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An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown
Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully and freely representing all the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight [old style date] present unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and style of William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, being present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in writing made by the said Lords and Commons in the words following, viz.:
Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of diverse evil counsellors, judges and ministers employed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of this kingdom;
By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and suspending of laws and the execution of laws without consent of Parliament;
By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power;
By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under the great seal for erecting a court called the Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes;
By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was granted by Parliament;
By raising and keeping a standing army within this kingdom in time of peace without consent of Parliament, and quartering soldiers contrary to law;
By causing several good subjects being Protestants to be disarmed at the same time when papists were both armed and employed contrary to law;
By violating the freedom of election of members to serve in Parliament;
By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters and causes cognizable only in Parliament, and by diverse other arbitrary and illegal courses;
And whereas of late years partial corrupt and unqualified persons have been returned and served on juries in trials, and particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason which were not freeholders;
And excessive bail hath been required of persons committed in criminal cases to elude the benefit of the laws made for the liberty of the subjects;
And excessive fines have been imposed;
And illegal and cruel punishments inflicted;
And several grants and promises made of fines and forfeitures before any conviction or judgment against the persons upon whom the same were to be levied;
All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and statutes and freedom of this realm; Ever seen a Declaration listing the violations of an English King against the elected assemblies of a territory? Well the Glorious Revolution in England of 1688 overthrew for the last time the possibility of a Catholic King and assured that any future monarch would be a loyal member of the Church of England established by Henry VIII.
This was a very popular move in the American colonies, which had been determined to prevent the establishment of a Catholic Church in the colonies. And the colonies themselves ensured that the Anglican Church of England was the new established church.
Until a new King, from Germany - George III, wanted to tax America for the defence of the Empire. Well you all know how that went. But did you know that in the Declaration of Independence the Founding Fathers were actually making very strong reference to an English precedent, the Bill of Rights? Which set out the limitations of the Monarchy and protected the rights of free assemblies... In 1688 the message would hardly have been noticed because almost the entire population of England supported it.
Unfortunately the message was not heeded in 1776. And a Declaration of Independence and Constitution emerged which were very much in keeping with the history and traditions of Britain...
Now there's a thought...
Copy & paste to friend: (Click inside box; Ctrl + C to copy; Ctrl + V to paste)
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Blogs by CPUfan:
| The Declaration of Independence February 13, 1688 ??? |
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CPUfan
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Oct 12 @ 5:48PM
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Oh and the source by the way lol... http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/england.asp
Yale University Law Department. > English Bill of Rights <
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iglooo101
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Oct 12 @ 6:46PM
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leprichaun_magic
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Oct 12 @ 7:15PM
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,,the "spiritual ...Lords?...
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CPUfan
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Oct 12 @ 7:25PM
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 The Spiritual Lords were the clergy members of the House of Lords. 
8 signatories of the US Declaration of Independence were Anglican laymen, at least formally...
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NatsDad
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Oct 12 @ 7:55PM
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Pretty cool, Ceep. I've got feet on both soils, my mother's English, and I surprise myself with how little I really know!!!
Thanks!!
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CPUfan
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Oct 12 @ 7:59PM
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Thanks NatsDad... I've been very surprised by some recent drama documentaries here about just how much continuity there was between the English and American revolutions. But then when I discovered that Yale was saying pretty much the same things, my curiosity was really aroused.
In fact, the English Bill of Rights is incorporated into the US Constitution, as the "Rights of Englishmen" !
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dizzydoll
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Oct 13 @ 2:10AM
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now thats being patriotic, to flash your declaration and a bit of history all over the blogs
have a good day doll
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CPUfan
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Oct 13 @ 5:24AM
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Patriotic? Oh, I don't know how patriotic it was to be a revolutionary liberal in 1688... but Washington, Jefferson and Franklin were both, in 1776... You see, they were inspired by the liberal political theorist John Locke, an Englishman who also had the honour of being the main literary and philosophical inspiration of the D o I and the US Constitution. Apart from being an English patriot and Loyalist, that is...
A number of times throughout history, tyranny has stimulated breakthrough thinking about liberty. This was certainly the case in England with the mid-seventeenth-century era of repression, rebellion, and civil war. There was a tremendous outpouring of political pamphlets and tracts. By far the most influential writings emerged from the pen of scholar John Locke.
He expressed the radical view that government is morally obliged to serve people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and property. He explained the principle of checks and balances to limit government power. He favored representative government and a rule of law. He denounced tyranny. He insisted that when government violates individual rights, people may legitimately rebel.
These views were most fully developed in Locke’s famous Second Treatise Concerning Civil Government, and they were so radical that he never dared sign his name to it. He acknowledged authorship only in his will. Locke’s writings did much to inspire the libertarian ideals of the American Revolution. This, in turn, set an example which inspired people throughout Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Thomas Jefferson ranked Locke, along with Locke’s compatriot Algernon Sidney, as the most important thinkers on liberty. Locke helped inspire Thomas Paine’s radical ideas about revolution. Locke fired up George Mason. From Locke, James Madison drew his most fundamental principles of liberty and government. Locke’s writings were part of Benjamin Franklin’s self-education, and John Adams believed that both girls and boys should learn about Locke. The French philosopher Voltaire called Locke “the man of the greatest wisdom. What he has not seen clearly, I despair of ever seeing.” > 'Freeman' on John Locke <
Locke also recommended the separation of church and state. John Locke was the founder of political liberalism, of political liberty, in the English speaking world. And a number of other founders took the words right out of his mouth and called the result America.  "Life, liberty and the pursuit of... property?"
And one of his main disciples? An Officer in the British Colonial Militia, Anglican layman and member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, by the name of George Washington. Well there's a librul for ya... 
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