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The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised the English monarch. Great councils were first called Parliaments during the reign of Henry III (r. 1216 ...
After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Great Britain was governed as a constitutional monarchy with sovereignty residing in the King-in-Parliament. Parliament was a bicameral legislature. Aristocrats inherited seats in the House of Lords, while the gentry and merchants controlled the elected House of Commons. [3]
In the early modern era, Parliament was also vital to the running of the country, providing laws and taxation, but it had fluctuating fortunes and was never as central to the national life as its counterpart in England. [110] In the early period the kings of the Scots depended on the great lords of the mormaers (later earls) and toísechs ...
A democracy is a political system, or a system of decision-making within an institution, organization, or state, in which members have a share of power. [2] Modern democracies are characterized by two capabilities of their citizens that differentiate them fundamentally from earlier forms of government: to intervene in society and have their sovereign (e.g., their representatives) held ...
In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland joined to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The British monarch was the nominal head of the vast British Empire , which covered a quarter of the world's land area at its greatest extent in 1921.
The beginnings of the English local government system date back to the Middle Ages when a peace judge represented the king in each county. England remained an example of a country whose territorial administration relied solely on local government bodies until the end of the 19th century. They had broad powers and evolved towards ...
The growth of trade between the newly independent United States and Britain after 1783 [28] confirmed Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success. During its first 100 years of operation, the focus of the British East India Company had been trade, not the building of an empire in India.
New Zealand became a British colony in 1839; in 1840 Maori chiefs ceded sovereignty to Britain in Treaty of Waitangi. In 1841 New Zealand became an autonomous colony. [3] [4] The signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 ended the First Opium War and gave Britain control over Hong Kong Island. [4]