James II

The Last Absolute Monarch of England

Charles and James returned to England in 1660 when Parliament invited Charles to restore the monarchy.  While Charles II wore the crown, James held the title "Duke of York."

The brothers remembered what had happened to their father when Parliament became powerful, and they were determined not to let that happen to them.  Their friend and protector Louis XIV, "the Sun King," held absolute power over France.  No parliament interfered with Louis--he made law and did away with law as he thought best.  Charles and James began working to establish the same kind of power for the Crown in England.

James was also interested in the American colonies.  His brother Charles gave James the entire territory of New York and New Jersey after the English seized it from the Dutch in 1664 (James soon gave New Jersey to John, Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret).  Charles also gave James power over Maine and two important islands, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

As proprietor, or owner, of this vast territory, James wanted to make sure no one interfered with his power to govern the land and the colonists as he wished.  He was especially careful to make sure that New York would not have a representative government like the Parliament that had sentenced his father to death.

When James became king in 1685, he began working to do away with representative government wherever possible.  He believed such governments were disloyal and rebellious, and used any power they gained to avoid obeying the king's laws.  He tried to rule England without Parliament.  He also sent governors such as Sir Edmund Andros to the colonies to do away with representative governments there and to strengthen the Crown's authority.

James believed that whatever he and his officials did was legal because he said it was legal.  Only the king had the power to make law.  If people in England or America had any rights, it was only because the king had given them those rights.  And whatever the king had given to them, the king could take away.

James II's views sound harsh to us today, but at first many people supported him.  In fact, he might have succeeded in strengthening his power if he had not attempted to make Roman Catholicism the official religion of England.  He believed Catholicism was the true religion.  He also thought that it would help make him an even more absolute ruler just as it had his friend Louis XIV.  He began pressuring his officials to become Catholic, dismissing those who refused, and replacing them with Catholics loyal to him.

James II also began his reign by persecuting many Protestants who did not agree with either the Church of England or Roman Catholicism.  When he realized how unpopular that policy was making him, he promised to tolerate all Christians, Protestant and Catholic. But the damage had been done.

By 1688, English leaders had enough of James II.  Tories who usually supported the king joined with Whigs who usually favored Parliament and began working together to stop James.  They soon decided that the only way was to invite James's son-in-law, William of Orange, to invade England with his Dutch army.  Many officers in the English army promised to support William with their forces as well.

On November 4, 1688, William arrived in England with an army of more than14,000 soldiers.  English officers and soldiers joined William on his march to London. 

James soon realized that he could not defeat William, so he let his own soldiers go and headed for France.  A group of English soldiers captured him and brought him back to London.  There William's officials kept him for a while, but soon allowed him to escape again.  James made it to France and never returned to England.