How revolutionary was the Glorious Revolution? (1688-1701)

What was the Declaration of Rights?

After James' abdication, Parliament offered the Crown to both William and Mary - Radical Whigs wanted to declare William king immediately, many others favoured his wife, Mary, because of hereditary right, so they chose both

When was the Bill of Rights passed? What was it?

1689 - Declaration was modified and eventually became the Bill of Rights, cited as a significant constitutional document (as important as the Magna Carta)

What did the Bill of Rights include?

referred to specific abuses of royal prerogative under Charles II and James II, called for elections to be regular and free, an army couldn't be raised or kept in times of peace without parliament's consent
Was a direct retaliation to previous monarchs' attempts at absolutism and helped increase parliamentary control over the monarchy, asserted parliamentary control over the military

Name a limitation of the Bill of Rights

• Made no provision for ensuring elections were fair or even defined what 'fair' meant

• monarch was still free to decide on issues surrounding war, peace and foreign policy

• monarch was able to choose their own advisors

When were the Mutiny Acts passed? What did they ensure?

1689 - ensured the king could not court martial at will without the consent of parliament

Why were the Mutiny Acts important in the growth of parliamentary power over the Crown?

Each Act was only valid for a year, so the king had no choice by to turn to parliament regularly for approval

When was the Act of Settlement passed? Why was it important in limiting Catholic heirs to the throne?

1701 - in order to bypass potential Catholic heirs to the throne, the succession would be vested in House of Hanover after Anne (Mary's daughter's) reign was over

What were the terms of the Act of Settlement?

• Catholics (and those married to them) were barred from the succession and all future monarchs were required to be members of the Church of England, judges could no longer be dismissed without the consent of parliament

• No future foreign monarch could enter England into a war in order to defend the monarch's home country without the consent of parliament - which William had done in the Nine Years War to defend Holland, all matter regarding the governing of Britain had to be discussed in Privy Council

What is the Whig interpretation of the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement?

The Bill of Rights preserved England's 'ancient constitution' from absolutism of James II - represented the restoration of previous political stability, was a starting point for a new constitution and compromise between Tories and Whigs

What is the Marxist interpretation of the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement?

They created a constitutional monarchy in the interest of the existing ruling elites

What is the Revisionist interpretation of the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement?

They changed virtually nothing except the line of succession, a constitutional monarchy was not fully established (but concept of divine right was destroyed) as parliament was still officially an advisory body, parliament still represented the top 2% of the population

What were William's first attempts at religious reform? What would the consequences of this reform have been?

1689 - urged for removal of sacramental test for office holders, would have broken Anglican political supremacy

What were the two aims of the Anglican clergy when William took the throne? How did William respond to Anglican concerns? Why did he respond this way?

Ensure that worship in the church remained unified and unaltered, prevent William from weakening the Church so he could impose Dutch Calvinism
William offered a compromise - Toleration Act 1689 was passed, knew he had to maintain good relations with both Anglicans and dissenters

What document inspired the Toleration Act? Who wrote it? What ideas did it present?

A Letter Concerning Toleration, Locke - allowing for religious diversity would prevent unrest among minority groups, argued for separation of Church and State

What were William's attitudes towards towards the Church of England?

Was suspicious of the clergy - helped to push him to support broader toleration

When was the Toleration Act introduced? What were its main terms? How was it adapted to cater to certain groups?

1689, dissenters could no longer be punished if they accepted the Test Act and took the oath of allegiance
Quakers could proclaim rather than swear that they denied the authority of the Pope

What were the limitations of the Toleration Act?

Dissenting meetings were closely monitored, Test Act still remained (dissenters still couldn't hold public office, attend university or join one of the major professions), dissenters still had to pay tithes to a church they didn't belong to

Why did the Whigs introduce the Oath of Allegiance for clergymen?

To humiliate Anglican clergy and Tories

Why did the Anglican clergy find the oath to William and Mary problematic? How were the Whigs able to capitalise on the Anglican response to the oath?

