Copy of AP The English and Dutch by Curt Fritts

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Slide Notes

England the United Provinces of the Netherlands took a much different path towards state consolidation. Both of these countries exhibited the signs of emerging modern states but did not trend towards absolutism. One could make the generalization that where vast amounts of wealth were concentrated in the hands of the monarchy (such as in France) absolutism tended to flourish and where wealth was distributed more broadly across a wealthy class of merchants and capitalists (such as in England and the Netherlands) the lawmaking bodies were able to provide a powerful check on would-be absolutists. In both England and the Netherlands power was firmly in the hands of these wealthy classes and they made their presence felt in both Parliament and in the States General.

Copy of AP The English and Dutch

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Constitutionalism and State Consolidation

England and the Netherlands

The Dutch Republic

7 Northern Provinces - The United Provinces

The 7 northern provinces of the Netherlands that had declared and won independence from Spain by the time of the Peace of Westphalia were arranged into a confederation of states. This system of government is not unlike our own federalist system where the national government must share power with the states. In the Netherlands, however, the states exercised much more sovereignty over their affairs than the national government could.

Provincial Rule

Local Estates
Each province ruled by an oligarchy - Regents
Regents were usually wealthy merchants
These merchant families kept the offices within the family

The Local Estates of each province were governed by the wealthy merchants there. The two most powerful provinces politically and financially were Holland and Zeeland (sometimes spelled Zealand). At first these merchant rulers were elected or chosen in the cities but over time families were able to make these offices more and more hereditary.

National Government

States General
Provinces often appointed a stadholder to be their representative
Very little sovereignty
Formed a confederation of states

The States-General met in the Hague and each province, while it could send as large a delegation as it wished, had only one vote. The States-General concerned itself with policies that oriented the Republic towards other nations. It had the power to declare war and make peace, conduct diplomacy, levy tariffs and administer the army and navy. The Stadholder (sometimes spelled Stadtholder) was, in theory, an appointed representative from each province that held executive power at the national level. In practice, the Stadholder often held this title for several provinces at once and since the Dutch Revolt, this individual usually came from the House of Orange and at the national or confederal level he was also appointed Captain-General of the armed forces. This office, however, was not made hereditary until the 1747, and should not be confused with the status or power of a King in the Dutch Republic. This strange arrangement can be seen as a conservative response by the Dutch in setting up their government as they had just freed themselves from a powerful Spanish monarchy.

William III of Orange

Stadholder and Captain General

William III of Orange who would become King William III of England and rule along with Queen Mary was one of the more powerful stadholders during this time period and tried to replace city council members with his personal supporters in many of the provinces. His son William IV or