1 7 T H A N D 1 8 T H C E N T U R I E S

UNIT 3

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OVERVIEW

• 1649 the English shocked the world by beheading their king and abandoning the monarchy!• Civil wars and revolutions in science and religion

had unsettled people’s world view.• The Earth was no longer the center of the

universe.• John Donne wrote: “Tis all in pieces, all

coherence gone.”• By 1700 a monarch was back on the throne.• Society was looser in structure and provided

greater freedom in religion and politics.

CHARLES I AND PARLIMENT

• Charles I was constantly at odds with parliament.• He needed funds that parliament would not

approve, so he:• Extorted loans from his wealthy citizens• Pressed the poor into service as soldiers

• Parliament tried to prevent these abuses – so the king dissolved Parliament for 11 years.• Charles I insisted on conformity to the Anglican

Church and persecuted and tortured those who dissented as criminals.

THE CIVIL WAR

• Charles faced more problems after he fought the Scottish rebels over religious conformity.• He was desperate for money.• He recalled parliament which passed many

reforms.• He tried to outmaneuver these reforms and was

condemned by parliament as a tyrant.• Civil war broke out and Oliver Cromwell led

Parliament’s forces.• The king was captured and convicted of treason

and beheaded on January 30, 1649.

IMMEDIATE OUTCOME OF CIVIL WAR

• Cromwell led the new government, called the English Commonwealth.• He was Lord Protector – a virtual dictator.• Civil war had not led to a free society as

expected.• Economic hardship brought unrest.• The commonwealth outlawed gambling, horse

racing, newspapers, fancy clothes, public dancing, and the theater.• This did not bode well for the common man.

THE RESTORATION

• By the time Cromwell died – the people had had enough taxation, violence, and disorder. • Two chaotic years later – Parliament offered the

crown to the exiled son of Charles I, who became Charles the II in 1660.• Charles was an avid patron of the arts and

sciences.• He invited Italian composers and Dutch painters

to live and work in London.

A GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

• Religious differences resurfaced with Charles II’s successor James II, a devout Catholic.• Parliament eventually invited Mary, the Protestant

daughter of James the II to rule England jointly with her husband William of Orange.• Rather than fight for the crown, James fled to

France.• The people hailed this event as the Glorious

Revolution.

BILL OF RIGHTS

• Passed by Parliament and respected by William and Mary.• Parliament was guaranteed the right to approve

all taxes.• The monarch was forbidden to suspend law. • England now had a limited monarchy.• Over time two political parties emerged – The

Tories and the Whigs. • The country was united under a prime minister

and cabinet.

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

• By late 1600 new farm tools made it possible to produce more food.• Population surged.• Many left the farmlands and headed for the cities.• This is the foundation of the Industrial Revolution.

THE INDUSTRIAL AGE

• After 1750:• The spinning and weaving of cloth became more

efficient.• The steam engine was perfected.• Factories were built.• Merchants sold products all over the world.• This economic revolution of the 1700s increased

Britain’s wealth tremendously.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

• Enlightenment thinkers in all field believed that , through reason and observation of nature, human beings could discover the order underlying all things.

• 1687 – Sir Isaac Newton published a monumental study of gravity.

• By 1750 Britain was rapidly industrializing and social theories of the enlightenment were eclipsed.

• At this point “progress” seemed to mean “misery” for many.

• Intellectuals began to lose faith in the ability of man’s reason to solve every problem.