Most of them had already sworn allegiance to James, so they could directly disobey him if they swore an oath to another monarch, led to 400 clergymen being deprived of their livings

To which groups did the terms of the Toleration Act not apply?

Jews, non-trinitarians and Catholics

To what extent were Catholics tolerated under William? Why?

Catholics were mostly left alone - William had essentially guaranteed their safety as he had allied with many Catholic powers in the League of Augsburg

How was the impact of the Toleration Act enhanced? What was the most significant consequence of it? Why could it be argued that it was not born out of revolutionary principles?

William was able to use his influence to sway the Church and legal system from enforcing other laws against dissenters, power of Church courts were severely weakened by act (had been responsible for enforcing uniformity)
Removed the requirement to attend Anglican services - ended England's status as a confessional state
Was passed in large part as reaction by the Anglican clergy to preserve some of the power of the church, born out of fear by many in political nation of giving too much power to dissenters (so chaos of 1650s would return)

What did the Irish and Scottish Toleration Acts ban?

restricted opportunities of dissenters to participate in national and local government

Who were William's main advisors at the start of his reign? What positions did they hold? Why were they chosen?

Lord Halifax - Lord Privy Seal, had led Convention Parliament in its attempts to appoint James, had been advisor to William in the Netherlands, was neither Whig nor Tory (William didn't understand partisan system)
Earl of Danby - Lord President of the Council, had arranged William's marriage to Mary, pursued pro-Dutch foreign policy

How many Whigs and Tories were there in the 1690 Parliament?

225 Whigs/206 Tories

Which political faction was William expected to favour? Why did he not actually ally himself with that faction?

Was expected to favour Whigs - wanted Protestant succession and progressive reform, but William suspected them of being republicans

Was expected to favour Whigs - wanted Protestant succession and progressive reform, but William suspected them of being republicans

Allied with Tories - saw them as being loyal to the Crown., when he went to fight James, he left mainly Tories in charge of Privy Council

What happened in the 1690 parliament?

Privy Council strengthened over Parliament, opposition attempt to investigate government accounts was rejected

When was the Williamite War? How did it start?

1689-91 - James held Parliament in Ireland, Catholic gentry there flocked to his support

Where was the Williamite War fought?

Ireland (was a conflict in the wider Nine Years War)

How many soldiers fought for William and James in the Williamite War?

80,000 soldiers on each side - revolution was violent and included people outside the English political elite

Where and when did William secure the decisive victory in the war in Ireland?

Jul 1690 at Battle of the Boyne, war ended in 1691

What events emphasise the brutality of the war?

8,000 died when William's forces defended the siege of Derry in 1689, half of James' soldiers were killed or captured at the Battle of Aughrim in Jul 1961

Give a major political consequence of the war in Ireland?

Financial strain it caused pushed opposition Whigs to establish commissions of accounts to control expenditure

What was the state of William's government between 1690 and 1692?

Divided over strategy - led to defeats in the Nine Year's War

When did the Whig Junto rise to power? At what point can it be said to have dominated government? What were its policies?

1692-3 - domination from early 1694
Supported a strong executive and William's wars in Europe, to promote European Protestantism

Who were the four main figures in the Whig Junto?

Montagu - Chancellor of the Exchequer
Somers - Lord Keeper
Russell - First Lord of the Admiralty

Why was 1698 the turning point for the Whig Junto? What was the impact of this? How was it dismantled?

The election held that year marked by distrust of Junto, court and country interests came to the forefront (strengthened country opposition), country opposition secured bill restricting size of army to 7,000 on government grants, commission established to investigate Crown's choice of recipients for confiscated land in Ireland
Montagu was demoted in the Privy Council, Russel forced to resign in the Admiralty
Tories petitioned the resignation of Somers - even though they lost the vote, he still resigned

What were the two factions within Parliament between 1680 and 1740? What did each faction believe?

