Unit 3

1. Unit 3 17th and 18th Centuries

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.