other clauses just cleared up grey areas of the royal prerogative.
• Marxist Christopher Hill argued the Bill of Rights was vague and made no provisions for ensuring elections were regular or free.
• John Morrill - BoR was a statute law that could be revoked by any future parliament. It didn't create procedure to remove future monarchs.

Significance of the Act of Settlement, 1701

• Stated that, in order to bypass potential potential Catholic heirs to the throne, succession would be vested in the House of Hanover, after the reign of Queen Anne.
• Under the terms of the act, Catholics, and those married to Catholics, were barred from the succession and all future monarchs were required to be members of the church of England.
• It enabled a number of legislative proposals first put forward in 1689, to finally reach the statute book. Judges could no longer be dismissed without the consent of Parliament.
• Can be seen as a reaction against the policies of William. The clause concerning the religion of the monarch reflected concerns over William'a Calvinism.
• It is no coincidence that the clause concerning flight of the monarch was repealed in 1716, when it was no longer seen as a threat because William wasn't King.
• The fear of absolutism and a desire to reign in the King is clear throughout the act. No future foreign monarch was allowed to enter England into a war without Parliament's consent.
• All matters regarding the governing of Britain had to be discussed with the full Privy-Council and not be decided by the Monarch alone.
• No foreign born man was allowed to join the Privy council, sit in either House of Parliament, have a military command, or be granted lands and titles.

How far was the end of divine right confirmed?

• No doubt divine right was severely damaged by the revolution settlement, many historians see it as a watershed moment in the reduction of the Crown's prerogative powers.
• It was no longer possible for monarchs to claim their power came from God, as their authority was approved by the people through their representatives in Parliament.
• Historians views on the impact of the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement:
• Whig writers maintained the BoR preserved England's 'ancient constitution', so represented restoration of previous political stability. Developed to show it as the starting point of a new constitution, where a constitutional monarchy was established.
• Marxists saw the settlement as one that created a constitutional monarchy in the interests of the ruling elites.
• Some revisionists (e.g. Morrill) instead presented events as changing nothing but the line of succession. A constitutional monarchy was not fully established, although divine right was effectively destroyed. The monarch was still pre-eminent within the political system, parliament still represented the richest two percent of the population and the electorate was still small.
• What was created can best be seen as a monarchy of parliament's choosing. Parliament effectively decided who the next monarch would be, royal interference with the law was now restricted, elections were free and regular

Slide 7

• What was the impact of the Toleration Act of 1689 and the end of Anglican supremacy?

The importance of the Toleration Act

• A religious settlement was also established after the GR. In early 1689, William urged the removal of the sacramental test for public office holders, which would mean repealing the Test Act that expected all office holders to take Anglican communion.
• As a compromise, William suggested that a Toleration Act be passed with a promise for Tory and Anglican demands for uniformity to be referred to convocation later in the year.
• The Act was passed by reluctant Tories and was influenced by Locke's 'A Letter Concerning Toleration'.
• Under the terms of the Act, dissenters were exempted from punishments if they took an oath of allegiance to the Crown and accepted the 1678 Test Act. Dissenters were therefore not expected to attend an Anglican church, but their meetings were closely monitored and the doors of their meeting places could not be locked.
• The Act made it easier for dissenters to worship freely, by 1714 there were 400,000 dissenters in England.
• The Act humiliated the Anglican clergy and Tories in the commons. The Whig Majority insisted that the clergy take an oath of allegiance to William and Mary. Many were troubled by the demand, and over 400 parish priests refused and were deprived of their livings. The clergy that were removed from office were replaced by more moderate men, sympathetic to the Whig cause.
• The Act excluded non-trinitarians and Jews, non-anglicans could still not sit in in parliament or hold public office. Those who didn't swear allegiance couldn't attend university, work in law or in medicine.

The end of Anglican supremacy

• The Anglican Church was undermined:
• Now accepted that the Anglican Church couldn't enforce complete uniformity snd some allowances had to be made for dissenters. They flourished and made up 8% of population in 1714.
• Catholics enjoyed a reasonable degree of freedom despite being excluded from the Toleration Act.
• William used his royal authority to influence judges and curb Church interference in the lives of Catholics and dissenting sects not covered by the Act.
• The power of Church courts, which had been crucial in upholding the authority of the confessional state earlier in the century, was severely restricted by the Toleration Act.
• The Anglican Church wasn't undermined:
• The statutes enforcing uniformity weren't repealed, meaning that public officials were duty-bound to swear allegiance to the Church.
• To gain public employment or join Parliament, there was no choice but to swear allegiance to the Crown and take Anglican Communion.
• There was no great theological debate between MPs and peers before the Toleration Act was passed.
• Further Toleration Acts were passed in Scotland and Ireland, and these didn't gives dissenters he opportunity to participate in national or local government.

Slide 10

• How significant was the Triennial Act of 1694 in promoting Parliamentary power?

The role of Parliament, 1688-93

• William used his prerogative powers immediately after becoming King in order to form a Privy Council.
• A carefully selected balance of Whigs and Tories were appointed to other posts, although they struggled to command the respect of the commons. The Parliament of 1690 consisted of 225 Whigs and 206 Tories.
• William's nature allies should have been the Whigs, but he thought they were too radical, and hoped to woo the Tories, who he knew to favour tradition and loyalty to the monarchy and the Anglican Church.
• The war in Ireland, or Williamite War, started when James held a parliament in Ireland and the majority of Catholic gentry offered their support to his cause.
• Over 80,000 soldiers fought on both sides, and although William achieved a relatively swift victory, some historians have used the war as evidence that the GR was not the peaceful and sensible transition suggested by the Whigs.
• The cost of the war in Ireland was a concern for Parliament and the Whigs, divisions in William's council over strategy led to a series of defeats to the French in the Nine Years' War.
• A group of Whig rebels known as the 'Whig Junto' became influential between 1692 and 1693. They favoured a strong executive and supported William's war.
• There was an attempt to put through a Triennial Bill in order to ensure regular parliaments. This was passed by both Houses and William was forced to use his royal veto to deny the bill becoming law.

