a thesis statement about the glorious revolution's influence

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What was the Glorious Revolution?

When did the glorious revolution occur, what caused the glorious revolution, why is the glorious revolution significant.

Glorious Revolution

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The Glorious Revolution refers to the events of 1688–89 that saw King James II of England deposed and succeeded by one of his daughters and her husband. James’s overt Roman Catholicism , his suspension of the legal rights of Dissenters, and the birth of a Catholic heir to the throne raised discontent among many, particularly non-Catholics. Opposition leaders invited William of Orange , a Protestant who was married to James’s daughter Mary (also Protestant), to, in effect, invade England. James’s support dwindled, and he fled to France. William and Mary were then crowned joint rulers.

The Glorious Revolution took place during 1688–89. In 1688 King James II of England , a Roman Catholic king who was already at odds with non-Catholics in England, took actions that further alienated that group. The birth of his son in June raised the likelihood of a Catholic heir to the throne and helped bring discontent to a head. Several leading Englishmen invited William of Orange , a Protestant who was married to James’s eldest daughter, Mary (also Protestant), to lead an army to England. He arrived in November, and James fled the next month. In April 1689 William and Mary were crowned joint rulers of the kingdom of England.

The Glorious Revolution (1688–89) in England stemmed from religious and political conflicts. King James II was Catholic . His religion, and his actions rooted in it, put him at odds with the non-Catholic population and others. Many tolerated him, thinking that the throne would eventually pass to his eldest child, Mary , who was Protestant. This view changed with the birth of James’s son in June 1688, as the king now had a Catholic heir. Alarmed, several prominent Englishmen invited Mary’s husband, William of Orange , to invade England. He did so in November. James soon fled England, and William and Mary were crowned joint rulers in April 1689.

The Glorious Revolution (1688–89) permanently established Parliament as the ruling power of England —and, later, the United Kingdom —representing a shift from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. When William III and Mary II were crowned, they swore to govern according to the laws of Parliament, not the laws of the monarchy. A Bill of Rights promulgated later that year, based on a Declaration of Rights accepted by William and Mary when they were crowned, prohibited Catholics or those married to Catholics from claiming the throne.  

Glorious Revolution , in English history, the events of 1688–89 that resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of his daughter Mary II and her husband, William III , prince of Orange and stadholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands .

After the accession of James II in 1685, his overt Roman Catholicism alienated the majority of the population. In 1687 he issued a Declaration of Indulgence , suspending the penal laws against Nonconformists and recusants, and in April 1688 ordered that a second Declaration of Indulgence be read from every pulpit on two successive Sundays. William Sancroft , the archbishop of Canterbury , and six other bishops petitioned him against this and were prosecuted for seditious libel. Their acquittal almost coincided with the birth of a son to James’s Roman Catholic queen, Mary of Modena (June). This event promised an indefinite continuance of his policy and brought discontent to a head. Seven eminent Englishmen, including one bishop and six prominent politicians of both Whig and Tory persuasions, wrote to William of Orange, inviting him to come over with an army to redress the nation’s grievances.

William was both James’s nephew and his son-in-law, and, until the birth of James’s son, William’s wife, Mary, was heir apparent . William’s chief concern was to check the overgrowth of French power in Europe. Between 1679 and 1684, England’s impotence and the emperor Leopold I ’s preoccupation with a Turkish advance to Vienna had allowed Louis XIV to seize Luxembourg , Strasbourg , Casale Monferrato , and other places vital to the defense of the Spanish Netherlands , the German Rhineland , and northern Italy. By 1688, however, a great European coalition had begun to form to call for a halt to aggressions. Its prospects depended partly upon England. Thus, having been in close touch with the leading English malcontents for more than a year, William accepted their invitation. Landing at Brixham on Tor Bay (November 5), he advanced slowly on London as support fell away from James II. James’s daughter Anne and his best general, John Churchill , were among the deserters to William’s camp. Thereupon, James fled to France.

