Historiographical Essay: William III of Orange and the Glorious Revolution

Introduction

Throughout the sixteenth century, there were increasingly growing tension between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants in Britain. There were believes that the Catholic church was corrupted beyond repair. The political leaders also felt undermined as they felt the papal power, who had the powers to excommunicate and step in the monarch's power and consequently making England look inferior to other European nations such as France and Spain. This created a lot of dissatisfaction with the Catholics among Britain's, and things worsened with the enthronement of King James II.

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When King James was enthroned, he assured the people of being non-biased on religious grounds. Later on, he began implementing policies which undermined the non-Catholics and encouraged people to convert to Catholic. He fired and replaced the protestants in positions with Catholics. This led to a popular and successful revolution led by William of Orange who had great support from the British people. The Glorious Revolution represents a classic aristocratic monarch in British history that created religious conflict and subtle vying for power which has rarely been seen since.

Why James II Policies Failed

Prior to ascending into power, Charles II had initiated an aggressive policy against the Dutch's and had been inconsistent in matters European affairs. This led to a lot of concerns on how James II would rule being that the Catholic was associated with arbitrary power and tyranny. The domestic, as well as the international contexts, would thus influence how he would govern and manage the foreign policies. He was limited by some factors including the domestic fears, parliament, the necessity of the revenue and the need to create a balance in his relationship with his son in law.

Rebellion and Revolt

The kings initially had reassured the people not to worry about his faith and vowed to defend the government in power. Financially, James was well off, with a revenue of over 120000. This he inherited from his father's manipulation of the borough chatters in the previous reigns which as well ensured that James parliament was full of Tories. Later, the assurances to protect the people faded away, as his interest to empower the Catholics and secure their freedom of worship became so eminent. Besides, his interest to eliminate the test and corporations act so that he be able to occupy the public office no longer became a secret.

On twentieth November 1685, he prorogues a parliament in session following his appointment of Catholic officers in the army. This undermined the roles and the powers of the parliament. After this, he tried to achieve his religious missions by using retrogressive power. In 1686, he suspended the test and acted provisions, thereby giving the king powers to appoint mots of the Catholics to the council. The following year, he issued an indulgence act, which eliminated any penal law on the Catholics, and as well grant some form of tolerance to few of the opposers of the Protestants movement. Additionally, in the same year, he dissolved the parliament and began to amass support across the country, with the objective of forming a government that would readily assent to the wishes of the king. All the above measures created intolerance among the subjects.

Despite James regime revolving on matters religion, most of the political relevance of his actions were unpleasant as have been seen in the context above. Most of his governing methods and policies earned him a lot of enemies. Pincus, in his research, discusses how the revolution was not a religious war but a struggle in which the fundamental rights of the people were denied. Despite constantly linking his actions to religion, the people on the ground suffered a lot, as they did were not guaranteed any right subject to humanity. This implies that his rules discriminated the fundamental rights and freedoms of humanity and thus considered a failure

Impact of the Glorious Revolution on Ireland

The Glorious Revolution directly impacted Ireland. It had offered massive support to King James as a majority of the Irish people were supporters of King James II. When the war broke out, King James fled to Ireland and began consolidating his grounds for a re-conquest. He became the leader of an Irish Catholic movement, whereby they passed a law prohibiting the England parliament from enacting laws for Ireland. This research will analyze some of the consequences in regards to Ireland, by examining some of the personalities.

For James

King James wascompletely finished. Even, Lois recognized William as the king, although he did not repudiate claims by James and failed to expel him in France. Besides, the Jacobite court in Germany continued to spread intriguing sentiments against King William. The exiles got demoralized and became poorer. The division continued to spread as the marginal factor in English politics widened.

For William

His conquest in Ireland saw him annex most of the British Islands from James. This saw off any possible direct intercession by the French over one of its kingdoms. Later, England became involved in deliberating the affairs of Ireland, alongside France. It then got control by being at the centre stage of the financial needs as well as the military troops.

For the Irish Protestants

It was a great success for the Irish protestant who had been in support of William. With the victory, they got assured of ascendancy for the next a hundred years, hence giving birth to a protestant nation. The Protestants monopolized the government, parliament, church, army, education sector, courts, public service as well as land ownership. The Irish membership in the parliament was significantly recognized. A number of the anticatholic penal laws were enacted to secure Anglican ascendancy. This was meant to destabilize the Roman Catholics from professional life and the public in general and to make life difficult for them.

