The Revolution of 1688

The Whigs were always against James II, because he was a Catholic. The Tories, at first, were on his side. They began to change their minds when James said that he wanted a full-time army. Both Whigs and Tories were afraid that a king with a standing army would have too much power.

When James put Catholics in command of the army, the Whigs and Tories grew more alarmed. He chose Catholics as his ministers, too. The Whigs and Tories, who were all Anglicans, were angry at being pushed out of these top jobs.

Parliament had passed laws against Catholics and Dissenters in high office. But James said that the laws did not apply. The Whig and Tory lords were furious - Parliament made the law, and they controlled Parliament. The king was taking their powers away.

James II, whose first wife was dead, had no sons. His two daughters were both Protestants. In time, he would die, and England would have a Protestant queen again. But James took a second wife, a Catholic. In June 1688 she gave birth to a prince. The prince would be a Catholic, and he was James's heir.

The Whigs turned to William of Orange for help. William was the husband of James's elder daughter, and a Protestant. In November 1688, William and his army sailed from Holland to Devon. As he marched on London the nobles and gentry, Whig and Tory, took his side. James, finding himself with no friends, fled. Parliament said that he had resigned the crown, and offered it jointly to William and his wife Mary.

Walter Robson: Crown, Parliament and People; Oxford University Press, 1992/2002, page 52