20. Political developments and conflicts: the Exclusion Crisis and James II Flashcards
“A letter from a person of quality to his friend in the country”
-Pamphlet published in November 75
-Written by Ashley Cooper
-Argued there was a conspiracy to impose Catholicism and absolutism by Bishops and royalist men through the army
An Account of the Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government
Dec 77 - argued that for years there had been a design to establish England into an absolutist and catholic state, written by Andrew Marvell
Reasons for the loss of crown prestige 60-78
-Charles supposed to be majestic, was party King
-Supposed to achieve victory through foreign wars, failed to do so
-Supposed to defend protestant faith, attacked it
-Supposed to protect lawful rights of subjects, subverted them at times
Emergence of the Tories and Whigs
Occurred due to the divides in the Court and Country at the time of the exclusion crisis, with names deriving from insults to each other. Separated in different coffee houses, taverns etc. Whigs saw Tories as popists, Tories saw Whigs as republicans.
Tory Aims
-Anti-Exclusionist
-Divine Right
-Civil Authority from God
-No resistance against the monarch
-threat of absolutism from republicans
-Church of England stricter
Whig Aims
-Exclusionist
-Civil authority from the people
-Resist tyrannical government
-Absolutism and Catholicism from monarchy
-Parliament is protector of people
Exclusion Crisis
-In 1669, James II’s Catholicism became public knowledge
-Refused the Test Act in 73
-James marrying a catholic in 73 made a catholic line of succession possible, and Whigs sought to remove James from the line of succession
Popish Plot 1678
-Based on the Titus Oates’, a plan to assassinate Charles II to replace his with James II along with a French and Irish invasion
-Believed due to hysterical anti-catholicism at the time
-Forced a second test act in 78 excluding catholics from parliament
-Accelerated exclusion crisis
-3 high ranking catholics executed
-Cavaliers dissolved Jan 79
-First exclusion parliament in March 79
Why was there such an extreme reaction to the accusation of a Popish Plot in 78 (4)
1) Fear of growth of expansionist France
2) Catholic influences at court - previously Clifford, mistress Louise de Keroulle, Henrietta Maria (until 65)
3) Catholic line of succession more complete w/ James marriage to Mary of Modena and their son’s birth in June 88
4) Anti-catholic propaganda c.1670 about Mary I in books such as John Foxe’s ‘Book of Martyrs’
5) Equation of Catholicism with absolutism - clashes with English common law - parliamentary privilege, habeas corpus and independent judiciary owned their origin to the law of the land not person as in Catholicism where anointed magistrates word is law
Why exclusion failed x3
1st time - Pment dissolved July 79 due to Charles’ actions to manage the situation
2nd time (most problematic - fear increased due to C being ill) - Pment oct 80 - Jan 81 - Charles’ actions over the Lords - over their shoulders when voting + C being rich after 81 (Navigation act, customs)
3rd Exclusion Pment (Oxford) - March 81 - failed due to Charles management
-Charles got funding from Louis - financial sit
-Conservatism of Lords and the Church
-Wide support for Torys (+ their objections to the wigs)
-Divided nature (300 abstained) + Dissolution of parliament
-Radicalism of exclusion - fear of Civil War + constitutional revolution
-Scottish rebellion saw the conservatives gain power
- Absence of serious disturbances in scotland or ireland
-C’s concessions to Whigs
- Absence of serious alternative to James (Duke of Monmouth not recognised as blood - no primogeniture)
-C’s apparent acceptance of the seriousness of the popish plot
First exclusion parliament
-6th march 79
-Granted £200,000 to Charles in exchange for disbanding of the army
-Secured Habeus Corpus amendment act in May 79, forcing a trial to be put forth before imprisonment
-Court party outnumbered 2 to 1
-Colemans correspondence revealed on 27th April showing negotiations between James and France and Pope
-Parliament believed James couldn’t be trusted
-Charles, on 30th April, promised a Catholic monarch couldn’t have church patronage and parliament would have power over civil and military appointments, appeasing some moderate exclusionists
-On 11th May, one MP called for James to be impeached for charges of high treason, exclusion bill read on 15th by Ashley Cooper
-On 21st, passed second reading 207 to 128
-Charles prorogued parliament on the 27th
-Dissolved in July
-Charles sought to get funding from France to avoid another parliament
Duke of Monmouth
-Illegitimate child of Charles II and was part of the cause of the dissolution of parliament in July 79
-Seen by many as a candidate for the throne
Issues after first exclusion parliament
-In August, Charles became very sick, worrying many who saw the possibility of James ascending the throne
-Charles sent Monmouth to Brussels in September
