Convention Parliament

(noun)

A parliament in English history which, owing to an abeyance of the Crown, assembled without formal summons by the Sovereign. Its 1660 assembly followed the Long Parliament that had finally voted for its own dissolution in March that year. Elected as a "free parliament," i.e. with no oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth or to the monarchy, it was predominantly Royalist in its membership.

Related Terms

Examples of Convention Parliament in the following topics:

  • Restoration of the Stuarts

    • Richard proved to be unable to manage the Parliament and control the army.
    • However, his leadership was undermined in Parliament.
    • Fleetwood was deprived of his command and ordered to appear before Parliament to answer for his conduct.
    • Monck organised the Convention Parliament.
    • The Cavalier Parliament convened for the first time in May 1661 and it would endure for over 17 years.

  • The Glorious Revolution

    • The Bill was a restatement in statutory form of The Declaration of Rights presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in February 1689, inviting them to become joint sovereigns of England.
    • The Bill of Rights lays down limits on the powers of the monarch and sets out the rights of Parliament, including the requirement for regular parliaments, free elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament.
    • He or she could no longer suspend laws, levy taxes, make royal appointments, or maintain a standing army during peacetime without Parliament's permission. 
    • Also since then, Parliament's power has steadily increased while the Crown's has steadily declined.
    • Parliament offered William and Mary a co-regency, at the couple's behest.

  • The First Continental Congress

    • The First Continental Congress was a convention of 12 colonial delegates that met on September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
    • The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from 12 British North American colonies that met on September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
    • It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament.
    • They agreed to reconvene in May of 1775, if Parliament still did not address their grievances.
    • In London, Parliament debated the merits of meeting the demands made by the colonies.

  • The Structure of the Government

    • The Constitutional Convention was convened in Philadelphia in 1787 to address the problems in the Articles of Confederation.
    • Several proposals were presented by delegates to the Convention outlining various political structures.
    • Delegates largely accepted without dispute the need for a bicameral (two-house) legislature, similar to the British Parliament.
    • New Jersey Plans was contentious and almost threatened to shut the Convention down.
    • Describe the work done by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention

  • Powers of the Assemblies

    • In 1764, desiring revenue from its North American colonies, Parliament passed the first law specifically aimed at raising colonial money for the Crown.
    • In Massachusetts, participants at a town meeting cried out against taxation without proper representation in Parliament, and suggested some form of united protest throughout the colonies.
    • The Maryland Convention had been pressed by the Continental Congress (and the Virginians in particular) to arrest and detain Eden, but they demurred, preferring to avoid such an "extreme" measure.
    • Eventually the Maryland Convention formally asked the Governor to leave, and Governor Eden finally departed Maryland for England in the ship Fowey on June 23, 1776.
    • Sir Robert Eden, last colonial Governor of Maryland, who found his authority overthrown by the Annapolis Convention.

  • The U.S. Constitution

    • Several proposals were presented by delegates to the Convention, outlining various political structures.
    • Delegates also accepted the need for a bicameral (two-house) legislature, similar to the British Parliament.
    • New Jersey Plans was contentious and almost threatened to shut the Convention down.
    • However, unlike the Virginia or New Jersey Plans, most other divisions in the Convention were sectional.
    • Another issue that faced the Convention was creating a balance between state and federal veto power.

  • The Spreading Conflict

    • With the need for coordinated pressure on the British Parliament and king, delegates from the colonies assembled to create the First Continental Congress for coordinated action.
    • The British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774 to reform colonial administration in British America and, in part, to punish the Province of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party.
    • Parliament responded by passing the New England Restraining Act, which prohibited the northeastern colonies from trading with anyone but Britain and the British West Indies, and barred colonial ships from the North Atlantic fisheries.
    • That same day, the Virginia Convention instructed its delegation in Philadelphia to propose a resolution that called for a declaration of independence, the formation of foreign alliances, and a confederation of the states.

  • Cromwell and the Roundheads

    • First and foremost, to avoid Parliament, the King needed to avoid war.
    • Charles finally bowed to pressure and summoned another English Parliament in November 1640.
    • Known as the Long Parliament, it proved even more hostile to Charles than its predecessor and passed a law which stated that a new Parliament should convene at least once every three years—without the King's summons, if necessary.
    • Other laws passed by the Parliament made it illegal for the king to impose taxes without Parliamentary consent and later gave Parliament control over the king's ministers.
    • Further negotiations by frequent correspondence between the King and the Long Parliament proved fruitless.

  • The First Stuarts and Catholicism

    • James developed his political philosophy of the relationship between monarch and parliament in Scotland and never reconciled himself to the independent stance of the English Parliament and its unwillingness to bow readily to his policies.
    • James flatly told them not to interfere in matters of royal prerogative and dissolved Parliament.
    • In January 1629, Charles opened the second session of the English Parliament. 
    • The provocation was too much for Charles, who dissolved Parliament.
    • Describe the tensions between the Stuart kings and Parliament over religion.

  • Government in the English Colonies

    • The British Parliament believed that it had the right to impose taxes on the colonists.
    • While it did have virtual representation over the entire empire, the colonists believed Parliament had no such right as the colonists had no direct representation in Parliament .
    • In addition Parliament required a duty to be paid on court documents and other legal documents, along with playing cards, pamphlets and books.
    • The Parliament also provided for special courts in which British judges, rather than American juries, would try colonists.
    • Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1808–1879) being introduced in the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament, on 26 July 1858.