What were the Effects of the Glorious Revolution?

Convention Parliament:

After the arrival of William of Orange and departure of James II it became necessary to summon a conven­tion Parliament similar to that which had been recalled by Charles II, for there was no king to issue writs for a regular Parliament.

At first Tory members were in favour of declaring William and Mary as merely regents in the absence of a regular king. But when William started emphatically and threatened that he would return to Holland if no power beyond that of Regent was given to him, the convention had no go but was obliged to pass a resolution declaring the throne vacant b James II had broken the original contract between king a people, had violated the fundamental laws and had with himself out of the kingdom.

Joint Sovereigns:

Then the crown was offered to Mary alone who refused to accept unless that was jointly offered and her husband given due share in that.

The convention also obliged Mary and both were treated as joint Sovereigns with equal rights on diction that they ratify a ‘declaration of .rights a statement enumerating and declaring illegal the miss deeds of James II.

Though William and Mary were named joint sovereigns administration was vested in William alone. Both accepted the crown on the terms offered and on February 13, 1989, they were formally proclaimed as William III and Mary II.

A Precedent Established:

By deposing James II and elevating William and Mary to the throne Parliament established its right both to dethrone and to set up a monarch. It was a final blow at the divine rights of the king. There after all authority centered in the Parliament which was to direct the policy of the nation hence forth.

It was thus a victory of law over prerogative. It shots the Revolution closed the era of constitutionalism. Foundations were laid for the cabinet System of Government which today is the way of life of people of England. According to Warner and Marten-“No pardon by crown could be pleaded to impeachment by the House of Commons-a clause which final established the responsibility of the king’s minister for all ac of states”.

House of Commons under Aristocratic sway:

As no change had been made in the electoral laws since the middle of the fifteenth century the shift of the population left popular cities unrepresented while towns with a few inhabitants retained the right to elect representatives.

This accounts for the existence of many pocket brought where a few remaining electors were under the sway of some great land owners or rich merchants; and the rotten boroughs where votes could be bought. Thus the House of commons was an unrepresentative body and remained under the aristocratic Influence till the passing of the great Reform Bill in 1832.

Under the present Bill no attempt was made to revise electoral rolls. No attempts were made to give more and more share to the people, in whose name revolution had been staged, in the running of their administration. In this way the Bill remained conservative.

Third Great Charter:

After William and Mary had accepted the throne, the convention transformed by the new sovereigns into a regular Parliament, proceeded to supplement the revolution settlement by a series Parliamentary Acts, ‘The declaration of rights’ which it had drawn up earlier was with some additions embodied in a formal state known as the Bill of Rights.

This document formed the third great charter of English liberties and completed the work which the Magna Carta had begun. It was a significant on many accounts. First of all, it finally deprived the crown of all power to impose taxes without the consent of Parliament.

Parliament now became final and ultimate authority in imposing and reducing all taxes. The king had now no authority, whatsoever, to tax the people on his own. Supremacy of Parliament was acknowledged. It also deprived the king of suspending laws, passed by the Parliament at his discretion.

Thus May royal prerogatives were brought to an end and the king was made to fell the authority of the people. Secondly, it declared that the election of members to Parliament ought to be free and that the freedom of speech and debate in debate-in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court outside the Houses of Parliament.

Thus a basic Privilege of the freedom of speech in the Parliament, which is even today so much valued, was granted to the member. Thirdly, it decreed that no sovereign who professed the Catholic religion or who married a Catholic should be permitted to reign. Protestantism was made the state religion in England, Fourthly, it demanded frequent

Parliaments and asserted the right of the subjects to petition the king. Fifthly and lastly, it declared illegal the fairing or keeping of a standing army within the kingdom in times of peace without Parliamentary consent. But despite the great popular prejudice against standing armies the inter situation and politics made such an army a necessity and

Parliament was obliged to sanction money for maintaining armies.

Mutiny Act:

The right to enforce discipline was granted to the crown by the mutiny Act which authorised the punishment of martial law. This act was passed only for a year so that the king was forced to summon Parliament every year for its renewal.

The revenue of the crown was cut down to a very modest limit and Parliament resolved to make annual grants and secured from the king the right to audit the royal accounts.

This also ensured annual sessions of Parliament for without summoning Parliament every year the king could get no supplies. As a consequence Parliament acquired the complete control of finance and with it an increasing control of the administration.

Freedom for Dissenter:

By another Bill Parliament took up the question of religious freedom for dissenters. By this time it had become evident to even the most bigoted high Church partisans that it was impossible to force the protestant. Dissenters back into the Anglican Church. Now that Government was headed by a Calvinistic king the question of religious freedom could hardly be ignored any longer.

Yet the High Church party was not ready to broaden the basis of the Church so as to include the moderate dissenters. After much debate the Toleration Act was passed giving freedom of worship to protestant dissen­ters who accepted the doctrines of the Trinity.

It conferred privileges on Roman Catholics, Jews or Unitarians. Neither did it permit a non-conformist to hold office for the Test and corporation Acts still remained. Never the less this Act, though its benefits were generous, marks the beginning of religious toleration in England. According to Warner and Marten. “The Toleration Act marked, nevertheless, a great advance and from that time the feeling of tolerance steadily increased.”

Echo in Scotland and Ireland :

In Scotland and Ireland the revolution settlement was not peaceful as in England. Most of the Scottish people accepted. William III as their leader but the Highlanders of the North and West of Scotland rose under the leader were killed. In Ireland the resistance to the rule of William was much greater.

As most of the Irish Roman Catholics they sided with James II and raised an army on his behalf. Informed of the strength of this support James decided to go to Ireland himself to recover his throne. In 1690 William also went to Ireland.

At the battle of the Boyne his troops scattered the Irish army in the utmost confusion; forcing James to flee in an undignified haste and take a ship for France. Ultimately the Irish submitted on the promise that Roman Catholics should be as free in their worship as during the time of Charles II.

The English Government, however, failed to abide by the promise. Only a year later Irish Roman Catholics were excluded government offices. Other restrictions and harassments were in store for them which they had to suffer.

Wars with France:

Besides, the Glorious Revolution also brought about a drastic change in British foreign policy. Despite the fact that the English people had been bitterly hostile the French his predecessors James II and Charles II had been on friendly terms with the French monarchy.

The connection between two dynasties had resulted for a time in the domination of British foreign policy by France. But under the new king England again became the outstanding rival of France. There was regular war going on between France and Netherlands when William was offered the throne of England.

It was therefore quite natural that William would not take rest till French power was completely crushed. England faced the problem of keeping the balance of power in Europe by blocking the efforts of Louis XIV to gain for France what he considered its natural boundaries. Thus the accession of William not only put an end t absolute monarchy in England but also effected a change in British foreign policy.

It marked the beginning of a series of wars between England and, France which was to continue for more than a century. At first the English struggle was waged for balance of power in Europe but later it turned into a contest for colonial and commercial superiority.

So sum up about Glorious Revolution, what Ramsay Muir says, “Such were the extremely modest legal changes whereby Parliamentary supremacy and religious liberties were establi­shed in England.

They had the supreme virtue that they were reached by consent and enabled the nation through a difficult period without serious division.”