The Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution happened when King James II was dethroned and his daughter Mary II and her husband William III, ascended. When King James II came into power, his overt Roman Catholicism alienated the majority of the population. The revolution was motivated both politically and religiously and was thus very complex. In the end it gave parliament more control over the monarchy which eventually led to the formation of a more political democracy. 

To get into more detail, King James II was Catholic and issued a Declaration of Indulgence suspending penal laws against Catholics (the laws that punish its offenders) and granted acceptance of some Protestant nonconformists. He then formally dissolved his Parliament and attempted to create a new Parliament that would support him unconditionally in his catholic ways of governing and beliefs. Feeling that Catholic dynasty was imminent, the Wigs, who were the main group that opposed catholic succession, were especially outraged.

The fear of King James succeeding in this only grew when in 1688, King James II had a son, James Francis Edward Stuart, that pushed his older Protestant daughter Mary out of the spot as his heir. It became especially worrisome to nonconformists, which were the majority of the country, when King James II announced that his new son and heir would be raised catholic.

With these new announcements and the growing terror of the public, seven of James’s peers wrote to the Dutch leader William of Orange, saying that they would pledge their allegiance to him if he agreed to invade England. William was already planning to take military action against England, so these letters only encouraged him more.

King James had prepared for military attacks though and left London in order to bring his forces to meet the invading army that were backed by William of Orange. However, several of James’s men, including his family members, deserted him, and instead sided with William’s cause.

James then attempted to flee after returning to London in fear of his safety but was captured. He again tried to leave and successfully made it to France where his Catholic cousin Louis XIV held the throne. King James died there in Exile in 1701.

It was then that the new Convention Parliament met and after significant pressure from William, agreed to a joint monarchy with William as king and James’s daughter, Mary, as Queen. The joint monarchy agreed to more restrictions from parliament, and signed what would become a Bill of Rights, as well as the right for regular Parliaments, free elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament. They also forbade the monarchy form being Catholic. Historians believe that this Bill of Rights was the first step towards a constitutional monarchy.

This is the point in history that has ultimately led to Parliament’s increasing power in Britain while the monarchy’s influenced has waned.

Licensing Act 1737

The Licensing Act of 1737 was enacted by the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain in order to control and censor what was being said about the British government in the theatre. Prior to the Licensing Act, rules regulating what could be said in plays were not really enforced. The theatre became a threat to the government by spreading ideas of revolution. The Lord Chamberlain, assisted by the Examiner, decided which plays could be publicly performed until the Theatres Act of 1968 abolished censorship of the stage.

Tennis Court Oath in France

The Tennis Court Oath was made in Versailles, France, in Salle du Jeu de Paume, which was the royal tennis court. This oath was made because the First and Second estates locked the Third estate out of the normal meeting place. The third estate was attempting a reform and were outvoted. The First estate was comprised of the clergy, the Second of the nobility, and the Third estate made up the rest of the populous. As times were hard and the majority of the people within the country were ultimately outvoted and ignored by the other estates, they were forced to form their own assembly. The people made an oath not to leave until a constitution was written. This was a very important moment at the beginning of the French Revolution and the eventual declaration from the committee, Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen of 1789, is a document still studied today.  

Peterloo Massacre

The Peterloo Massacre occurred during the summer of 1819 in St. Peter's fields in Manchester. The goal of this massacre was to disperse a politically radical group by calvary that was meeting peacefully due to the lack of jobs and high food prices. This attack was due to higher class citizen's fears of a violent Jacobin revolution happening in England just after the Napoleonic wars. These "radicals" in reality wanted parliamentary reform, but instead, women and children were attacked, leaving about 500 injured and 11 dead. 

Poor Laws Enacted

After an investigation into the current Poor Law, a new Poor Law was put into place in 1834. The new law looked to reduce the cost of looking after the poor and establish a nationalized system of looking after the poor. Able-bodied people and their families were not to receive any aid. Also, every parish (church congregation) had to build a workhouse for the poor people to go and live in. Only people living in workhouses were allowed to receive aid. The workhouses had specifically harsh conditions to avert people looking to live in them.

