English Constitutionalism
- Explain the causes and outcome of the English Civil War
- Analyze how the Glorious Revolution established a constitutional monarchy
- Compare English constitutionalism with continental absolutism
King versus Parliament
While France centralized power in the crown, England took the opposite path toward constitutionalism — government limited by law and a representative body. The Stuart kings James I and Charles I claimed divine right and clashed repeatedly with Parliament, chiefly over taxation (Parliament controlled the purse) and religion (Puritans feared Charles’s Catholic-leaning policies). When Charles I tried to rule without Parliament and impose taxes on his own authority, the conflict turned violent, erupting into the English Civil War (1642–1649) between the king’s supporters (Cavaliers) and Parliament’s (Roundheads).
Civil War, Commonwealth, and Restoration
Parliament’s forces, reorganized by Oliver Cromwell into the disciplined New Model Army, defeated the king. In a revolutionary act, Parliament tried and executed Charles I in 1649 — the first public execution of a reigning European monarch by his subjects. England became a republic, the Commonwealth, but Cromwell soon ruled as a military dictator (Lord Protector). His regime was strict and unpopular, and after his death Parliament restored the monarchy in 1660 under Charles II (the Restoration). The old tension between crown and Parliament, however, was unresolved.
The Glorious Revolution
The crisis returned under the openly Catholic James II. In 1688, Parliament invited the Protestant William of Orange and his wife Mary (James’s daughter) to take the throne; James fled without a fight, in the nearly bloodless Glorious Revolution. In exchange for the crown, William and Mary accepted the English Bill of Rights (1689), which made Parliament supreme: the monarch could not tax, suspend laws, or keep a standing army without Parliament’s consent, and elections and free speech in Parliament were guaranteed. England became a constitutional monarchy. John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government justified the revolution, arguing government rests on the consent of the governed and may be overthrown if it violates natural rights.
Sequence the English road to constitutional monarchy: Civil War (1642) → execution of Charles I (1649) → Cromwell’s Commonwealth → Restoration (1660) → Glorious Revolution (1688) → Bill of Rights (1689). Each step shifted power from crown to Parliament.
Briefly explain the main source of conflict between the Stuart kings and Parliament, and describe how the Glorious Revolution resolved it.
- 1.Identify the core dispute: the Stuarts claimed divine-right authority, while Parliament insisted on its control over taxation and its role in government, with religion sharpening the conflict.
- 2.Note the escalation: Charles I’s attempts to tax and rule without Parliament led to civil war and his execution, but the crown–Parliament struggle persisted after the Restoration.
- 3.Describe the resolution: in 1688 Parliament replaced the Catholic James II with William and Mary, who accepted the Bill of Rights (1689).
- 4.State the outcome: the Bill of Rights made Parliament supreme over taxation, laws, and the army, creating a constitutional monarchy.
What was the primary source of conflict between the early Stuart kings and Parliament?
The Glorious Revolution was "glorious" partly because it was nearly bloodless in England — James II fled rather than fighting. Its true significance is constitutional: it made Parliament supreme and established that the monarch rules by law and consent, not divine right.
The English Bill of Rights (1689) is significant because it:
Use England and France as the classic compare-and-contrast: both faced the mid-century crisis, but France answered with absolutism (power to the king) while England answered with constitutionalism (power to Parliament and law). Locke’s consent theory is the ideological payoff of the English path.
Answer the 2 checkpoints as you read.
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