The Glorious Revolution

house of Parliament, and also held the positions as sheriffs and justices. The grievances came into violent fruition during the rule of his son Charles I. During the third year of Charles I’s reign, Parliament passed the Petition of Right, which was a law that was supposed to be accepted by the king in return for tax revenues. The new petition abolished arbitrary imprisonment, the quartering of soldiers in private homes, declaration of martial law during a time of peace and taxation without Parliament’s approval. This new petition was created in order to prevent absolutism by limiting royal authority. Thus, Charles I refused to accept it and later in 1629, Charles I decided to rule England on his own. During the period of 1629 to 1640, Charles I ruled alone and collected taxes without Parliament’s consent. One of the most important taxes levied by King Charles I was ship money, which was a tax that forced seacoast towns to pay for coastal defenses. This tax became collected annually and was used to fund various government operations. Due to this tax, Charles I alienated the middle-class merchants. The king further exasperated the grievances in his country through his religious policy. When he married Henrietta Maria, the Catholic sister of the French King Louis XIII, the people became suspicious of his religious inclination. The opposition toward the king became worse when the archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud, began to implement more rituals into the Anglican Church. The Puritans were alarmed because they thought that the archbishop was returning the church to Catholic popery. The Scottish rose up in rebellion when Charles I and William Laud tried to force the Anglican Church to utilize the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Due to the lack of funds to raise a royal army and defend himself from the enraged Scottish, Charles I called Parliament into session.  When Parliament met, it attempted to limit the authority of the king by abolishing arbitrary arrest and nullifying the taxes that he had levied such as ship money. Also, Parliament passed the Triennial Act, which made it mandatory for Parliament to meet annually. By the end of 1641, the Parliament split into a moderate group, which desired no further change, and a radical group, which wanted to make more change such as abolishing bishops in the Anglican Church. While Parliament was having internal dissention, Charles I attempted to arrest several members of the radical Parliament. Due to Charles I’s attempted arrests, John Pym and several followers became enraged, thus, causing the English Civil War to start. The causes of the Glorious Revolution were quite different compared to the cause of the English Civil War.  The cause of the Glorious Revolution arose during Charles II’s rule. During his rule, there was an enormous controversy over religion. Even though the House of Lords and Charles II were restored, the Parliament kept much of the power it had gained during the English Civil War. Despite the Parliament’s great power, Charles II constantly advocated ideas that would alienate Parliament and the rest of England. The conflict began when the new Parliament or Cavalier Parliament met and restored the Anglican Church. Furthermore, the Cavalier Parliament compelled Catholics, Puritan Dissenters and other groups to become Puritans.  After the new Parliament passed several laws pertaining to religion, Charles II issued the Declaration of Indulgence, which eliminated all laws that were passed against Catholics and Puritans. In reaction to the Declaration of Indulgence, the Parliament issued the Test Act of 1673, which stated that only Anglicans could hold civil and military offices. While Charles II and the Parliament were arguing, there was a Catholic Plot to assassinate Charles II and replace him with James, his brother. Even though it was a fake plot, the members of Parliament were alarmed and attempted to pass a bill, which would prevent James’s ascension to the throne. During the debate concerning James’s ascension, the Parliament broke into two groups: the Whigs and the Tories. Even though both groups were Protestant, their views on James’s ascension differed greatly. The Whigs advocated James’s exclusion from royal power and an establishment of a Protestant King. By contrast, even though the Tories hated James for being a Catholic, they believed that Parliament shouldn’t intervene with the rightful succession of the throne and thus wanted to establish James as the new king. To prevent Parliament from accomplishing either plan, Charles I dissolved Parliament and relied on French subsidies to gather taxes and rule alone.  However, after his death, his brother James took over the throne as James II. James II’s reign further exasperated the religious crisis that was plaguing England. Being a devout Catholic, James II passed many laws that favored Catholics. Thus, his views ensured that he would come in conflict with the Parliament, which was mostly made up of Protestants. In the beginning of his rule, James II passed an act similar to the Test Act. Unlike the Test Act, his new law favored the Catholics instead of the Protestants. Also, James II issued another Declaration of Indulgence, which nullified all laws that prevented Catholics and Dissenters from holding military or civil offices. Despite James II’s tendency to favor Catholics, the Parliament didn’t rebel against him because he was incredibly old, but when his second wife bore a son and made him a Catholic, Parliament, fearing a Catholic ruler, embarked on a Glorious Revolution.         