The Long Nineteenth Century

• Absolutism


  Becoming more powerful as churches' authority declined
• Magna Carta


  To limit a ruler's power
• King James I (1603-1625)

  • Narcissist - obsession with oneself, manipulating others
  • Firm believer in divine right chosen by god to rule England
• Jamestown was the first colony in the Americas during this time
• King James Bible
• Problems with Parliament


  Over power and money
• King James didn't want to share power


  King James wanted to collect more taxes for himself
• Parliament + Congress (Legislative Body)


  Used to limit the ruler's power
• Religious conflict


  • Suspicions that the King was Catholic
  • Puritans were concerned that the Church of England would turn to Catholicism
• Puritans asked King James I for reforms


  He said no - many move to North America
• Petition of Right


  No taxation without Parliament's consent, no imprisoning citizens illegally, no housing troops in citizens' homes
• Puritans


  • Members of the Anglican Church who wanted all Catholic rituals removed
  • Active members of Parliament & were angered when James I arranged marriage of son (Charles) to a Catholic princess
• Civil War breaks out over disputes about authority, money, and religion
• Oliver Cromwell


  • Leader of the Parliaments
  • Abolished monarchy
  • Refused to be king, became Lord Protector
  • Puritan, outlawed things like singing, dancing, drinking
• Charles II


  Known as the "Merry Monarch" because he allowed fun things like singing and dancing again
• Habeas corpus


  Knowledge of reason for arrest; right to trial
• Charles II agrees to convert to Catholicism


  In exchange for money from King Louis XIV
• James II (brother), an open Catholic


  Inherited the throne in 1685
• Glorious Revolution


  1. King James II ignored Parliament's laws regarding Catholicism

  2. Parliament urged William of Orange, husband to James II's daughter Mary, to invade

  3. William and Mary swore an oath that they would govern the people of England

  4. James II abdicated the throne to France
• Bill of Rights


  Made it clear that Parliament was in control
• Enlightenment


  • The Age of Reason
  • Reason is the best way to understand the truth
• Enlightenment


  • Renaissance values
  • Secular Thinking
  • Humanism
  • Scientific Revolution
• Books and salons


  Interlocular gatherings, in someone's home, talked about books/pamphlets
• New ideas about government and society


  • Emphasis on the individual
• Thomas Hobbes


  • People are selfish by nature
  • Social contract - willingly giving up rights and freedoms to the government in exchange for a stable and peaceful society
  • Absolute monarchy is ideal because a strong, centralized power keeps law and order
  • Wrote Leviathan
  • Initiated ideas of consent of the governed
• John Locke


  • People are naturally happy and tolerant
  • All people are born equal
  • The government must protect people's natural rights: life, liberty, property
  • The government's power should be limited by laws
  • Society may overthrow the government if it fails to protect its citizens
  • Inspiration for US Revolution and US Constitution
• Voltaire


  • Freedom of speech and religion
  • Tolerance
  • Separation of church and state
• Jean Jacques Rousseau


  • Freedom of speech and religion
  • Tolerance
  • Separation of church and state
  • People are born good but society corrupts them
  • Wrote The Social Contract - the contract between the people, collective agreement, must have the consent of the people, the government must respond to the people's will
• Baron De Montesquieu


  • People desire power and they need to be controlled
  • Separation of powers: Legislative (Parliament) - makes laws, Executive (King) - enforces laws, Judicial (court system) - interprets laws
  • Groundwork for checks and balances
• Mary Wollstonecraft


  • All people are equal
  • Feminist
  • Human nature could be perfected if male dominance ended
  • Believed in destroying the patriarchy
  • Gender equality
  • Women should be politically and socially active
  • Women should be able to have a part in the government
• Ceseare Beccaria


  • Laws should preserve order, not avenge
  • Criticized abuse of the judicial system
  • The lower class was at an unfair disadvantage compared to the aristocracy
  • Opposed torture
  • Supported right to trial
  • Punishment should fit the crime
• Adam Smith


  • Economist
  • Father of Capitalism
  • Economic freedom
  • Supported laissez faire and capitalism
  • Laissez Faire - hands-off, Capitalism - the government shall not interfere with the economy, let the people and consumers determine the economy