The Irish Catholics

The Irish Catholics became the greatest loses from the glorious revolution. Majority of them lost their share in the land ownership, and the percentage dropped from 22 to 14 per cent which further declined to five per cent in the late sixteenth century. Catholics were never again recognized as a group of economic, dogmatic or military significance in Ireland. A group of the most enterprising representative were found in terms of people in business, churchmen and soldiers. A majority of the Jacobite veterans exiled themselves to serve as a Catholic priest in Spain, Hapsburg and Spain.

The Impact of the Bill of Rights of 1690 on the Monarchy

The bill of rights was signed into law by William and Mary after the overthrow of kings James II. The statement did specify some of the rules which would guide the parliament, constitutionally and civilly, hence giving it more powers over the monarchy. It became the principal document which draws up guidelines for a constitutional monarchy in England. The agreement included an act which came to be formally known as "An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the succession of the Crown." Some of the items which were included in the bill of rights include; a listing if the misdeeds of King James II, thirteen articles which specified some of the specific freedoms; a confirmation that Mary and William were the rightful holders of the throne of England.

Generally, the bill of rights did limit the monarchial powers and then gave more power to the parliament, outlining some specific rights of individuals. Some significant entities described in the bill of rights which weakened the monarchial powers include;

"Freedom to elect members of Parliament, without the king or queen's interference, Freedom to petition the king, freedom from armies being raised during peacetimes, Freedom from taxation by royal prerogative, without the agreement of Parliament, Freedom to bear arms for self-defense, freedom of fines and forfeitures without a trial, Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail, Freedom from royal interference with the law, and Freedom of speech in Parliament."

Additionally, the Roman Catholics were not allowed to be the king or the queen as they would once more resuscitate the monarchial dictatorship. The parliament as well as to be frequently summoned to respond to various proceedings which ensured that the monarchial power is not elevated again.

Constitutional Monarchy

A constitutional monarchy was created; however, the constitution situated that either the queen or the king would act as the head of state, but then the powers would be limited by the law. This implied that the monarchy is not in a position to rule without the consent of the parliament, and ta the same time, the people were granted individual rights. As a matter of fact, in the contemporary British council, the queens and the kings play ceremonial roles. By extension, Magna Carta, a 1215 historical document that serves as a precursor to the English bill of rights also is mandated to limit the presidential powers.

The Legacy of the Bill of Rights

The bill of rights has created a significant, long-lasting effect on how the government of England operates. Many governments have been influenced as well by the bill of rights, for instance, the laws, ideologies and documents of United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, as well as other countries, have been influenced by the bill of rights. The document limited the monarchial powers, and at the same time gave liberty and rights to the ordinary citizens. If it were not for the bill of rights, it would be a different story in the contemporary world. In general, the law of rights significantly served as a stepping stone for the modern-day democracies.

The Creation of the Bank of England 1694 and Its Role in Stabilization of the Monarchy

The bank of England, also knowns the old lady of Threadneedle Street has been off recently mandated more responsibility and powers hence increasing its duties in levering London's economy as a central financial centre. It's tasked with ensuring the UK financial stability as well as managing the monetary. Its role in the global financial market has been compared to the role of the United States Federal Reserve.

The bank was established in 1964 after the glorious sacksful revolution by William III and Mary. They overthrew the dictatorial monarchy led by James and became the due holders of the throne of England. However, they found the economy in a precarious condition. They hence saw the need to revolutionize the economy which was suffering from a poorly coordinated and credit system. It was aimed at mobilizing the national resources by way of ensuring consistency in the credit institutions, as well as solidifying the newly found monarchy.

The monarch then consulted widely with both the parliament and economic experts. William Peterson gave a proposal of loaning PS1,200,000 to the government. They would then be incorporated in England's banking system in return. Part of these monies was deposited to the bank, while the rest deposited to the reserve banking. The bank significantly performed some crucial roles on behalf o the government. It managed the national debt, as well as the, is the government's account manager for purposes of stabilizing the public finances. It ensured an excellent credit standing by making prompt payments to the loans. Also, it reduced the fees and established consistent interest rates. The bank became open to the public such that it borrowed the public as well as accepting deposits to be made. The bank managed to be stronger such that within less than half a century, England became a dependent of the bank. Some of the core functions of the bank of England that helped in stabilizing the monarch's economy in...