The Exclusion Crisis And The Origin Of British Political Parties, 1678-1681

It has been long and closely studied the origin of political parties and the early party politics. Due to the lack of first-hand materials, there has not been much works done in the very early stages of British political parties. This thesis deals with the Exclusion Crisis during 1678 and 1681, focusing on the origin of British political parties, as well as its function in the late 1670s. With better organization, stronger influence, the Whigs, not the Tories, are the emphasis of this paper. The Introduction part gives the points of view on the origin of British political parties by British historians from the 17th century, as well as the outstanding researches made in the 20th century.The first part gives an introduction of the background of the Exclusion Crisis. The Popish Plot of 1678 stirred up an extremely strong anti-Catholicism in England, which leads to the worry about the Duke of York's religion. The succession issue was brought into Parliament yet again. Danby tried to take advantage of the situation, using the worry and fear to strengthen his own place and power, but ended up in prison with the expose of the Montagu correspondences.Part two of the thesis gives an account of the Habeas Corpus Act Parliament and the introduction of the first Exclusion Bill. The downfall of Danby and the dissolution of the Cavalier Parliament brought an end to the British political structure since 1673. The Country Opposition, under the leadership of Lord Shaftesbury, introduced an Exclusion Bill in the House of Commons, asking to exclude James Duke of York from succession of the English throne. This could be counted as the start of the opposition between the Whigs and the Tories. Charles II dissolved the parliament before the Exclusion Bill got passed.The third part being the account of the British crowds and their deeds during October 1679 to October 1680. The mass politics of this year is largely due to the organization and propaganda of the Whigs. The political clubs and coffee-houses during the Restoration England, the Press held by the Whig elites, both gave a foundation of the people's exercises. The mass petitioning of 1680, together with the pope-burning procession during these years, gave a hard strike on the King, the Court, and the Tories. In the year where there was no parliament, the Whigs extinguished themselves by extraordinary achievements on organizing and propaganda, which outclassed their Tory opponents far beyond.The fourth and last part of this theses deals with the political affairs after October 1680. This includes two parliaments, and two Exclusion Bills. In the Exclusion Bill Parliament of 1680, the Bill got passed in the House of Commons, but was voted against in the House of Lords by Tories and the Moderates persuaded by Halifax. The Oxford Parliament of 1681 lasted only a week, and after its dissolution, Charlesâ…¡began revenge and to exterminate the Whigs. The Earl of Shaftesbury died in Holland in exile, and after the Rye House Plot in 1683, Charles found no opponents in England.The Whigs and Tories of 17th century had not formed a national political body, but they possessed some basic terms to be called political parties. These political parties had been going along with the parliament, and the modern state; and the influences mutual. The Whigs held large pressure groups outside the Westminster Hall, but it was the parliament that remained their battlefield. The three parliaments that Charlesâ…¡called yet dissolved in the end showed us how enormous the force the early Whigs could gather. On the other hands, their defeat could be blamed on the inferior position the parliament had confronting the king, and the government. Such situation was forever changed after the Glorious Revolution, and with that the constitutional monarchy state was born.