Different events occurred during the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. The major difference between the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution was that the English Civil War was an incredibly bloody war. By contrast, during the Glorious Revolution, which was also known as the blood less revolution there was no blood shed. During the first phase of the English Civil War, Parliament became victorious. The factor that enabled Parliament to become victorious was Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army, which was made up mostly by the extremely radical Puritans known as the Independents. At the end of the first phase, the New Model Army successfully captured the treacherous Charles I. Similarly to what had occurred at the end of 1641, the moderate Presbyterian majority wanted to disband the army and restore Charles I to the throne with a Presbyterian Church. By contrast, the more radical Independents revolted, marched on London and began negotiating with Charles I. While the two factions were arguing, Charles I fled and asked the Scottish for help. Due to the king’s treachery, Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army entered the second phase of the war. As a result, the Presbyterian members were forced to leave and a Rump Parliament of fifty-three members was created. After Charles I was captured, the Rump Parliament condemned him to death and he was executed. The Glorious Revolution ended as quickly as it began. The Glorious Revolution began when a group of seven prominent English noblemen invited William of Orange, who was James’s daughter Mary’s husband, to invade England. Due to his desire to fight Louis XIV with the aid of England’s resources, William and Mary established an army and attacked England. In reaction to the invasion, James and his family fled to France. Therefore, William and Mary were successfully able to take over England with little blood shed. Thus, they had embarked on a Glorious Revolution.         The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution yielded different results. As a result of the English Civil War, the monarch Charles I was executed and a Rump Parliament was established. After Charles I’s execution, Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the New Model Army, took over. The Rump Parliament began by abolishing the monarchy and the House of Lords. As a result, the new Parliament declared England a republic. Ironically, Oliver Cromwell became something similar to an absolute monarch. Due to great opposition, Oliver Cromwell became enraged and quelled the rebels with his army. Also, he dissolved the Rump Parliament because it advocated the creation of a Presbyterian church and questioned his authority. After the destruction of the monarch and the Parliament, Cromwell decided to establish the Instrument of Government, which became England’s first and only written constitution. Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector, acquired the executive power and the new reestablished Parliament acquired legislative power. Also, Oliver Cromwell separated eleven regions, which were each ruled by a major general who served as a governor. Furthermore, to maintain the new military governments, Cromwell levied a ten percent land tax on former Royalists. Due to his failure to maintain order, Oliver Cromwell often resorted to using the military to quell rebellions and assert his policies. In the end, after Oliver Cromwell’s death in 1658, the military decided to reestablish Charles II, the oldest son of Charles I, as the new monarch of England. The English Civil War resulted in the restoration of the monarch. On the other hand, the Glorious Revolution resulted in the establishment of limited constitutional monarchy. Most importantly, the Glorious Revolution gave a significant blow to absolutism in England and as a result absolutism ceased to exist in England. After William of Orange and Mary took over England, Parliament gained a significant amount of power by passing the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights assured Parliament that only it would have the privilege to make laws and levy new taxes. Furthermore, the Bill of Rights stated that the king could not interfere in Parliament’s meetings. Also, the Bill of Rights gave liberal rights such as the right to petition, bear arms and etc. The most significant aspect of the Bill of Rights was that it laid the foundation for a constitutional monarchy. To stress the destruction of absolutism in England, Parliament crowned the king instead of God, as stated in the divine right theory. As a result of the Glorious Revolution, Kings lost absolute power and thus Parliament acquired significant power that enabled it to participate in government affairs.         In conclusion, the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution had various different causes, occurrences and results. The English Civil War caused the destruction of the monarchy, but in the end, it resulted in its restoration. Nevertheless, the English Civil War enabled the Glorious Revolution to change England into a limited constitutional Monarchy. Indeed, the shift to a limited constitutional monarchy enabled England to be ahead of the rest of Europe both politically and socially for several centuries.