The revolution before the Revolution

In 1968, much of the world was in turmoil. Riots erupted in major U.S. and European cities. Demonstrations by student radicals shut down a number of universities. Particularly memorable were Newsweek's cover pictures of the occupation of Cornell University. There was a deep split between centrist Democrats and their anti-war colleagues at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that summer. The attendant riots and civil disobedience lead to the trial of the "Chicago Seven."

During that time, I was a young LDS missionary serving in a then very peaceful Belfast, Northern Ireland. It really was peaceful. I lived near and labored in the Falls Road area of Belfast, a completely Roman Catholic area. The "Troubles" had not yet begun.

Tension built until early July of 1969. Suddenly, at least so it seemed to me, everything changed. On July 12 there were parades of Orangemen, bonfires, attacks on Roman Catholic neighborhoods and other acts of violence and vandalism.

I didn't know what to make of it. A Northern Irish friend explained that July 12 is the celebration of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne, in which the armies of recently deposed Catholic King James II were defeated by the Protestant army of William of Orange, newly crowned King William III of England. Is all this really about a nearly 300-year-old battle, I asked my friend? It made no sense to me then that there was such a long reach of old events.

All of this comes to mind as I have been reading a delightfully interesting book by Michael Barone, "Our First Revolution, the Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired American's Founding Fathers." Barone, an immensely well-respected political commentator, has turned his attention to history. As George Will noted in his book jacket blurb, Barone "now provides a splendid analysis of the intellectual pedigree of America's political order."

The First Revolution, also known as the Glorious Revolution, took place in 1688-89. It is the first revolution in history to be called a revolution at the time of its occurrence. Notwithstanding the Battle of the Boyne, which was really a rearguard action to prevent James II from taking back the throne, the Glorious Revolution was generally a bloodless revolution. Essentially, the First Revolution was the culmination of the see-sawing back and forth between Protestant and Catholic monarchs of England. James II deeply offended the Protestant majority by trying to reimpose Catholicism. He, like his family predecessors, also had little use for Parliaments. Both Houses of Parliament forced his abdication (but let him keep his head) and offered the monarchy to William and Mary.