CONCLUSION: How Revolutionary was the Glorious Revolution? Flashcards
What are the 2 broad schools of thought on the important of the Glorious Revolution?
1) Well-established - GR little more than a change of dynasty - that the events were unrevolutionary - Act of Settlement ensured smooth Protestant successions - in line w/ what already existed in the 17th century, Bill of Rights ensured that England reverted to an ‘ancient constitution’, Toleration Act excluded some groups
- It was a peaceful, Protestant and conservative succession - prevalent among Whig historians and historians during 20th century
2) Put forward by Enlightenment thinkers - and revisionists - Tim Harris and Steve Pincus - focused on genuinely revolutionary nature of the settlement
What developments could prove that the Revolution settlement was genuinely revolutionary?
1) Events after 1688 reinterpreted to depict them as violent and radical - rather than peaceful - GR took place over number of years, rather than months - long-term causes can be found in the Protestant Reformation and authoritarian actions of Charles I
2) Events outside England reassessed by revisionists - concluded that GR wasn’t bloodless - thousands lost lives between 16889 and 1701 - Ireland, Scotland and Nine Years’ war
3) Constitutional settlement confirmed that divine right monarchy was no more - Bill of Rights still important - judiciary now independent of Crown - no longer served ‘at the king’s pleasure’
- ‘Association’ taken not only by MPs - also hundreds of thousands of ordinary people - signalled end of divine right monarchy
4) Religious settlement came about due to Toleration Act - widespread support from leading bishops and political figures
5) Financial settlement - Crown’s control of finance seriously constrained - funding for navy and army closely controlled by parliament - BoE created - economic growth based on system of credit
What was the ‘Association’?
An oath of loyalty to the Crown - created by passing of ‘An Act for the Better Security of His Majesties’ Royal Person and Government’ in 1696.
