The Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution was the relatively peaceful overthrow of James the II by William of Orange. James the II was a catholic and also an absolutist, or for absolute monarchy. By 1686 he had this position had isolated him from both of the powerful English political parties, the Whigs were against him for ignoring parliament and limiting its power, while both the Whigs, Tories, and most of the country was against his catholicism. Still his position remained stable, because his daughter, the current heir to the throne, was a Protestant. The situation became unbalanced when he had a catholic son, as the parliament wanted to prevent a line of catholic monarchs. William, who was married to Jame's daughter Mary, informed the English people and Parliament that if he should ascend to the throne by any means, he would restrain royal power and restore Protestantism in England. He raised a large expidionary force of mercenaries, and announcing that he was coming to "negotiate" with the English King and parliament, crossed the English channel and slowly advance on London. James's position was very weak, many of the ruling class and common people joined with William, while the majority waited passively for the outcome of events. With little or no support, James eventually left the country. After a long debate parliament agreed that since the kingship had been abdicated, the crown would be given jointly to William and Mary.

This was signifigant because the will of the people was used to influence the government and remove the monarch. While William of Orange and his Dutch armada were also a large factor, the revolution was relatively little conflict because it was promoted and accepted and promoted by the majority, not only the nobles but also the common people, many of whom joined Williams army. In most revolutions the King was executed and the existing goverment scattered, however in this case James was allowed to leave the country and the goverment and the houses of parliament remained intact, the only change was the monarch. Parliament's power was also increased, since William had negotiated with them before the revolution to gain their support, or at least neutrality.