BOME

Julia Smith
March 10, 2002
F-Band BOME
Mr. Meyers

English Political History 1530 – 1830

            From the 16th to the 19th century, England’s political system evolved from a strong unchecked monarchy and a weak aristocratic Parliament to a powerful more democratic Parliament and a less consequential monarchy. In the 16th century the franchise was severely restricted, but after the Reform Act of 1832, many more Englishmen had the right to vote. In the 16th century the unrepresentative parliament was generally ineffectual and rarely challenged the King or Queen. The few bills and reforms that it shaped were designed to benefit only the aristocratic peers of Parliament, not the common man. By the 1830’s, a more democratically elected Parliament held power, while the monarch played a secondary role. More than ever, and to an extent unusual for the time, the Parliament instituted reforms to help the middle and working classes. By 1830, England was the best example in Europe of a democratic political structure.
            By the beginning of the 16th century, England was increasingly unified as the central monarch became more dominant. The culture of London became the culture of England as the King, sitting in London, resumed greater control over all of England. John Hall said in 1565, “For they of the country ever take heed, How they of the city do wear their weed.” (1) The King’s Privy Council was the crux of power and the most heated debates took place there, not in Parliament. Consistent with its minor role in national affairs, Parliament avoided passionate conflict, internally or with the King. A symbiotic relationship existed between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Both houses of the Parliament voted on taxes; the Commons represented the gentry who collected the taxes, while the Lords represented those who enforced law and order, because only gentleman were allowed to carry weapons. The Commons made money and the Lords retained power and status. Beginning in the 1550’s, the parliament explored issues beyond order and taxes. In one of the crucial steps in the Parliaments ultimate rise to power, Parliament began to draft its own legislation, rather than just voting on that presented to it by the King’s Privy Council.
            Parliament began to draft legislation and expanded its role in the government. Not surprisingly, this caused conflict with the King. At first, the majority of the disputes centered on property issues. In several examples of their growing power, the House of Commons forced the King to modify or abandon a specific policy program. For example, Mary was prevented from returning land to the monasteries because of staunch opposition from parliament. As Parliament’s power increased, social and class conflicts arose between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords was the upper house, home to the upper echelon of the aristocracy. Originally, the Lords retained the military power over England. By the beginning of the 17th century, this power faded. The Lords, however, maintained their prestige and political privileges. A Lord could not be put on oath, or arrested for debt, or tortured. They paid only light taxes. The sumptuary laws enforced social distinctions in the judicial and political realm. Under these laws, the validity and honesty of the arguments of each party engaged in a dispute was determined according to their clothes. Using dress as a sign of social class, these laws perpetuated the idea that the higher the class, the greater the man. But, in 1621, the House of Commons opposed and defeated a sumptuary bill. They challenged the hierarchical English society in support of one more democratic and egalitarian. While they were not calling for equal political rights among all men, it was an early sign of the democratic reform to come.
            Charles I took the throne in 1625, vehemently opposed to democracy. He espoused the Divine Right Theory of Monarchy and resisted any restraints on his “God-given power.” He ignored English Common Law, dismissed Judges who ruled against him, and supported the prerogative courts.
Parliament rebelled against his absolutism, and in 1628, passed the Petition of Right prohibiting un-parliamentary taxation, and martial law. In reaction, the King ruled without parliament for 11 years. During this time, he persecuted Puritans and attempted to change Church services in Scotland to conform more with those of the Anglican Church. The Scots rebelled, and in 1640, Charles, in desperate need of funds to repress the rebellion, called the Long Parliament. The parliament took this as an opportunity to achieve other political goals. They released political prisoners and arrested and executed two officials, Archbishop Laud and Sir Thomas Wentworth, whom they blamed for much of the King’s policies. Parliament abolished the prerogative courts, the Star Chamber, and the High Commission (councils and courts through which the King ruled without Parliament). They further restricted the King’s power over taxation, and declared that Parliament must convene at least every 3 years. Championing the rights of Parliament and restricting those of the monarch, the Grand Remonstrance passed, granting Parliament a vote on the choices of the King’s ministers. In response, the King tried to arrest some members of Parliament under the charge of conspiracy, but failed. A civil war ensued in 1642. The House of Commons and Oliver Cromwell led the fight with the support of non-conformists (Puritans, and others dissenting from the Anglican Church) and the Scots, forming the Roundheads.   The King’s Cavaliers surrendered to Cromwell’s New Model Army in 1646. The Long Parliament convened and reverted to more conservative repressive ideals. They passed acts of religious intolerance for all dissenters (from the Anglican Church) but Presbyterians, and attempted to disband the New Model Army without the expected economic compensation for the officers and privates. Cromwell and his Army saw this as unjust. With the support of political and religious dissenters, he took control of Parliament. He purged it of all those opposed to him, establishing the Rump Parliament. The King refused to ally himself with Cromwell or his opposition purged from parliament. The army executed the King for treason in 1649.
A second civil war began pitting the Army and nonconformists against the Presbyterians allied with the Royalists. The army won and Cromwell took control of England. Abandoning democratic ideals to retain power and control, Cromwell again chose his own Parliament. He wrote a constitution and ruled as a dictator until his death in 1658. His son Richard took his position, but lacked the character of his father, and consequently lost control. The Scottish army marched in, brought back the Long Parliament and in May of 1660 restored Charles II to the crown to cheers in the street. The monarch was restored, but the fighting changed the English government drastically. The prerogative courts were gone and Parliament assumed greater influence over economic policy. The King’s power was severely diminished and parliament’s enlarged.

Under Charles II intense religious conflict continued. He ruled from 1660 – 1685, during which time the Whig and Tory parties were formed. The Whigs were the more organized of the two parties at this time, consisting of wealthy bankers, religious dissenters, and New Model Army soldiers. The Tories were essentially everybody else, the traditional aristocracy and Anglican Church supporters. Neither party represented the working classes. James II, Charles brother, came to the throne in 1685, but only served three years. Because of his unpopular religious positions, the Tories and Whigs together called William of Orange and the Dutch Army. In the Revolution of 1688, James II was forced to flee to France, while William III and Mary took the crown. The Bill of Rights of 1689 made permanent the parliamentary powers gained by the civil wars. Taxation without parliamentary consent was prohibited, along with judicial tampering, standing armies, or Catholics on the throne. Now written down, it was clear that Parliament and not the King was the sovereign.
            By 1800, industrialization and urbanization had transformed England.   English government was playing a diminished role in the religious lives of the people, but a larger role in the economy and in the daily lives of citizens in general. The Tory and Whig parties alternated as the majority in Parliament throughout the 1700’s. English government was now clearly dominated by 2 political parties. Adam Smith’s, “Wealth of Nations” was published in 1780, and accompanying it came a new trend in economic thought, liberalism. Liberals advocated free trade and laisezz faire economic policy.
            Changes in economic thought were accompanied by change in political thought. More than ever before, democracy was embraced as the common man gained political rights and a voice in the government. In pursuit of social and economic betterment, the working class finally had influence in the English government as th eChartist movement emerged. The Reform Act of 1832 adjusted the lines of the boroughs, giving greater representation to more Englishman in the increasingly powerful House of Commons. The franchise was expanded, but still only 1 in 7 men could vote. (2)
            From 1530 to 1830, a greater democracy emerged in England. In the beginning of the 16th century, the King ruled almost absolutely alongside a powerless Parliament. But by 1830, Parliament, and especially the House of Commons, controlled the English government. While in 1530, only select aristocracy and the King determined national affairs, by 1830 more and more (but with a long way to go), common men were in control of their own government.