The Stuarts and the Bourgeois Revolution
The succession of the Stuarts to the English throne brought Scotland and England together under one monarch.It began the slow process of unification of the two countries.Under the Stuarts，the English bourgeois class became an important power in Parliament and played a key role in many aspects of social development.They sought more political power vis⁃à⁃vis the monarch who believed in the divine right of kings.As a result，England witnessed profound political and religious upheavals during the Stuarts’time.The bourgeois class fought a civil war against the king，experimented with the political form of a republic，and waged a bloodless palace coup，known as the Glorious Revolution.All these greatly reduced the power of the monarch in England and increased the power of Parliament.As a result，a new political system，constitutional monarchy，appeared and a new period of development in England started.Parliament became the sovereign of the nation and took the lead in overseeing the country’s economic development and expansion.These factors pushed England into the modern age.By the end of this period，England and Scotland were united into one country，the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
King James VI（1566—1625）of Scotland established a strong central government in Scotland and believed in the principle of the divine right of kings.When he became King James I（1603—1625）of England，he insisted on his legal prerogative and absolute power as king，and regarded Parliament as a royal subordinate whose proper function was to obey the order of the king and enact laws the king wanted.But members of the English Parliament regarded themselves as“partners in government and guardians of liberty”.This seriously restrained the relationship between the king and the Parliament.
Religiously，James I liked the Church of England which recognized the king as its supreme head.This alienated both the Catholics and the Puritans.The Puritans wanted to abolish the Episcopal system of the Church of England，and to purify church doctrine and abolish the tithe.They believed in individual interpretation of the Bible，and wanted to establish separate communities for themselves in order to practice their beliefs.They held to the religious doctrine of predestination，under which everything happens according to God’s will and God has chosen some people to be saved before they were born.The Puritans believed that they were the chosen ones because they followed what the Bible said.They hoped that James I would support their cause because he was brought up in the Presbyterian Church.Presbyterianism was also a radical form of Protestantism.However，James preferred the Church of England to the Presbyterian Church.He told the Puritans that“A Scottish Presbyterian Church agree as well with a monarch as God with the devil”.This radicalized many moderate Puritans who would later play an important role in the Civil War against the king.Some of them left for America in 1620，hoping to establish a New England there.
Although James I had many problems，his experience in politics helped him to rule in peace.When his son Charles（1600—1649）succeeded him as King CharlesⅠ，Parliament was determined to play a bigger role in governing the country.This caused great conflict between the parliament and the king，who believed in the divine right of king’s and ultimately led to the English Civil War in 1642.After four year of fighting，the king was defeated in 1646 by the parliamentary force headed by Oliver Cromwell（1599—1658）.Then the radical Protestants in Cromwell’s army purged Parliament of its royalist members.The resulting Rump Parliament then held a trial of CharlesⅠ，found him guilty and sentenced him to death in 1649.This was the first time in the history of Europe that a ruling king was sentenced to death by his subjects.
The bourgeoisie won a complete victory in the Civil War.The House of Commons proclaimed that it held supreme power in the nation and abolished the House of Lords.It declared England a Commonwealth and Cromwell became the de facto ruler of the country.During the years of the Commonwealth，Cromwell conquered Ireland because the Royalist nobles and Catholics in Ireland opposed Parliamentary rule.He also suppressed the king’s supporters in Scotland.In April 1653，Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament completely because it quarreled with the army.He then made himself the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and ruled the country by himself.
In foreign policy，the main concern of Cromwell’s government was trade.With the royal house gone and the dynastic interests dead，the bourgeois class was unchallenged in their efforts to promote trade and expansion.Cromwell’s government accepted a policy of mercantilism under which government used the power of state to promote trade.In 1650 and 1651，the government passed the Navigation Acts to protect English trade and fought wars against Holland and Spain to protect English interests in trade.England won both wars and captured Jamaica from the Spanish.Jamaica later became the center of English domination of the West Indies.
Cromwell was a military genius with tremendous willpower，but he failed to replace the old political system with a new one.When he died in 1658，the country almost fell into anarchy.Finally a new parliament was elected，and decided to restore royal rule.Parliament chose CharlesⅡ，son of CharlesⅠ，as king of England，marking the end of the Commonwealth.