Great Exhibition opens at the Crystal Palace

The Great Exhibition is also referred to as the Crystal Palace since it was housed within the palace itself. It was built by Joseph Paxtion and was opened on May 1st, 1851 by Queen Victoria. This exhibition hall built from iron and glass was one of the first World Fair exhibitions that held objects that pertained to industry and culture. It was said that this location on its own housed hundreds of thousands of objects which were display amongst ten miles by numerous contributors. This structure was located in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom. However, it was closed on October 15th, 1851 and was taken down in 1852. Soon enough, it was rebuilt and construction finished in 1854. It was then in the borough of Bromley which is also known as Sydenham Hill. This site remained up until 1936 after that year it no longer survived since it was stated that this Victorian masterpiece was actually burned to the ground on November 29th. However, what was left of the original Crystal Palace still remains in London in what is now known as Kensington Gardens and still has some remnants of what once was The Great Exhibition. 

Indian Rebellion of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major, but unsuccessful, revolt against the British East India Company, who ruled over India on behalf of the British crown. It started with a mutiny of a group of Indian infantry men that then erupted into several other mutinies and civilian rebellions. The revolt grew out of resentment for British social reforms, harsh taxes, and skepticism about British “improvements”. Many Indians rebelled but many also fought for the British, while the majority were compliant with the rule. Cruel violence was inflicted by both sides, towards officers and civilians. The rebels were officially defeated on June 20, 1858 and rebels not involved in the violence were granted amnesty.

Queen Victoria dies

On January 22, 1901, Queen Victoria of England died. She died at the age of 81 due to a cerebral haemorrhage. She had reigned for 63 years, and had been known for making an empire across the globe. She was also Empress of India. After her death, her son Edward VII came into power and strengthened ties with other European countries, and strengthened the military which helped when it came to WWI. 

 King Edward VIII abdicates the throne

In 1936 there was a constitutional crisis that plagued Britain, due to King Edward VIII’s engagement of Wallis Simpson, a well-known American woman who was just coming out of her second divorce. The United Kingdom government opposed their marriage because of the religious, legal, political, and moral objections that were raised. Edward was technically the head of the Church of England, which did not allow people to marry unless their ex-spouse had died. Even through all of the unwillingness to accept Edward and Simpson as a couple, he declared his love for her and got married, leading to his abdication in December of 1936.

India gains independence from Great Britain

In 1947, India gained independence from Great Britain, with the help and strong leadership of Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi fueled the revolution through the organization of peaceful protests against Britain’s oppressive rule in India. Britain had promised India self-government after World War II, but they were not delivering on their promise, so Gandhi and other India nationalists organized the nonviolent “Quit India” campaign to speed up Britain's departure. Britain didn't like that however, and instead put Gandhi and hundreds of others in jail. However, they finally relented after anti-British demonstrations accelerated. This also caused the Indian National Congress to reluctantly accept the creation of Pakistan in order to appease the Muslim League and conclude the independence negotiations. 

However, after the Indian Independence Bill took effect, it spearheaded a period of religious turmoil in both India and Pakistan resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, including Gandhi, who was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic in January 1948 during a prayer vigil to an area of Muslim-Hindu violence.

Margaret Thatcher becomes first female Prime Minister

On May 4th, 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister. She was born on October 13th, 1925 in Grantham, United Kingdom. Sources say that her father was involved in politics and conversations revolving around politics were prevalent during her childhood. This could be some factors that played into her getting involved in politics later in life. It was said that during the beginning of 1979 there was a general election that was called after the Callaghan ministry lost a motion of no confidence. Following the election, the results stated that The Conservatives won a 44-seat majority in the House of Commons, which confirmed that Thatcher would in fact become the first female prime minister in Great Britian. After being obtaining this position, she gained the nickname ‘Iron Lady’ due to her leadership style and uncompromising politics. Ultimately, Thatcher desired to change the rules of politics and leadership. It is stated that Thatcher was actually the longest serving PM for over one hundred and fifty years and that she served from 1979 to 1990. This position was not handed to her and it was evident that, that was not the case. Since she led the Conservative party since 1975, she won each re-election in both 1983 and 1987. In 1990 it was said that she resigned from being the prime minister of the United Kingdom along with being The Conservative party’s leader, however, her position in politics did not end there. Yes, she may have been challenged while she was in her well-known leadership position but that did not stop her from remaining in the Commons. In 1992, Thatcher finally retired from the Commons and was granted the title of a Baroness. She was then known as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire and was entitled to sit in the House of Lords. Her biggest accomplishment was that she is forever known for accelerating the evolution of Great Britian’s economy. Thatcher was named the most renowned British political leader since Winston Churchill. Baroness Margaret Thatcher unfortunately passed away on April 8th, 2013 at The Ritz in London, United Kingdom. She may have passed on; however, her accomplishments will certainly live on in history.