William was now asked to carry on the government and summon a Parliament. When this Convention Parliament met (January 22, 1689), it agreed, after some debate, to treat James’s flight as an abdication and to offer the crown, with an accompanying Declaration of Rights , to William and Mary jointly. Both gift and conditions were accepted. Thereupon, the convention turned itself into a proper Parliament and large parts of the Declaration into a Bill of Rights . This bill gave the succession to Mary’s sister, Anne, in default of issue from Mary, barred Roman Catholics from the throne, abolished the crown’s power to suspend laws, condemned the power of dispensing with laws “as it hath been exercised and used of late,” and declared a standing army illegal in time of peace.

The settlement marked a considerable triumph for Whig views. If no Roman Catholic could be king, then no kingship could be unconditional. The adoption of the exclusionist solution lent support to John Locke ’s contention that government was in the nature of a social contract between the king and his people represented in Parliament. The revolution permanently established Parliament as the ruling power of England.

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Why Nations Fail

Daron acemoglu and james a. robinson.

The Glorious Revolution Quotes in Why Nations Fail

England was unique among nations when it made the breakthrough to sustained economic growth in the seventeenth century. Major economic changes were preceded by a political revolution that brought a distinct set of economic and political institutions, much more inclusive than those of any previous society. […] The Glorious Revolution limited the power of the king and the executive, and relocated to Parliament the power to determine economic institutions. At the same time, it opened up the political system to a broad cross section of society, who were able to exert considerable influence over the way the state functioned. The Glorious Revolution was the foundation for creating a pluralistic society, and it built on and accelerated a process of political centralization. It created the world’s first set of inclusive political institutions.

What is common among the political revolutions that successfully paved the way for more inclusive institutions and the gradual institutional changes in North America, in England in the nineteenth century, and in Botswana after independence—which also led to significant strengthening of inclusive political institutions—is that they succeeded in empowering a fairly broad cross-section of society. Pluralism, the cornerstone of inclusive political institutions, requires political power to be widely held in society, and starting from extractive institutions that vest power in a narrow elite, this requires a process of empowerment. This, as we emphasized in chapter 7, is what sets apart the Glorious Revolution from the overthrow of one elite by another.

The Glorious Revolution Term Timeline in Why Nations Fail

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How Did the Glorious Revolution in England Affect the Colonies?

The Glorious Revolution in England occurred when Mary and William of Orange took over the throne from James II in 1688.

News of the Glorious Revolution had a significant and profound affect on the colonies in North America, particularly the Massachusetts Bay Colony .

When colonists learned of Mary and William’s rise to power it caused a series of revolts against the government officials appointed by James II.

What Was the Glorious Revolution?

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, occurred after William of Orange invaded England in November of 1688, pressuring James II to abdicate the throne of England to James II’s daughter Mary, the heir presumptive. Mary and her husband, William of Orange, officially became King and Queen of England in February of 1689.

James II was an unpopular King due to his conversion to Catholicism after his marriage to his second wife, a Catholic princess from Italy. James II also had faced increasing opposition as a result of his religious tolerance policies in 1685.

There was also talk that James II had been trying to form an alliance with the King of France Louis XIV, who was also a Catholic. Many feared a Catholic alliance between England and France would only strengthen Catholicism in Europe and establish a permanent Catholic monarchy in England.

King William III and Queen Mary II, engraving, circa 1703

As unpopular as the aging James II was, the public had simply hoped his beliefs and policies would die with him and they looked forward to his Protestant daughter, Mary, taking over the throne.

Matters took a turn for the worse though with the birth of James’s first son, James Francis Edward Stuart, which changed the existing line of succession by making the new son, also a Catholic, the first in line for the throne (because he was male) and his daughter Mary, second in line.

To prevent this from happening, several Tory leaders joined forces with Whig leaders and decided to invite William of Orange to England.

In November of 1688, William gathered supplies and forces and left Holland with 53 warships and hundreds of transport ships carrying 20,000 soldiers. His army crossed the North Sea and the English Channel and landed at Torbay in Devon on November 5.