-Charles sent James to Scotland to secure order against Dissenters
-Charles remodelled the privy council, removing opponents such as Cooper
-Charles purged local councils, replacing them with loyalists
Supporters of exclusion
-Whigs major supports and had several methods of doing so
-Petitioned for freedom of parliament to meet again, 16,000 signatures
-Pamphlets and books after licensing act expired in 79, from 79-81, 200 anti-catholic pamphlets made
-John locke Wrote 2 treatises of government
-November processions saw burnings of popish effigies
-Popish plot forwarded their attempts
-In June 1680, attempted to prosecute James, but Charles dissolved the Jury
Opponents of exclusion
-Tories largely anti-exclusion
-Reaction by moderates against radicals
-Abhorrence movement of 82 saw anger against parliamentary-external pressure by Cooper
-supported prerogative and had several methods to enforce
-Petitions, pamphlets and books organised, Tory arguement against exclusion by L’estrange had 64,000 copies
-Patriarcha
-Observator was an anti-exclusionist newspaper
-Poems and playing card designs used to strengthen tory cause
Second exclusion parliament
-Opened on 21st Oct 80
-Exclusion bill passed 3 readings and with lords in November
-Charles intervened and the Lords rejected the bill
-Commons offered £600,000 for exclusion, Charles refused and dissolved parliament on 18th Jan 81
Oxford Parliament
-21st-28th March 81, took place there due to it being a loyalist area
-Charles offered William and Mary be regents for James, this was rejected
-On 26th, decided overwhelmingly that another exclusion bill to occurr
-Secrety treat with Louis in march 81 saw £40,000 immediately and £115,000 annually for 3 years in return for not calling parliament
-Exclusion defeated after parliaments exclusion, but Charles was reliant on Louis for finance
Result of Exclusion crisis
Charles didn’t recall Pment again (didn’t need to - rich) - breaking the 1663 Triennal act based on trust - (absolutist?) , giving Pment limited power
Charles’ ordinary revenue by 1685
£1,370,750 - exceeding £1.2 mill restoration settlement
Provincial gov strengthened 81 - 85
C systematically purged political opposition from the boroughs through giving quo warranto writs - required proof of the legality of their royal charters - often found faulty (v. old) so king can veto their appointment - e.g. City of London, after 3 years C got the lord mayor, sheriffs and other major office holders to need to have the his approval - entrenched Tories (C’s base of support) in municipal gov
Between 1681 - 85, 51 new charter were issued + 47 more in the first 3 months of James’ reign
Crushing Whig Opposition
In the later years of C’s reign the judiciary was mobilised against Whigs - defendants struggled to prove their innocence - leading Whigs such as Algernon Sidney and William Lord Russell executed 1683 for the Rye House Plot (attempted assassination of C)
Shaftesbury was arrested on a charge of treason in 81 and imprisoned in ToL - survived (due to grand jury chosen by Whigs - allowed to happen) but died in exile in 82
James II’s goals and character
-Inflexible and authoritarian like Charles
-Regarded opposition as treason
-Aimed to improve Catholics position and repeal penal laws against them such as corporation and test acts
-Declared that he would not move from the just rights of the crown
-Failed to recognise tory loyalty was to an intolerant church of England, not to him
1685 rebellions
-Earl of Argyll rose in Spring 85 but failed to secure control
-Led to James appointing Catholics in positions of power
-Monmouth plotted a rebellion but was crushed in July
-Executed along with 250 rebels
James II’s first Parliament
-Met in may 85 and funded James £2 million annually
-Gave James 20,000 troops in Dec
-Charles appointed 90 catholic officers, leading to a clash with parliament in November 85
-James prorogued parliament
-Godden v Hales in June 86 saw James appoint Catholics in the legal system and privy council as he saw fit, 6 judges and 4 councillors
-Declaration to preachers in March 86 forbidding attacks on Catholics, with absolutist lawyers being set up to enforce this
Restoration of Catholicism in Ireland
-James appointed Earl of Tyrconnell as lieutenant general to remodel irish army
-By Sept 86, most of the army was Catholic
-Remodelled Justice system, parliament and corporations to be Catholically owned
-Protestants forced to give up half their land
Restoration of Catholicism in Scotland
-Scotland’s parliament rejected calls for toleration of catholics in 86, but in February 87, James declared freedom of private worships for them and quakers
Declaration of indulgence 1986
Declared in June, toleration and freedom of office for catholics. Relaxed penal laws. Moved power from the upper class to the middle class more
James II’s second parliament
Met on 2nd July 87, after first parliament dissolved. Only 1/3 JP’s would support pro-catholic laws and purges of local government increased. Traditional ruling elite replaced by Catholics.