Court - loyal to the Crown
Country - consisted of disaffected Whigs and Tories who believed the Court party was corrupting politics

When was there first an attempt to introduce a Triennial Bill? What was the outcome?

1693 - passed both Houses of Parliament, William used prerogative to stop it from becoming law

When did the Triennial Act become law?

1694

What was the principle set out by the Triennial Act?

Parliaments could last a maximum of 3 years, meant more frequent general elections

How did the Triennial Act impact the behaviour of MPs? How did the Triennial Act weaken the Crown?

Put an end to cross party voting, enforced stricter partisan loyalty - only 14% of MPs took part in cross party voting
Meant Parliamentary majorities didn't tend to last long - so Crown had work with individual MPs rather than relying on support from a political faction

How did Parliament respond to the passage of the Triennial Act?

Instigated several investigations - ousted John Trevor for corruption (took bribe of 1,000 guineas to assist with passing of a vote)

What is the period between 1689 and 1715 known as? Why?

Rage of the Party - more frequent general elections led to greater political tensions

How many general elections took place during the period between 1689 and 1715? In average general elections during this period, how many seats were contested? How many avoided any election altogether?

12 general elections
Around 100 seats contested, only 19 avoided any election

Aside from the Triennial Act, which other factor impacted elections during the 1690s?

Lapsing of Licensing Act in 1685 - end of heavy press censorship, meant electorate was well informed by press media

What events allowed the Whigs to assert control over Parliament and government?

William dissolved Parliament in Oct 1695 - ensuring a general election gave Whigs a large majority
Jacobite plot to kill William/threat of French invasion, both in Feb 1696 - stressed William's reliance on Whigs, led to passage of Oath of Association to William (89 Tories refused to sign, suggesting they were Jacobite sympathisers)

How did Parliament begin to restrict the power of the king?

1697 - voted he could only raise an army of 10,000 soldiers through government grants

What was the result of the elections of 1701? What happened in the aftermath of these elections?

Tories made further gains
Tories tried to impeach Somers, Montagu and Russel but they were acquitted

What governmental prerogative was kept intact by the Glorious Revolution? What was a caveat to this?

Appointment of ministers - however, William had to appoint men he loathed as ministers (like Wharton) out of political necessity

Why was the position of the monarch still strong after the Glorious Revolution?

Many politicians still aspired to join the royal court, king still had power to declare war, dissolve parliament and use royal veto

How had the role of Parliament been changed by the Glorious Revolution?

Parliament was now a partner in government - no longer existed simply to raise fund for the monarch, would now work together with the monarch to enhance the power of the Crown

When was the Nine Years War?

1688-97

Which two alliances participated in the Nine Years War?

League of Augsburg - Britain, Holland, Holy Roman Empire, Spain vs. France

What were his aims in the Nine Years War?

defend Dutch Republic, ensure balance of power is restored to European politics

How long did William spend on campaign of the Nine Years War?

Spent 6 years on campaign

How did the Nine Years War mark a turning point in English government?

Marked a shift towards Parliament in the financial separation of powers, England was involving itself in European military conflicts on a scale never seen before

Why did Louis XIV have an advantage at the start of the campaign in the Nine Years War?

Held authority based on divine right, had a larger troop count

How did William face domestic opposition to the war effort? Why did he face domestic opposition?

1691 - opposition in parliament only voted him funding for 10,000 troops
1693 - faced opposition from merchants because trading routes in the Med, African Coast and North Sea had become too dangerous
Cost of the war, usage of foreign commanders, impact on trade, his own poor performances

How many men was William able to recruit in total? When? How much did this cost? How was this financed?

68,000 men - cost £2.8 million, financed by Bank of England in 1695

What was the average annual expenditure in the Nine Years War? What was the average taxation yield during the period?

£5.4 million
£3.6 million

What were the main sources of revenue for William during the war?

Land Tax (1692) - raised £1 million, 1/3 of all revenue raised, initially high yields among the landed elites, suggested support for the war
Excise taxes on tea, tobacco and alcohol

How much did royal income increase after the Revolution?

