Countries Without a King
History 104 / January 23, 2013

I. The Dutch in their golden age
          A. Amsterdam, a seafaring metropolis
          B. The birth of commercial capitalism
                   1. Joint-stock companies
                   2. Insurance companies
                   3. The Dutch East India Company (VOC), est. 1602
                   4. The great tulip craze of 1636
          C. The culture of wealth in a Calvinist land
                   1. Pride in commercial achievement
                   2. Civic identity expressed in art
II. England: the Crown vs. Parliament
          A. The “Gunpowder Plot,” an assault on English institutions
          B. Charles I's high-handed demeanor
                   1. Efforts to impose “High Church” standards
                   2. Charles dismisses Parliament, 1629
          C. England's civil war
          D. The trial & execution of Charles I, 1649
III. The problem of having no king
          A. A republic of sorts (1649-53)
          B. Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate (1653-58)
          C. Thomas Hobbes’ analysis: Leviathan (1651)