Queen Anne (1665- 1714)  [HISTORICAL chapter 4 pp.  194] was born in 1665 to James II and Ann Hyde. She is known for being short and stout in build and shy in personality. She suffered from an unhappy marriage as her husband  Prince George of Denmark was frequently drunk. Anne suffered from several health issues including gout and childbearing difficulties.  Westministerabbey.org reveals that although she became "pregnant seventeen times, she only had one child that lived past infancy." Unfortunately, that son, William, died at eleven. Anne became Queen in 1702 at age 37. 

While Anne's personal life is marked with tragedy, her reign is remembered for its prosperity. In Orlando, Virginia Woolf comments that "...society in the reign of Queen Anne was of unparalleled brilliance" (194).   Writers like Pope and Swift were constructing verse and St. Paul's Cathedral was being finished. During her reign, Scotland and England merged to become Great Britain. Anne supported the church and supplemented the incomes of poor clergymen under an act coined "Queen Anne's Bounty." 

Although the country was doing well under her reign, Anne struggled with determining what political party she wanted to take advice from. She began by siding with the Tories, mostly out of allegiance to the Anglican church. She detested the Roman Catholic church. However, during the French and Indian Wars happening in North America, Anne began to shift her view. She appointed a Whig to be her advisor and adopeed their view on how the war should be founght. But, as the war dragged on, the Whigs lost favor. 

In her last year of rule, Britian was granted a monopoly on the slave trade taking place in the Spanish colonies. Britian would go on to supply the colonies with slaves for 30 years. 

Soon after, Anne suffered a stroke that ended her life in 1714. Under her reign, Britain gained incredible military power that led it toward its golden age.

Although her personal life saw hardships and tragedy, she was a good ruler who cared for her people. She ultimately strengthened England during her reign.

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Woolf, Viginia. Orlando, Mariner Books. 1928.

“Queen Anne.” Westminster Abbey, https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/queen-anne.