English Civil War & Enlightenment

Charles I  Son of James I (grandson of Mary, Queen of Scots)  Believed in divine right of kings

Charles I and Parliament  Parliament opposed his tax measures –Sent him the Petition of Rights The king could not tax people without Parliament’s permission The king could not declare martial law He could not board soldiers in private homes during peace times The king could not imprison people without a specific charge Charles signed petition, but dismissed congress

The Long Parliament  Parliament wanted to be in charge of the army  Charles refused to compromise, led troops into House of Commons to arrest opponents  Neither side would compromise  As a result Civil War broke out in 1642

English Civil War  Cavaliers –Called royalists, supported the king  Roundheads –Supported Parliament  Oliver Cromwell –Organized New Model Army and defeated Charles  Rump Parliament –Abolished monarchy and House of Lords –Proclaimed England a commonwealth  Charles I tried for treason, executed

English Civil War Irish Rebellion Long Parliament trying to limit monarchy’s power General population rejected Puritans’ attempted changes within church Longstanding tension between monarchy and Parliament

Cromwell’s Commonwealth  Raised money from taxes and land sales  Army was disciplined and powerful  Enemies had no organized army  Encouraged trade and manufacturing  Ruled harshly for five years –Known as Protectorate

End of the Revolution  Cromwell quarreled with Parliament –Dissolved it –Cromwell died  Parliament invited son of Charles I to return –Charles II restored monarchy –Policies of religious tolerance fueled Catholic fear –Had no legitimate children, his Catholic brother James II assumed power upon his death

The Restoration and the Glorious Revolution  Political parties develop –Tories supported Anglican Church –Whigs opposed having Catholic ruler  The Glorious Revolution –Bloodless transfer of power in English monarchy –William of Orange assumed power Protestant Dutch, not English

Changes in English Government  Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan –Said that anarchy was a state of nature  Johns Locke – Two Treatises of Government –Said that people kept rights to life, liberty and ownership of property –Said that individual rights were more important that those of the government  Habeas Corpus Act and Declaration of Rights –Protected individuals against: Unfair arrest and imprisonment Unfairly high bail Cruel or unusual punishment –Lead to English Bill of Rights  Toleration Act and Act of Settlement –Religious freedoms to Dissenters, but not Roman Catholics or Jews –Act of Settlement kept Catholics from the English throne

Parliamentary Rule  Growing power of Parliament –Monarch must consult with Parliament –Development of cabinet and prime minister  Act of Union –United England and Scotland into Great Britain  Constitutional monarchy –Monarch remained head of state –Royal powers were limited by constitution

The Beginnings of the British Empire  Explorers and sea dogs –English sea captains who challenged the Portuguese and Spanish Monopolies of sea trade Plundered foreign ships Helped defeat Spanish Armada  The British in India –British East India Company Unofficial extension of British government Dominated European trade in India

The British in America  British settlements –Plymouth Mayflower Compact – 1620 – first constitution type document –Jamestown 1 st English Settlement in Americas – 1607  Mercantilism and the British colonies –Discouraged colonial manufacturing –Forced colonists to sell certain products only to Britain –Made colonies resent the motherland

Crusaders of the Enlightenment  Believed that natural law governed human behavior and that truth could be determined by logic, secularism, and individualism  Promoted the idea of rationalism –Human behavior could be explained by the scientific method

Political Criticism  Montesquieu –Government divided into branches to create checks on political power  Voltaire –Criticized intolerance and attempts to suppress personal freedoms  Rousseau –Distrusted reason –Opposed strong government –Supported popular sovereignty  Mary Wollstonecraft –1 st women’s rights activist