chapter twenty two Flashcards
(32 cards)
the whigs fully supported the glorious revolution and were willing to accept William and Mary as monarchs by right and sought broader religious toleration , in contrast
the tories were more circumspect in their support for the revolution and their acceptance of William and Marys rights to rule and they sought to maintain a narrow core based on their own anglicanism
although the names ‘whigs’ and ‘ tories’ had been used before 1688 to denote diff political attitudes the emergence of whigs and tories as parties can be dated to the
reign of William and Mary
in the aftermath of the revolution William pragmatically included both groups in his government however
the decision were nothing like they were to late become
the whigs activities were co ordinated under the leadership of the junto lords , the junto was made up of moderate whigs who first came together in 1693-4 to help provide administrative support for willliam and Marys war efforts with france , from the late 1690s the junto held almost
daily meetings during parliamentary session and they kept in touch with each other when parliament was in recess
larger meetings would convene in taverns when information needed to be shared with those faithful to be whigs
the tory party was more loosely constructed but from the late 1690s they started to hold
briefing meetings for backbenchers as well as writing letters
the whig tory division was not solely confined to parliament , it was reflected in London culture and across the country with the establishment of
clubs and campaigning linked to the whig and tory factions
- over time this led to a division in the political and social culture of the potlical nation mirroring the attitudes of the two parliamentary parties
there are three reasons for the development of the party divisions after 1688-89:
- regular parliamentary sessions after 1689 facilitated co operation of MPs of similar thinking
- more frequent general elections after 1689 led to the need to organise along party lines to contest their elections
- an increased franchise or those eligible to vote meant the electorate had broader backgrounds and intrests , and this led to party conflict . whigs attitudes were more radical in this period that the tories
the whig opinion on the succession
- believed in a contract between the crown and subject monarchs could be removed if the contract was broken , with parliament as the key check on the crown
the tories opinion on the succession
- believed in divine right with subjects practicing passive obedience and non resistance
the whig opinion on war
- supported William and Marys war against france in 1689-97
the tories opinion on war
- supported a limited naval war against france
the whig opinion on the church
- wanted an extension of the toleration act of 1689 to allow greater toleration for dissenters
the tories opinion on the church
- defended the cofe to prevent further religious toleration
these differences stemmed from different interpretations of the revolution , for the whigs the PN had resisted the catholic James II whereas the tories argued that
James gad abdicated or chosen to resign from kingship
the whigs were wedded to the protestant succour whereas a minority of tories were
jacobites
to help people accept William and Mary many tories had to argue that they’re only de facto monarchs whereas
James was in the law the king
in February 1696 after a Jacobite plot an oath of association wad introduced , demanding that all
office holders had to acknowledge William and Mary as ‘ the rightful and the lawful ‘ monarchs
the oath for tories raised many questions regarding the divine right but a lot of tories had
accepted William and Mary only as de facto monarchs and therefore found it difficult to agree to the oath
22 lords and 90 MPs refused the oath , most tories accept the
act of settlement 1701 as a political necessity
in 1702 to abjuration act demanded that all office holders , MPs , clergy , teachers and lawyers to denounce
the claim of James II’s son to to throne
the key devision between tories and whigs was over the extent of toleration , the tories were essentially anglicans who wanted to maintain the cofe without further concessions to dissenters , the whigs tho
wished to broaden the cofe to allow greater toleration and thus encompass more dissenters within it
William and Mary took england directly into the nine years war against Louis XIV that the Dutch republic of which William remained stadholder , had been fighting
on and off since the 1660s
the cost to england was approx 36 million and the whigs actively sought ways
to finance the conflict , partly due to their full commitment to the military effort and partly due to self intrest , as they could benefit from it financially
it was whigs that were behind the 1693 million loan act and more importantly the 1694
establishment of the Bank of England which was at the heart of the financial revolution
in contrast the tories moved from initial support to dismay at the costs of a
land war and they argued for a cheaper naval strategy
1690-96 the emergence of junto whigs
after victory at battle of boyne William and Mary began to remove tories from government and replace them with whigs who were willing to support the war effort
as part of this process there was a relignament of the previous tory-whig division
between 1690-94 the division between whigs and tories calmed down and a new pattern in English politics started to appear , both parties
collaborated in order to control royal spending to the extent that ‘court’ and ‘country’ division became more applicable in explaining divisions in the political nation
