The development of English colonies on the American mainland in the 1600s overall can be viewed as one of limited English involvement. It could even be argued that for a period of time the colonies were neglected. Why did main land England take such a stance? Among several reasons, a civil war and a revolution. These two factors caused the development of the colonies to take on a very unique flavor, distinctly American. To fully understand why the development occurred like this, one must look back at the England of the 1500s.

            On the English throne in the early 1500s was King Henry VIII, who had very strong dynastic motivations. Nevertheless, his wife was unable to fulfill Henry’s desire for a son. To remedy the situation Henry petitioned the church for a divorce, which was not granted. Henry therefore issued in 1534, The Act of Supremacy. With this one document Henry severed all ties with the Catholic Church, and named himself the supreme head of the new English Church. As the head of the English Church Henry granted his divorce and one of his subsequent wives fulfilled his desire for an heir giving birth to a son. With Henry’s death in 1547, the new Church of England maintained most if not all of its Catholic roots. Though this was to change under Henry’s son.   

             King Edward VI was a firm believer in the new protestant ideas developing in Europe. Protestants sought a return to scripture, a simplification of religious ceremony and a streamlining of church. Edward’s reforms were short lived, as he died in 1553. England then was pushed in the exact opposite direction by Henry’s first daughter Mary. A staunch Catholic, Mary renewed ties with the Catholic Church and revived many Catholic practices lost under Edward. Mary’s rule was punctuated by the execution and persecution of Protestants, earning her the nick name of “Bloody Mary.”  Her rule though was also short lasting only five years.

            In 1558 Henry’s second daughter took to the throne of a country dangerously unstable, due to these radical reforms which had taken place in such a short period of time. To stabilize the country she came up with a compromise which became known as the Elizabethan Settlement. Under it a new church was created, the Anglican Church, a church of compromise. It combined Catholic as well as Protestant elements, satisfying most of the English population. During her reign she would become known as Elizabeth “The Great.”

            To follow the great compromiser arguably England’s most popular sovereign was James I. The antithesis of Elizabeth, James ruled from 1603-1625 with a rigid ego and attitude of absolutism. Unlike Elizabeth he was unwilling to work with Parliament. He was firm believer in rule by divine right which was clear in his publication “The True Law of Free Monarchy.” His attitude is perhaps best highlighted in a speech before Parliament “I will not be content that my power be disputed upon.” His reign was one of centralization and consolidation. The loser during this period was Parliament as the centralization and consolidation was at their expense which James seemed unsympathetic towards.

            It was during James’s reign that a group of Englishmen unsatisfied with the Elizabethan Settlement mobilized. The Puritans as they became known desired a purified English Church by removing Catholic elements. James rejected the Puritans. By doing so James now had disenfranchised two English groups, Parliament and the Puritans. Noticing their common enemy they forged what would develop into a powerful alliance as James’s son was to discover.

            Taking to the throne in 1625 Charles I took an almost identical stance towards Parliament as his father. With the Parliament and Puritans allying Charles acted in 1629 by dissolving Parliament and he did reconvene the group for the next fifteen years. He also launched a crack down on Puritans arresting many of the groups leaders and ministers. In 1630 this caused one group of Puritans lead by John Winthrop to flee England and head for the New World, where they founded Boston.   In the coming years only a small number of Puritans remained in England.

            Even with only small group of Puritans left Charles’s problems were not over. In 1640 a revolt sprouted up in Scotland. To deal with it, Charles needed to raise an army. This required money, something he could not raise on his own as taxes could not be levied without the consent of Parliament. Reluctantly, Charles called for a new meeting of Parliament.

            When they met, immediately a list of demands in exchange for their approval of the king’s request for new taxes was drawn up. The demands included: consultation with Parliament in matters of taxation, trial by jury, habeas corpus and a truly Protestant Church, among the general demand for a commitment by the king to consult and call Parliament on a regular basis. Charles was not willing to meet the demands of Parliament. Thus the country began to divide, lending their support either to the king, or to the Parliament and Puritan alliance.

            Amid this polarized state, civil war was unavoidable and broke out in 1642. Charles not having any effective way of raising an army thanks to the taxation power lying with Parliament was defeated. Also, contributing to his defeat was the opposition’s leader Oliver Cromwell. This Puritan Parliament Representative, proved to be an effective military coordinator of what would become known as the New Model Army. This army had a real commitment by the citizens to participate and was also energized by religious motivations. With their victory, the king, his aristocratic followers, and the Anglican Church’s hierarch, along with most citizens of England faced an uncertain future.

            Even after his defeat Charles continued his obstructionist ways which lead in 1649 to him being convicted and executed for treason. Following this dramatic action, England became a commonwealth under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell who became England’s Lord Protector. This period of uncertainty lead to the emergence of two groups, which came to represent major interests of the times. One known as the levelers wanted greater equality in English society. They also wanted all males to have a vote for Parliament. The other group known as the Diggers, wanted a more equal distribution of land. Some of the followers of these movements turned radical which frightened devoted Puritans like Cromwell.

            In 1658 Lord Protector Cromwell died, and his son Richard did not wish to follow in his father’s footsteps leaving the country seeming adrift without any direction. Parliament realized this and called on Charles II to provide direction. Charles II the son of Charles I took to the English throne in 1660 ushering in the period known as the restoration. Charles loosened the restrictions which the Puritans had placed on society during the eleven year interregnum. Charles also had learned from the death of his father to work more closely with Parliament. An ironic relationship since many of members was in power when his father was executed.    

            The reign of Charles II had a distinct Catholic shading to it, though it was far removed from the fanaticism of Mary. During the interregnum Charles lived in France a predominately Catholic state. It is therefore, no surprise that he wished to give Catholics greater rights. His death in 1685 brought Charles’s brother James II to the throne. James was a visible supporter of the Catholic Church. He ignored laws prohibiting Catholics from holding government positions and even had his son baptized a Catholic in 1687. This meant the possibility of a Catholic dynasty, which greatly troubled English Protestants.

            Such a future was not acceptable to members of Parliament. They declared because of violations of laws James had removed himself from the throne. Not wishing to return to the chaos previously experienced, Parliament started a search for a king who was a firm Protestant, had some royal claim and would respect Parliament as a partner.

            Their search took them to the Netherlands where they found William of Orange, son-in-law of James II. Not able to muster any support James fled to France and William and his wife Mary were installed on the English throne in 1689. Thus the blood-less revolution was complete and would become known as the Glorious Revolution.

            What followed was a new political and constitutional era. Parliament gained the rights they demanded under Charles I, the right to assemble regularly, to vote on all matters of taxation. In addition the rights of habeas corpus, and trial by jury for men of property and social status were also secured. The legitimacy of these rights was confirmed in the 1689 Bill of Rights. The document’s authors structured the Bill of Rights in order to guarantee that “religion, laws and liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted.” To do this the document stated that “election of members of parliament ought to be free … [and] the freedom of speech and debates … ought not to be impeached or questioned.” 

Thus the foundation for the modern system of English governance was laid. This new system of governance would serve as a model to which other nations would attempt to emulate in the coming years, some with more success than others. Once again, England could now turn its attention towards its colonies, and tighten control on their seemingly independent nature. This though was not well received as for much of the 1600s England had provided few controls for the colonies, and colonists had become quite used to and comfortable with their lack of a firm relationship with the ruling powers of England. This tension came to a head in the latter half of the 18^th century, and was capped off by the colonies declaring their independence in July of 1776. In a trend setting fashion the years following the colonies independence were marked by the examination of the British governmental model and taking cues from it.