HISTORICAL BACKGROUND By: Galo Coba & Anthony Dominguez

Introduction/summary ●The world was shocked In 1649 when the English beheaded their King. ●Abolished the monarchy ●This was the rise of a revolution. ●New religious creeds had abolished the traditions of centuries. ●By the 1700’s there was a new monarch which allowed for more freedom of religion and politics.

Charles I and parliament ●Crowned in 1625, clashed with parliament over money. ●He dissolved parliament for eleven years ●Religious controversy ●Insisted that clergymen had to observe the ceremonies of the Anglican church

The Civil War ●Problems grew worse leading to a fight against the scottish rebels. ●The rebels were not happy with his insistence on religious conformity. ●Charles I was in need of money, summoned a hostile parliament. ●Parliament condemned him as a tyrant in 1642.

The Civil War ●Civil war broke out and parliament forces held charles as a prisoner. ●Radical puritans led parliament and convicted him of treason. ●Charles was beheaded on january 30th, 1649 ●Oliver Cromwell led the new government, known as the English Commonwealth.

Restoration ●Around the time of Cromwell's death England was done with taxation, disorder, and violence. ●Two years later parliament gave the throne to Charles II

Glorious Revolution ●Charles II and James II had religious differences. ●James II was a Catholic. ●Parliament told the daughter of James II to rule england with her husband, William of Orange. ●Instead of violence, James left to france. ●English called this the glorious revolution.

Agricultural Revolution ●By the late 1600’s new farm tools made it possible for farms to produce more food. ●This created an increase in population.

Industrial Age ●British inventions after 1750 made the spinning and weaving of cloth more efficient. ●Steam engine was perfected. ●Factories were built to produce a lot of cotton cloth. ●Merchants sold goods around the world and increased the market for gold. ●Britains wealth increased enormously.

The Enlightenment ●1750 Britain was industrializing and the social theories of Enlightenment were eclipsed. ●Writers and intellectuals began to lose faith in the ability of human reason to solve problems. ●People were unable to find work.

Literature of the Period ●Ben Jonson ; He created his own modern, strong voice: he wrote poems, plays, and masques. ●John Donne ; He created a new style known as metaphysical poetry, characterized by an unusual degree of intellectualism. ●There were many other poets in this time period, but these were the most important two.

Puritan Writers ●John Milton was a Puritan writer who was a disciple of the classical Greek and Latin authors. He also was a Calvinist and studied the old testament in Hebrew. He supported the commonwealth and the execution of Charles the first. ● John Bunyan had little education and would preach around the town to whoever would listen, he was imprisoned and there he wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress.

Literature of the Age of Reason ●Writers such as John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, and Samuel Johnson discovered the qualities they admired most such as harmony, restraint, and clarity. ●These writers contributed a great amount to this time period.

The Eclipse of Enlightenment ●Writers turned away from the standards of neoclassicism. ●The age of reason was coming to an end and the 1800’s would make a new literary age.