The Rise of Democracy in Great Britain

912 Words2 Pages

Greece was once at the pinnacle of the world. Its philosophy, sculptures, paintings, theater, and architectures have been some of the great gifts it has left for us, but the most important one is democracy. It is believed that democracy was created in a city of ancient Greece; this city is known as Athens. The success Athens had as a city is credited to the way they ran their government. In this city everyone had an equal say on what they wanted to get done. Undoubtedly, democracy has been the best ancient idea for every country in the world to keep. Great Britain has an amazing history as a super power that had at one point had its own empire. They were definitely successful, yet they were did not have a democracy set up, and it actually took several years for Great Britain to do that. So when did Great Britain become democratic and why? The main reason why Great Britain transitioned from a monarchy to a democracy was because of the Industrial Revolution.
In the middle ages, monarchy was extremely strong in Great Britain. There were many remarkable kings and queens; there were kings like James I, George III, Henry VII, and many others who are known for accomplishing things like separating the Catholic Church from England or for being challenged by the American colonists. During this period of time people were not allowed to think for themselves. Both the church and the monarchy did not allow people to have their own ideas or to express their opinion. Kings had absolute control over everything from increasing taxes to imposing a religion on their people. Everyone within the British kingdom was suppressed to think like the king and live for the king. There were only two kinds of people during this time, there were those who were no...

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...at it is today. It is interesting that Great Britain after becoming a democratic country still kept the monarchy, and does not have an official written constitution.

Works Cited

Albert, Craig, William Graham, Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment and Frank Turner. "Toward Parliament Government in England" The Heritage Of World Civilizations. 9th. Combined. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2011. 462. Print.
The Official Website of The British Monarchy. The Role of the Monarchy. Retrieved November 08, 2013, from http://www.royal.gov.uk/monarchuk/howthemonarchyworks/howthemonarchyworks.aspx
Welcome to a History of England - History of England. The Dark Ages (450 - 1066) - Introduction - History of England. Retrieved November 07, 2013, from http://www.historyofengland.net/kings-and-queens/the-dark-ages-450-1066-introduction#the_dark_ages_450__1066__introduction__summary

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