Chapter 22: Political Nation Divisions - Whigs and Tories

• Did the Whigs support or oppose the Glorious Revolution?

  they fully supported it
• The emergence of Whigs and Tories as ‘parties’ can be dated to William and Mary’s reign
• What did William do about the Whigs and the Tories after the revolution?

  he pragmatically included both in his government
• Who led the Whigs’ activities?

  • the Junto lords (moderate Whigs who first came together 1693-94 to support William and Mary)
• What did the Junto Whigs do?

  • held almost daily meetings during parliamentary sessions
  • kept in touch with each other when Parliament was in recess
• How was the Tory party structured?

  • more loosely structured compared to the Junto Whigs
  • from late 1690s they started to hold meetings for backbenchers, as well as writing letters
• Was the Whig-Tory division confined to Parliament?

  no, it was reflected in London culture and across the country
• What were the reasons for the development of party divisions after 1688-89?

  1. Regular parliamentary sessions after 1689 facilitated cooperation by MPs of similar thinking
  2. More frequent general elections after 1689 led to the need to organise along party lines to contest the elections
  3. The electorate had broader backgrounds and interest; led to more party conflict. Whigs were more radical than Tories.
• Position of the Whigs

  • believed in a contract between Crown and subject; if contract was broken monarch could be removed and Parliament was key check on Crown
  • supported war against France in 1689-97
  • wanted an extension of the Toleration Act of 1689 —> allow great6er toleration for dissenters
• Position of the Tories

  • believed in divine right; subjects practiced passive obedience and non-resistance
  • supported a limited naval war against France
  • defended Church of England to prevent further religious toleration
• February 1696: an oath of association was introduced where all office holders had to acknowledge William and Mary as the ‘rightful and ‘lawful’ monarchs. 
• What was the Tory reaction to the February 1696 oath of association?


  raised the question of divine right as many had only accepted William and Mary as de facto rulers. 
• How many people refused to the the oath of association?

  20 Tory Lords and 90 MPs. 
• What was the Abjuration Act (1702)?


  demanded that all office holders, MPs, clergy, teachers and lawyers denounce the claim of James II’s son to the throne
• What was the key division between Tories and Whigs?

  the extent of religious toleration
• Tories’ religious stance


  essentially Anglicans who wanted to maintain the Church of England without concessions to dissenters
• Whigs’ religious stance


  wanted to broaden Church of England and allow greater toleration
• When was the Nine Years War?

  1688-97
• How much did the Nine Years War cost?

  £36 million
• When was the Bank of England established?

  1694; heart of the ‘financial revolution’
• What happened to the Tories and the Whigs between 1690 and 1694?

  • the divisions between them calmed down as they collaborated to control royal spending
  • so much so that ‘court’ and ‘country’ was better applied to the divisions in the Political Nation as a whole
• Did Tories stand for ‘court’ or ‘country’ after 1694?

  Country
• What was the Treaty of Ryswick (1697)?

  temporary ending of war between William and Mary against Louis XIV
• How did the Tories gain power?


  collaborated with anti-administration Whigs to gain seats in the election of 1698
• What was the result of having the Tories in power?

  • a cut in the land tax
  • reduction of the army in 1697
  • William’s Dutch guards sent back to the Dutch Republic in 1699
  • the impeachment of leading Junto Whigs in 1701
  • the 1701 Act of Settlement
• Historian Tim Harris: argued that the emergence of the party divide could be traced back to the unresolved religious issues from the 1660 Restoration.