The Impact Of Different Events In England On Her American Colony, Virginia

English Reformation

The English Reformation was mostly about King Henry VIII wanting a male heir, but since his wife did not bare him a child and was getting too old by 1527, he wanted to divorce her. On the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church was against this idea. They believed once you were married you lived a life with your partner till the end. If you were a window, you could remarry, however, that was much different. Not being able to divorce his wife just like that made it difficult for him. He wanted his heir. Announcing he was divorcing his wife himself, would bring the Roman Catholic Church on him. They would tell him his soul couldn't go to heaven, so he didn't want to go that route. Henry tried getting the Bishops approval by saying he was the king of England and didn't want to shame the church. However, the Pope did not grant him his wish. By the time 1533 he was so upset, he forced the Archbishop to let him divorce his wife, so he could marry Anne Boleyn. It went well, the Archbishop went against the Pope's orders and granted him the divorce. This event leads to England breaking away from the Catholic Church. Henry then placed him at the top of the church and his divorce was legal in 1533. Citizens even participated in it by taking bricks from the churches and the valuables to the king. In 1534, King Henry was in command of the Church through the Act of Parliament, thought the popes had no power this time around in anything. The king could bark orders and prove things how he saw fit. This tore England away from the Roman Catholic Church and was not the end of the religious problems after his death in 1547.

English Civil War

The English Civil War broke out in 1642 but ended in 9 years later in 1651. There was a dispute between Charles I and the Parliament over an Irish disorder. The first war the English got into was solved when Oliver Cromwell's triumph for the Parliament forces at 1645 Battle of Naseby. Then the second stage came to an ending when Charles’s I was defeated at the Battle of Preston. After he lost the battle, he was executed in 1649. After his death, his son Charles II created a vast army of English and Scottish Royalties. This lead Cromwell to invade Scotland and ended up destroying the rest of the Royal armies and ended the war with the three kingdoms. Despite this long and ongoing war, many people including women and children died because of it. Around 200, 000 people died in England from diseases brought on by the war and some even killed amongst the disputes that went on. A lot more people died in Scotland and Ireland, however. This was the final time any civil war was fought on English grounds. Though that was a different story for Scotland and Ireland.

Restoration

The England Restoration began in 1660 when Charles II ascended the throne. During this time the bishops were restored to the Parliament. Though, the church was much stricter than last time. The church followed a stringent Anglican orthodoxy. He reigned until his death in 1685. After his death, James II took the throne during the Restoration period. James II expanded trade, brought back drama and literature, and even was king during the Anglo-Dutch wars. However, in 1707 England, Wales, and Scotland were unified as Great Britain by the Act of Union. During these times trades seem to increase for Britain and literature was brought into the middle class and even the poor. People also started to come up with social ideas to engage with each other, like the new rhetoric of liberty and arts. Everything seemed to be going well for Britain during these times.

Glorious or Bloodless Revolution

The Glorious Revolution is recognized as the Revolution of 1688 or the Bloodless Revolution. Things that stirred up during 1688-1689 made King James II descend from the throne while his daughter Mary II and her husband William III rose in the public eye. James II was overthrown by the English Parliamentarians and William III, Prince of orange. While King James II still ruled he distanced most of the population from the Roman Catholicism. In 1687 James II announced the Declaration of Indulgence to limit the penal laws against Dissenters and recusants. Then he crossed a line in April 1688 by forcing everyone to read the second Declaration of Indulgence. Not many were too thrilled about this. A few people included William Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury, and six other bishops were against this, so they petitioned against it. In response to this a few Englishmen, one bishop and a few from the Whig and Tory part wrote a letter to William of Orange to help them out by bringing an army. However, on January 22, 1689, a convention was held. William was summoned to the government and seek a Parliament for the people. Here this offered him the crown to William on behalf of the Declaration of Rights. The Declaration of Rights was then turned into the Bill of Rights.