Chapter 1.0. Anglo-British History: Stuart Dynasty to the Glorious Revolution, Introduction

The Stuart Dynasty (1603-1714) reigned during the key period when, after a bloody Civil War and then the remarkably bloodless Glorious Revolution, Parliament finally displaced the king as the dominant partner in the England’s parliamentary monarchy.

The first American colonies were founded in the seventeenth century, which as just noted saw tumultuous, often violent change in England. Partly for this reason, the colonies were from the start in most respects effectively self-governing. This situation would persist through most of the eighteenth century, despite ongoing debates among leaders on both sides of the Atlantic concerning the precise status of the colonies under English and then British rule.

The Four Stuart Kings before the Glorious Revolution:

James I (1603-25)

Charles I (1625-42; beheaded 1649)

–Civil War & Commonwealth Interregnum (1642-59)–

Charles II (1660-85)

James II (1685-88)

The Last Stuarts

William III and Mary, 1689-94; – 1702. William and Mary ruled jointly until Mary’s death in 1694, and then he continued as William III until his own death in 1702.

Anne, 1702-14. The last Stuart monarch was James II’s second daughter, Queen Anne (1702-1714), who had no children.

The Hanoverian Dynasty, 1714-1901

George I, 1714-27; George II, 1727-60; George III, 1760-1820; George IV, 1820-30; William IV, 1830-37; and Victoria, 1837-1901.