It was the first invasion in England since William the Conqueror invaded in 1066. The date of William’s invasion was no coincidence either. William had deliberately planned for his Protestant invasion to take place on Guy Fawkes Night, the anniversary of the Protestant victory over Catholic conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

As William and his army marched their way to London over the next couple of weeks, they were met with virtually no resistance. On December 17, a group of Dutch guards arrived in London and escorted James II to jail in Rochester Castle in Kent.

A week later he was smuggled out of the jail with the help of some friends and lived the rest of his life in exile in France. On February 13, 1689 William and Mary became King and Queen of England.

It took time for news of the Glorious Revolution to reach North America but, when it did, it was welcomed with open arms, according to the book The Glorious Revolution in America:

“The Glorious Revolution in England was an unexpected but welcomed jolt to most colonists in America, particularly to those who saw it as a means of escape from an uncomfortable dilemma. The Popish Plot, Exclusion Crisis, Monmouth’s and Argyle’s rebellions, all the recent upheavals in England, had shaken the foundations of the Stuart establishment, but none was successful, none was large enough in conception, for colonists to feel included – although several made the attempt. None was sufficiently popular or contained strength enough to force changes upon Stuart institutions – except maybe in reaction – by which Englishmen in England, let along colonists, might benefit. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was another matter; it got rid of one monarch and crowned two others. It was accompanied by popular support and promised several constitutional reforms which colonists were quick to appropriate, even exploit. For colonies were ‘contiguous,’ they said, and really ‘parts of the whole.’ Few Englishmen in the realm were convinced of this constitutional mateyness, and most were taken by surprise when colonists insisted upon a revolutionary role similar to their own.”

The Boston Revolt of 1689:

Massachusetts Bay colonists were delighted to hear about the revolution in England because it gave them an opportunity to finally rid themselves of the much despised Dominion of New England .

The Dominion of New England was a merging of the New England colonies , created by James II in 1686, that gave the crown tighter control of the colonies by replacing the local puritan-based governments with a royally-appointed government.

Massachusetts was the first colony to respond to the news of the revolution. When the news reached the Massachusetts Bay Colony in March of 1689, talk of an uprising began to quickly spread in Boston, which was the headquarters of the Dominion and its officials.

On April 18, a mob finally rose up and gathered in the streets of Boston to overthrow the governor of the Dominion of New England, Sir Edmund Andros. This became known as the Boston Revolt and is considered the New England version of the Glorious Revolution.

Andros a Prisoner in Boston, illustration by F.O.C. Darley, William L. Shepard or Granville Perkins, circa 1876

Andros took refuge in his quarters at a garrison house called Fort Mary near the channel at Fort Hill. Former Governor of Massachusetts, Simon Bradstreet, called for Andros to surrender but he refused.

Andros then tried to escape to the king’s frigate in Boston harbor, the Rose, but the militia intercepted the barge sent to bring him to the ship.

After tense negotiations, Andros surrendered and was first taken to the townhouse where his council assembled and then taken to the home of the dominion treasurer, John Usher, where he was held prisoner.

According to the book Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World, once Andros was jailed, the Dominion of New England was over:

“Once the Massachusetts Bay colonists had imprisoned the governor of the Dominion, its foundations were shaken. Not only had questions about its legitimacy been raised by the revolution at home, but the Dominion was also undermined by the elimination of its governor and a number of the members of its appointed Council (also imprisoned in Boston.) After the Massachusetts coup, the Dominion ceased to function within New England. Other colonies followed Massachusetts’ lead and resurrected their former governments. Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Plymouth all went back to their older patterns and habits of governance while awaiting word from England.”

Shortly after, the Massachusetts Bay colonists set up a Council for Safety, which was led by Simon Bradstreet and included Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne , who later became a judges in the Salem Witch Trials .

On May 22, the council voted to return the colony to its former Puritan-run government. The council handled affairs in the colony for a few months until official confirmation of a new regime came from William and Mary.

Meanwhile, Andros was held at Usher’s along with other Dominion officials until June 7, when he was transferred to Castle island. Some sources state that it was during this time period that Andros made an escape attempt while dressed in women’s clothing. Anglican minister Robert Ratcliff refuted this claim and stated it was merely “falsehoods and lies” designed to demean Andros.