Doubled after Glorious Revolution

Why did the Nine Years War come to an end?

England and France were both bankrupt, William was facing increased opposition in parliament because of the costs of the war

What was the name of the treaty that brought the Nine Years War to an end? What were its terms?

Treaty of Rijswijk in Sept 1697 - France agreed to abandon their claims for land in Germany and Holland, Louis forced to recognise William as rightful king of England, William would not assist James II, colonial gains made by French in North American returned to British

How was National Debt created? Why?

Crown took out long-term loans from merchants and paid them with interest - created to bridge gap between taxation and expenditure during the war

How much of the Crown’s revenue was consumed by National Debt?

£16.7 million consumed

Why could William no longer afford to rely on taxation for the funding of the Crown?

Dutch merchants could no longer tolerate burden of war, English gentry had turned against land tax, William had raise more in taxation than any other English monarch and was still experiencing a shortfall

Why was the shortfall in taxation to fund the Crown somewhat artificial? What was the political consequence of this?

Parliament had designed the Bill of Rights to ensure William didn't have to fund his wars without Parliament, meant he was forced to accept Parliament as a partner in government

When was the Civil List Act passed? When did it receive Royal Assent and come into force? How much was the Civil List Act worth?

1697 - received royal assent in 1698
Worth £700,000 a year

What was the purpose of the money of the Civil List? What expenditure was not covered by the Civil List? What was the consequence of this?

Met the expenses of William's government (civil servants, judges, diplomats, royal household)
Military and navy expenditure not covered - became preserve of parliament, Parliament essentially controlled warfare on a practical level

How did the Civil List Act ensure regular meetings of Parliament?

Any additional revenue had to be granted by Parliament - king and parliament had to meet regularly to review the List

Which two factors catalysed the creation of the public accounts commissions?

Backbencher MPs were concerned about the amounts of money spent on war, William wanted to open up his accounts to increase trust in government and to reduce waste in his household

What initial obstacle was faced in the creation of the public accounts commission?

MPs were unsure how to implement them as there was no precedent for this level of investigation

When was the Public Accounts Act passed? How many commissioners were appointed initially?

1690 - first commission in 1691, 9 commissioners appointed initially, didn’t last long

What shows long-term government borrowing prior to the Bank of England? When was it levied? How did it work?

Tontine loan, levied from 1693 - each investor receives annual dividend, to be paid off by excise taxes for 99 years

How successful was the Tontine loan?

Was only somewhat successful for the government but caused complications for investors - only raised £108,000 for investors

What other forms of long form borrowing was undertaken by William?

Lotteries - Mar 1694, 100,000 tickets sold for £10, winners paid larger amounts, raised £1 million for William
New East India Company - 1698, 8% interest, William promised share in new enterprise, raised £2

Who was the founder of the Bank of England? What position did he hold?

Charles Montagu - Chancellor

How was the Bank of England established? When? How did it operate?

1694 Tonnage Act - loan of £1.2 million at 8%, investors incorporated into the new bank

Why was the Bank of England highly effective for government finance?

Gave them the authority to deal in Bills of Exchange worth £100 and then £5, would be paid later in excise duties
Attracted lots of small, long-term investors, secured by an Act of Parliament

How did the Bank of England increase its status?

Opened a branch in Holland to attract international investors, took over military spending

Why was William's financial system more effective than that of previous Stuart monarchs?

Was not dependent on high interest loans or variable tax receipts, meant there was more confidence in the economy

When was the Recoinage Act passed? Why was it necessary? How did it work?

1696 - silver coins produced under Charles II were regularly clipped or forged, value of silver was higher on the continent, so many coins were melted down and shipped abroad
Requested that old coins be surrendered and weighed to ascertain their true value, new coins were struck at a number of mints across the country

What were the short and long term impacts of the Recoinage Act?

Short term - confidence restored to the economy, new coins kept their value at first
Long term - silver became worth more in bullion (bar form) than coin within two years