Significance of the Triennial Act, 1694

• By the beginning of 1694, the Whig Junto was beginning to dominate government.
• The Triennial Bill was debated again and received the royal assent in January 1694.
• Under its terms, a parliament could not last longer than three years.
• Rivalry between Whigs and Tories was stronger than ever, but regular elections mean that it was difficult for the crown to establish a party in the House of Commons, leading to William becoming more reliant on securing support from MPs.
• The Act was repealed in 1716 and replaced with the Septennial Act, which allowed for elections every seven years.
• The period from circa 1690 to 1715 has been referred to as the Rage of Party, characterised by the instability caused by frequent elections. With more regular elections came a renewed interest in politics from those outside of the immediate political nation and the electorate were better informed than they had ever been as a result of the lapsing of the Licensing Act of 1695, which had previously led to heavy censorship of the press.
• This new press freedom allowed for political pamphleteering and journalism to influence the votes od the 200,000 men that could vote.

The role of parliament, 1694-1701

• The Triennial Act gave the commons a new-found confidence and in 1695, a number of inquiries wereset up to investigate corruption in government. William was convinced that Parliament would have to be dissolved to prevent the enquiries from continuing.
• When this happened, another election was held in October 1695 which favoured the Whigs, who cemented their dominance over parliament and the privy council.
• In February 1696, a plot by Stuart Sympathisers to assassinate the King was discovered, and the Whigs became more united than ever, and William seemed more dependant than ever on the Whig faction in parliament and the Whig Junto in the Privy Council.
• A reminder that opposition to the Junto in the council were still able to secure a vote that limited William to sustaining an army of just 10,000 men through government grants.
• The election of 1698 was marked by a distrust of the Whig Junto, and the rivalry between court and country interests was as strong as ever. The country opposition were able to secure a bill that restricted the size of the army in England to 7,000 and refused to allow the retention of William's Dutch guard.
• The heavy blows sustained by the government in 1698 contributed to the Junto dismantling.
• The commons put forward a bill of resumption, which infuriated William, as he saw it as an infringement of his royal prerogative.
• William reluctantly gave royal assent, allowing the parliamentary session to be brought to an end.
• In 1701, Tories made gains and instigated impeachment proceedings against Somers, Montagu and Russell.

Did parliament become a partner in gov.?

• Parliament was able to enroach on areas that were one firmly part of the royal prerogative, such as the King's appointment of ministers and control of the army.
• The Triennial Act did enhance the powers of parliament, but this wouldn't have been possible without the Bill of Rights.
• Earlier monarchs, had refused demands for parliament to be give more power on the grounds that its only purpose was was to raise money for the crown. This was no longer the case and the monarchy was faced with no option but to work with parliament.
• The Bill of Rights gave guarantees that the abuses of power experienced under James II would not be repeated.
• The monarch was not allowed to interfere with elections and the proceedings of parliament could not be questioned by judges.
• The financial settlement ensured that William and Mary would be financially dependant on parliament.
• Although Parliament had become an integral part of the political system, there was still a desire among many of the political classes to join the royal court, which strengthened William's hand. Much of the royal prerogative was left intact, such as the sovreign's power to declare war, to dissolve parliament and veto legislation.

Slide 15

• How important were William III's wars in the development of a financial revolution?

The Nine Years' War and restructuring of finances

• The Nine Years' War was fought between the League of Ausburg, led by Holland, England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, and France under Louis XIV.
• The war caused strain between William and Parliament, as the huge sums he was demanding to fund the war had never been approved by a parliament before.
• After 1691, the opposition within Parliament favoured a reduction in William's participation and only voted him funding for 10,000 troops.
• William succeeded in recruiting 68,000 men at a cost of £2.8 million through borrowing, via the newly established Bank of England, in 1695, and attempted to keep parliament informed of his progress at regular intervals.
• Although he entered peace talks with the French after 1696, Louis did not offer a satisfactory settlement to William and French negotiators refused to acknowledge William as legitimate King.
• Despite the stalling of peace talks, both sides were bankrupt by 1697, and William was facing increasing opposition from the Tories and non-Junto Whigs in Parliament.
• A settlement was reached under the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick in September 1697. Peace was officially declared between France and the three powers.
• The average annual expenditure in the nine years war was just over £5.4 million , but the average tax revenue was £3.6 million.

Public scrutiny of gov. income and expenditure

• Concerns among backbenchers about huge sums of money spent on the war led to a parliamentary commission on being set up to investigate government expenditure.
• The commissions had to power to interrogate ministers and call for papers from government to be read and consulted in order to establish whether money had been spent appropriately.
• In 1690, William had agreed to the Public Accounts Act and the first commission was set up in 1691. It was renewed each year until 1697, although William blocked more from being established.
• When the first commission met, Whig members, such as Robert Harley, and Tories such as Benjamin Newland worked well together in their common concern to expose deficiencies in government expenditure.

The establishment of the Bank of England

• Brainchild of Charles Montagu, supported by many Whigs but opposed by leading tories.
• Tonnage Act of 1694 provided a loan of 1.2 million at an interest rate of 8%