It is true that Andros made an escape attempt during this time period, on August 2, after his servant got the sentries drunk. He fled to Rhode Island but was recaptured and held in solitary confinement.

Andros was held prisoner for 10 months until finally being sent to England to stand trial. The Massachusetts agents in London refused to sign the charges against Andros, so the court dismissed them and freed Andros.

The actions of the Massachusetts Bay Colony inspired other colonies that had been included in the Dominion to assert their own independence and reinstate their old charters as well.

Leisler’s Rebellion:

The Boston Revolt inspired a similar uprising in nearby New York, which had been merged into the Dominion of New England in 1688. Word of the Boston Revolt reached the Dominion officials in New York on April 26 but they made no mention of it or of the revolution in England out of fear of inciting an uprising in New York as well. Eventually though, word got out and a rebellion began to brew, according to the book Colonial New York:

“When news reached New England that James II had been overthrown in England and that William and Mary had seized the day, Bostonians arose in April 1689 to imprison Governor Andros and declare the Dominion defunct. That demise, combined with the story of probable French invasion, caused New York to reach a frenzy of excitement in mid-May. The towns on eastern Long Island, which had been planning to send a statement of grievances to England anyway, rose in revolt against the authority of Lieutenant Governor Nicholson, and they were soon joined by towns in Queens and Westchester Counties. They turned out appointees of the central government and elected others to replace them. On May 31 the New York City militia seized the fort in order to ‘save’ the colony, and on June 8 Jacob Leisler was commissioned as captain of the fort. Two months later he became commander in chief of the province. During these summer months the significant upheaval involved an effort by prominent older settlers, supported especially by the Dutch populace, to displace the insecure, newly emerged Anglo-Dutch elite. Although the rebels identified themselves politically (and expediently) with English whiggery, their program, such as it was, sought a restoration of traditional corporate liberties for communities rather than an enlargement of personal liberties for individuals and social groups.”

Protestant merchant Jacob Leisler has since been dubbed the ring leader of the rebellion in New York, but his role in the rebellion was not exactly that of an instigator. He does not appear to be an initiator in the rebellion but he did assume control over it once it started.

After taking control of New York, Leisler began organizing representatives in Massachusetts Bay colony, Plymouth colony and Connecticut colony to unite with New York and attack French Canada. Leisler found that the other colonies were reluctant to join him and also realized that although he had the support of the Dutch artisans and laborers, the merchants of New York were not behind him. Leisler jailed a number of people as punishment for not obeying his authority, which only made him more unpopular in the city.

In 1691, the new royal governor, Colonel Henry Sloughter, sent soldiers, led by Major Richard Ingoldsby, to secure the city but Leisler refused to let them into key forts in the city and refused to turn over the city to Ingoldsby.

The soldiers seized the city and, on the advice of prominent community leaders, Leisler, along with his son-in-law, was charged with treason. The two men stood trial, were found guilty and were sentenced to death. In May of 1691, both men were hanged until almost dead, disemboweled while still alive, beheaded and then their bodies were cut into quarters.

Leisler’s death made him a martyr and a hero. Colonists were so angry about his death that Sloughter had to allow for the formation of a representatives assembly. Several of the men elected to the assembly were Leisler supporters and, for many years after, the assembly was a battleground between them and supporters of the royal officials. According to the book Conspiracy Theories in American History, Leisler’s influence on the city continued long after his death:

“Despite the death of its prominent leader, Leisler’s Rebellion lived on in New York politics for decades to come, even after Parliament posthumously exonerated Leisler in 1695. Jacob Leisler’s conspiracy to restore Protestant rule to New York fueled an ongoing political struggle between elite and Leislerian factions that continued as New York’s various ethnic, religious and socioeconomic groups clashed over the future of the colony and its relationship to the throne. Like most popular uprisings, Leisler’s Rebellion was no mere coup, but an ideologically motivated effort to restructure power in the developing British North American colonies.”

Protestant Revolution in Maryland:

The rebellion in Maryland didn’t take place until the summer of 1689, long after King William and Queen Mary took over the throne in February of 1689.

