Caitlyn Brown

Glorious Revolution Essay

Queen Elizabeth was one of the best rulers England ever had. The problem was that when she died, the Stuart family monarchs were nothing like her. James I, Charles I, and James II all ruled
England at one point, and the caused the country many problems such as religion, politics, and taxes.
The Stuart family wasn’t good rulers, and England wanted a change, so they got William and Mary of
Netherlands to come and take over, which was the beginning of the Glorious Revolution.
James I was the first of the family to take the throne after Queen Elizabeth died. The people of
England didn’t like James I for many reasons. One reason Puritans didn’t like James I because he rejected a petition to make the Church of England more Puritan. During James I reign, Puritans started to become increasingly powerful in government. One advantage they have is that they could read.
Another advantage they had is that they are disproportionately represented in parliament. Catholics didn’t like James I either because they weren’t represented in parliament. One of the biggest reasons why many people didn’t like James I is because unlike Queen Elizabeth, he made laws without the consent of parliament. Parliament didn’t like this because King Henry gave away the power to create laws to parliament, but since the he thought he had the ultimate power, he could just take it back. This made parliament's power inconsistent and unstable. James I later passed away leaving major problems in England. The Glorious Revolution fixed this problem by having William and Mary sign the English
Bill of Rights. In the English Bill of Rights it says “the pretend power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of parliament is illegal… And that for the redress of all grievances, and for then amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws” (English
Bill of Rights). This means that William and Mary couldn’t destroy laws without the consent of parliament, and parliament is responsible for making, changing, strengthening, enforcing, and questioning laws. The English Bill of Rights also states that “the election of members for parliament

ought to be free” (English Bill of Rights). This means that anyone can vote freely for members of parliament. This way every group is represented equally in parliament.
Next Charles I came to power and people liked him even less. One reason that the people didn't like Charles I is because he was very Anglican, but was leaning towards Catholicism. This made
Puritans angry because the Church of England could become more anglican. The Catholics were mad because Henry VIII made everyone swear against Catholicism. Later on during Charles I’s reign, he married Henrietta. Since Henrietta was Catholic, Charles I’s heir, the person next in line for the throne, would be raised Catholic, but England took an oath rejecting Catholicism. Another reason people didn’t like Charles is because he kept dismissing and calling back parliament whenever he felt like it, and he doesn’t follow the laws. Charles I wanted to go to war with Spain, but he had no money. When he asked parliament for money, they wouldn’t give him any because they didn’t think he should go to war with Spain. Charles decided that he didn’t want to listen to whining and complaining, so he dissolved parliament. Henry VIII gave parliament the power to tax people, so because he had no other way of getting money, he forced the whole country to pay the ship loans that the coast would normally pay. He did this because he didn't have the power to make laws, but it wasn’t considered a new law, he just changed who had to pay it. He also quartered soldiers in peoples houses to save money. This caused the people of England a lot of money and extra food that they didn’t have, but Charles didn’t care because he was king. He then put the country under martial law. Soon, Charles I