The Glorious Revolution Reconceived

This fascinating account of the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 in the British Isles lays down a fresh interpretation of those years and the years immediately before and after. Steve Pincus challenges the still dominant view—stated with elegance and supported by rich documentation in the mid-nineteenth century by Thomas Babington Macaulay—that the revolution was "bloodless, consensual, aristocratic, and above all sensible." He also opposes a recent revisionist view that the revolution was a successful attempt by reactionary Anglicans to undo King James ii's efforts to achieve freedom of conscience in England. Instead, Pincus argues forcefully, on the basis of a mass of manuscript and printed sources from the period, that the revolution was violent, divisive, popular, and radical. Moreover the revolution shaped the political, social, and economic development of Britain decisively, confirming the place of Parliament at the center of government and putting trade at the forefront of the political economy; and it left a lasting and influential legacy for Europe and ultimately the modern world.

The Glorious Revolution was, as Pincus sees it, not only marked by a change in the succession to the throne, since the deposed James ii was succeeded by William iii and Mary ii, but by profound changes in the state. Both James ii and William iii, he argues, tried to fashion a modern state in England, but their visions and plans were dramatically different. James ii continued the foreign policy of his brother Charles ii, based on an alliance with Louis xiv of France, and he sought to emulate the political and religious examples of the French king, stressing a strong monarchy, the suppression of dissent, and the advancement of Roman Catholicism. The national economy was to be furthered by supporting privileged trading companies. William iii, however, brought to England an alliance with the United Provinces of the Netherlands, his native land; as a result England was soon allied with other states in Europe opposed to the expansionist policies of Louis xiv. Like the Whig party in England, which was largely responsible for his succession to the throne, William supported government with a significant popular element, an enlarged policy of religious freedom, and a greater emphasis on commerce with the wider world. The revolution that brought William to the English throne was based on these fundamental (and contagious) principles: the authority of government was limited by laws passed by Parliament and the rights of members of the society were part of an established constitution. The revolutions of the second half of the eighteenth century, including those in North America and in France, were deeply indebted to the example of 1688–89.

What was the relation of the revolution of 1688–89 to the upheaval of the mid-seventeenth century, sometimes called the English Revolution? After all, the earlier sequence of events seems more violent, divisive, popular, and radical than that of the Glorious Revolution. It resulted in the execution of King Charles i, the establishment of a republic, and the transformation of that republic into a protectorate under the military leader Oliver Cromwell. The author argues that the revolutionary changes of 1640–60 were short-lived, though ideas from the earlier period influenced the Whigs later in the century, and the example of the earlier struggle against an authoritarian government and repressive religious policies was important for those involved in the revolutionary events of 1688–89. He sees the restored monarchy of Charles ii in 1660 as determined to create a state in England based on the contemporary French model. The threat of the accession of James, the king's brother, an avowed Roman Catholic and a francophile, led to the Exclusion Controversy of 1679–82 and the emergence of the Whig party. Pincus recognizes the drastic character of events in the earlier period, but he sees the events that resulted in permanent changes as dating from the accession of James ii in 1685.

To what extent was the revolution of 1688–89 religious in nature? Pincus sees religion as playing...