For many decades prior to the Glorious Revolution, Maryland’s local government had slowly been taken over by Roman Catholics. Between the years 1666-1689, at least 14 of the 27 men on the local council were Roman Catholics. This council controlled the courts, militia and the land council.

After news of the Glorious Revolution in England reached Maryland, colonists became upset when Maryland’s government refused to recognize the new Protestant King and Queen of England.

The colonists began to arm themselves and in the summer of 1689, about 700 armed colonists calling themselves the Protestant Associators, led by Colonel John Coode, rose up and defeated an army led by Colonel Darnall.

After winning the battle, Coode and his puritan allies set up a new government in Maryland that outlawed Catholicism. Coode remained in power until a new governor, Nehemiah Blakiston, was appointed on July 27, 1691.

The Aftermath:

The overthrow of the Dominion of New England and of the officials appointed by James II was a significant victory for the American colonies. The colonists were freed, at least temporarily, of the strict laws and anti-puritan rule over the land.

The three colonies, Maryland, New York and Massachusetts, paid the consequences for their rebellion though, some more than others, according to the book Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World:

“Faced with these three rebellions, the king and queen had to decide what to do with their self-proclaimed supporters. Although the justifications differed somewhat in the three rebellious colonies, Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland all presented their uprisings in the context of antipopery, liberty, and loyalty to the new monarchs. All three hoped for the crown’s support for what they had done. As royal policy developed in the aftermath of 1688, it became clear that the monarchs more or less accepted the rebellions in Massachusetts and Maryland, but not in New York. The reason for this variable response had to do with local conditions in each colony…In New York the rebels fared worst of all. With New York more deeply divided than Massachusetts and the divisions less easily sorted than the Protestant-Catholic divide in Maryland, the assertion that Jacob Leisler and his supporters represented the interest of the new monarchs was less apparent.”

Leisler’s critics, such as the former lieutenant governor Francis Nicholson, had turned on him and persuaded William and Mary that Leisler was not on their side. Yet it was Leisler’s own behavior that did the most damage.

When the royal governor, Henry Sloughter, was sent to take control of New York, he found Leisler fighting against the military commander Sloughter had sent because the officer had defied his authority. It appeared as though Leisler was more interested in his own power than that of the King and Queen and, as a result, he was tried and executed for treason.

The overthrow of the Dominion officials in the Massachusetts Bay Colony didn’t work out as the colonists had hoped either. Mary and William refused to reissue the colony’s original charter and instead issued a new charter in 1691 that merely continued the policies of the Dominion of New England, including restricting religious puritan-based laws.

The revolution and its aftermath also had negative long-lasting effects on the colonists themselves, in the form of increased anxiety and strife.

This tension may have been one of the underlying causes of the Salem Witch Trials, according to the book Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World:

“No scholar has been able to come up with a perfectly satisfying explanation for the combination of circumstances that went into a witch hunt, but community anxiety helped to create conditions that could precipitate one. In Massachusetts the instability of the government compounded by fears that the local church order was being displaced set the stage, while in Scotland similar concerns over the traditional church were key. In both places a desire to combat atheism by proving that witches existed played a role, whereas in New England fear of Indian attack added to the sense of a community besieged. Both Massachusetts and Scotland were under the authority of a distant power – the crown in England – that seemed to threaten local control of religion, and both felt uncertain of their inability to maintain local commitment to a traditionally intrusive faith-based disciplinary system. In both instances such uncertainties created serious social strains that manifest themselves in witch-hunting.”

Although the rebellious colonists were successful at overthrowing James II’s rulers in the American colonies, the British government’s desire to gain more control over the colonies was unavoidable and continued to be a threat well into the next century.

