Quizlet Mr D's AP Euro Review - English Constitutional Monarchy

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  1. Act of Settlement: 1701 law by Parliament stating that should William III die heirless, Mary's Protestant sister, Anne, would take the throne, thereby protecting Protestant rule in England.
  2. Act of Union: 1701 act of Parliament uniting England and Scotland into one kingdom: Great Britain. Intended to strengthen England against France. Abolished the Scottish Parliament.
  3. Charles II: Stuart son of Charles I and ruler of England from 1660-85. Known as the "Merry Monarch" because of his restoration of a more liberal culture after Cromwell's conservative republic.
  4. English Bill of Rights: 1689 document declaring Parliament would choose who ruled England, that the ruler could not tax without Parliamentary consent, that the ruler could not suspend Parliament, that the ruler was subject to all laws, that Parliament was to meet frequently, that MPs were guaranteed freedom of speech, and that cruel and unusual punishment was illegal.
  5. Glorious Revolution: In 1688, Parliament gave the crown to James II's Protestant daughter, Mary II, and her Protestant husband, William III, as joint rulers rather than to James II's Catholic son. It was a bloodless transfer of power.
  6. Habeas Corpus Act: 1679 Parliamentary measure protecting people from arbitrary arrest and unfair imprisonment. According to this, an arrested individual must be siezed with a specific charge and brought before a judge.
  7. Hanoverian Succession: None of Queen Anne's (1701-14) seventeen children survived her, leading to her granddaughter's son, George I, of the Germanic family, becoming king of England.
  8. Institute of Government of 1653: Oliver Cromwell's attempt at creating the first written constitution of England provided landowners the power to elect MP's (members of Parliament).
  9. John Locke: English philosopher and author of Two Treatises of Government, in which he argued that individuals have natural rights of life, political equality, and property that could not be violated by a political leader in a social contract. He believed governments existed only to protect these natural rights, and any government failing to do so should be overthrown.
  10. Limited Constitutional Monarchy: Though retaining the role of head of state, the monarch in this type of governmental system, like Great Britain's, must consult with Parliament
  11. Robert Walpole: King George II's chief minister until 1742 who worked for peace. He strengthened the role of Britain's cabinet and stabilized the political landscape, earning him the label as the first english "Prime Minister".
  12. The Restoration: When Parliament invited, in 1660, the Stuart son of Charles I, Charles II, to return to England to rule, thereby ending to Cromwellian republic.
  13. Thomas Hobbes: English philosopher and author of Leviathan, in which he explained that a state of chaos and war existed prior to a social contract forming a government, which should be led by a sovereign invested with absolute power in exchange for protection of group safety and social order.
  14. Toleration Act: 1689 law passed by Parliament granting some religious freedoms to dissenting Protestants who had broken away from the Anglican Church. However, this prohibited them from holding public office.
  15. Tories and Whigs: The largely Anglican political party believed in a hereditary monarchy and favored allowing Charles II's Catholic brother, James, to become king after Restoration. This political party opposed this because of his Catholicism and his absolutist tendencies.