William and Mary
A New Kind of Monarchy
William was James II's nephew as well as his son-in-law. He was married to James's eldest daughter Mary, who most English leaders saw as the rightful heir of her father's crown. William had come to England at the invitation of most English leaders. They hoped that William and Mary would put a stop to James II's efforts to tax and rule without Parliament and to push Protestants out of leadership positions in English government. William himself hoped that he could get England to switch to the Dutch side in the Netherlands' war against France.
Historians disagree about whether William wanted to become king in James's place or simply to force James to put a stop to his policies of absolute rule, favoring Catholics in government, and supporting France in war. Whatever William originally meant to do, he eventually accepted Parliament's invitation to rule over England jointly with his wife Mary.
When William and Mary were crowned King and Queen of England in February, 1689 a special document called "The Declaration of Rights" was read to them. This document listed 12 ways in which James II had tried to do away with the ancient "laws and liberties" of England. It then listed 13 ways in which the monarch's power was limited by the ancient "laws and liberties" of the English people. The new king and queen accepted the Crown and swore to uphold England's "religion, laws, and liberties." Parliament later voted on the Declaration, and in December of 1689 William and Mary gave it the royal seal of approval. In this way the Declaration of Rights became the English Bill of Rights.
William and Mary may not have been completely happy with the idea, but they came to the throne of England as "Limited Monarchs." Parliament had invited them. Parliament had listed certain things they could not do as monarchs. Neither they nor any king or queen after them could imprison members of Parliament for speaking freely. They could not tax without Parliament's consent. They could not imprison people without showing legal reasons for doing so. They could not tamper with juries. They had to call a new Parliament at least once every 7 years (in fact, Parliament met for a long period every year during the 1690s). They could not become Roman Catholics, nor could they marry Roman Catholics. Any of their heirs who became a Catholic or married one would be excluded from the throne of England.
William and Mary's promise to defend English rights and liberties influenced the way they dealt with Massachusetts and other American colonies. When Massachusetts leaders staged their own Glorious Revolution in 1689, the colonists claimed that they had done so to defend the very rights the new king and queen had sworn to protect. Neither William and Mary nor their royal officials were entirely convinced. They believed that Andros had done much to strengthen the English empire in America. Yet the king and queen realized that the promises they made at their coronation meant that their officials in America would need to respect colonists' rights too.
Colonists all over America swore loyalty to William and Mary. In response, William and Mary gave Massachusetts a new charter that protected colonists' rights. They gave New York an elected legislature to represent the people in government. They instructed the governors of Maryland and other colonies to respect the colonists' rights as subjects of the English Crown.
Colonists remembered William and Mary as good rulers who protected their rights as British Americans. When Parliament itself began to challenge American rights 76 years later, colonial leaders tried to remind them of what William and Mary had done for them. This seemed a good idea, but it did not work. American colonists eventually decided they had to fight for independence from English kings and parliaments.