Sources: Lovejoy, David S. The Glorious Revolution in America .  Wesleyan University Press , 1972. Pestana, Carla Gardina. Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World . University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009. Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia . Edited by Peter Knight, 2003. Andrews, C.M. The American Nation: Colonial self-government, 1652-1689 .  Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart. Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1904. “Richard Ingoldsby.” New York Unified Court System , www.nycourts.gov/history/legal-history-new-york/luminaries-legal-figures/ingoldsby-richard.html “The Glorious Revolution.” BBC.com , British Broadcasting Copration, www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/glorious_revolution_01.shtml Rennell, Tony. “The 1688 Invasion of Britain That’s Been Erased from History.” Daily Mail , 18 April. 2008, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-560614/The-1688-invasion-Britain-thats-erased-history.html “What Was Leisler’s Rebellion.” New York Historical Society , www.nyhistory.org/community/leislers-rebellion “The Great Boston Revolt of 1689.” New England Historical Society , www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/great-boston-revolt-1689/

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1 The Glorious Revolution and its Constitutional Legacy

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• Published: March 2011
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This chapter examines the ways in which the British and Irish viewed the constitution made between 1689 and 1701, not just during those years, but over the course of the following century. Abundant evidence exists that many of the British and the Protestant Irish saw the Glorious Revolution and associated constitutional developments as distinguishing their countries from the rest of Europe. Yet we can also see that many contemporaries were well aware of Britain's connections with continental politics, and that they envisaged Britain's own constitution as part of a European pattern, the origins of which lay in the Gothic past.

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Vallance’s “The Glorious Revolution: Britain’s Fight for Liberty” Essay

Introduction.

Bibliography

The Glorious Revolution: Britain’s Fight for Liberty by Edward Vallance is a book that presents an elaborate account of the 1688 Britain revolution that was characterized by a lack of violence. In his book, Edward Vallance dealt with different interpretations according to his understanding of the Glorious Revolution. The revolution was actually peaceful but Vallance instead argued that the overthrow of James II was characterized by several instances of conflict and even cases of people losing life especially in Scotland and Ireland. This paper will discuss the interpretation of the historian’s work as compared to the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

Background of the Glorious Revolution

King James III was involved in several political battles in England during his three years of tenure in office as the king of England. First, he was found involving himself in political battles between the Catholics and the protestants. Additionally, his direct involvement was noted when he participated in political battles that tried to define the divine rights of kings and those of the Parliament of England. The major problem that king James experienced was because his religion of Catholicism had made him isolate himself from the two major parties in England at that time. The low church Whigs attempted to remove King James from the throne. However, its failure to pass the exclusion bill of which would have removed the king from the throne led to fruitless efforts.

The supporters of James since he took over power were Anglican Tories. His Catholicism was an issue that led to concerns being raised by many people even though his daughters were protestants. However, problems arose while James tried to remove the penal laws. The Tories viewed this move as a way of breaking the establishment of the Church of England. As a result, James abandoned Tories, a move that seemed to show that he was trying to form his own party as a way to counter the influence of the Anglican Tories. Therefore, in 1687 James declared his support for a policy that referred to religious toleration. According to valance (2008), “he, therefore, allied himself with dissenters, Catholics, and nonconformists with an aim of advancing catholic emancipation”.

James further continued to make laws in his hands when he sought the common law of dispensing acts of parliament from the English courts 1 . The request was successful since eleven out of the twelve judges of the court made the rule in his favor. James’ political involvement in religion was a common behavior, for instance, he ordered the removal of John Sharp a catholic clergy who delivered a catholic sermon yet that had been banned by James. As noted by Valance (2008) “ James ordered the followers of Magdalene college in oxford to elect Anthony Farmer who was a catholic even though he was not eligible according to the statutes of the college”. The followers declined the order and instead decided to elect John Hough. James did not recognize the presidency of Hough and therefore sent some commissioners to install Farmer as the president and went on to convince the followers that they had made a wrong decision and they were therefore expected to apologize for that. Those followers who failed to apologize were ejected from the college and replaced with Catholics.

In 1687, James made efforts to repeal the penal laws and the Test Act by bringing many of his supporters to the parliament. James believed that the dissenters would give him support and as a result, he decided to ignore the support of the Tories and the Anglicans. James was annoyed since his plans were not successful and he, therefore, decide to instruct all the lord lieutenants in the provinces to issue messages to all peace commissions so that they consent to the Test Act. This was followed by the office of deputy lieutenants and those of the Justice for peace being reshuffled and as a result, those who had opposed James were all dismissed. James created an army that was huge and elevated the Catholics to senior positions in the army. In Ireland, the protestant armies were replaced with Catholics and this led him to have more than 34, 000 army officers in all the three kingdoms he ruled.

Major problems arose in 1688 when James fathered a son. This implied that the newborn son would be his successor. But before then, the reign of England would have been passed to James’ daughter Mary who was a protestant. Mary’s Husband was called William of Orange and they were both grandchildren of Charles one of England. William would therefore be third in the succession line. However, since the two had anti-catholic faith, there was a challenge to the English court that they would be both replaced by a catholic French heir.

According to Vallance (2008) William was also stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic, then in the preliminary stages of joining the War of the Grand Alliance against France, in a context of international tensions caused by the revocation by Louis XIV of the Edict of Nantes and the disputed succession of Cologne and the Palatinate. This suited the desires of several English politicians who intended to depose James. 2 William’s intelligence threatened James and as a result, James tried to form a way that they would both work together.

The collapse of the reign of king James started when their relationship with William started not to be beneficial. James tried to win the support of the Tories but this could not be successful since he had failed to endorse the Test Act. On the other hand, anti-Catholics had continually demonstrate in London and it was clear that those troops were not on the streets to fight but instead it was clear that some of his army officer did not have loyalty. He had also been warned in earlier occasions about the conspiracy within his army but he did not take any move to address the issue. The first incidence of blood shed was reported during the skirmishes that occurred in Wincanton when the royalists soldiers retreated after coming into confrontation with scouts. Most of his soldiers deserted thereby leaving him in much fear. At that point, James realized that his army was not reliable and therefore order it to be disbanded and provided an opportunity for fair election. James had to surrender to William after realizing that his own chief commander had deserted to William and even his own daughter, Princess Ann supported William.

Valance interpretation

Valance view of the glorious revolution was considered by many historians as an indication of the true history of what happened in England during the reign of King James II. The revolution has always been termed as peaceful or bloodless. The historian, Edward Vallance presented the revolution as a bloody massacre for the people of specific religions especially the Catholics and the Irishmen. Additionally, Vallance indicated the way the populace in England participated in the affairs of the government since King James provided a favourable environment for the citizens. When William of Orange overthrew James, the kingdom was largely dominated by the catholic religion. James had introduced all his catholic supporters in all the governance organs including the army. James did this by sacking those protestants who did not abide by his orders and thus replaced them with his catholic men.

Vallance work in the Glorious Revolution presented the circumstances of the revolutionary contrary to the history of England. The historian work dealt indicated that the revolution was characterized with blood shed especially by Christians. During the reign of King James who was a catholic, protestants voice was not heard but instead he sacked all those who failed to follow his orders. Vallance presented William and his wife Mary as the hero and heroin respectively who brought the revolution after a period of blood massacre. The historian indicated that William helped to bring revolution in England even though the protestants in Ireland suffered in the course of liberating their lives. Since William and James’ daughter Mary were protestants, this group of worshippers was able to live in freedom, which was not a common characteristic in their lives during the time of James.

• Vallance, Edward. The Glorious Revolution : Britain’s Fight for Liberty. London: Pegasus Books, 2008.
• The French Revolutions: Causes and Impacts
• Field Trip from Dinas Powys Hillfort to Offa’s Dyke
• ”War and Religion After Westphalia” by David Onnekink
• Chapter 3 of "Liberty, Equality, Power" by Murrin et al.
• Ancient Greek History: Athens
• Foreigners Within: Foreigners in West Europe
• “Invisible Cities” by Calvino
• Economic Situation of the Later Roman Empire
• Intellectual, Scientific and Cultural Changes in Europe Towards the End of 19th Century
• The History of European Expansion From the 14th Century - During the Age of Discovery
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• Chicago (N-B)

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Home — Essay Samples — Philosophy — John Locke — The Impact of John Locke and the Glorious Revolution on Modern Political Thought

The Impact of John Locke and The Glorious Revolution on Modern Political Thought

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