Association of 1696 facts for kids
The Association was an instrument created after the failed Jacobite assassination plot of 1696 to pledge loyalty to William III of England. Modelled by Lord Somers on the Elizabethan Bond of Association, it placed intense pressure on nonresistant Tories in public life to acknowledge William as "rightful and lawful King". The Association was widely subscribed to by the public, extending well beyond the circle of officials Somers had targeted, and soon assumed the force of law, all Crown officials being required by statute to subscribe to it. Some Tories were purged from office for failure to do so, and the Association remained in legal force until 1702, when William's death rendered it a nullity and the requirement to subscribe to it was repealed.
Background
While High Tories opposed to James II of England's religious policies played an important role in the Glorious Revolution, many had uneasy consciences over the events that followed. The legal fiction in the Bill of Rights 1689 that James had abdicated his throne did not, in their minds, abrogate the oaths to him that they had previously taken. The new oath prescribed to replace the oaths of allegiance and supremacy required those swearing it to "be Faithfull and beare true Allegiance to Their Majestyes King William and Queene Mary". While the nonjurors were unable to reconcile even this to their consciences, some Tories adopted a policy of nonresistance; while they did not recognize William and Mary's right to rule, they consented to cooperate with their regime insofar as it existed.
Lord Somers championed bills in Parliament in April 1691/2 and December 1692 which would have imposed oaths abjuring James and acknowledging William's right to the crown, but both were defeated. The attempted assassination of William in February 1696 gave Somers another chance to drive Tories of doubtful loyalty from public life.
Passage into law
Shortly thereafter, the Association was written into law. The Security of King and Government Act 1695 (passed in 1696 and backdated to the beginning of the Parliamentary session) endorsed the Association and ordered all officers and those receiving pay under the Crown, as well as the households of Prince George and Princess Anne, to subscribe to it within the following year. Future officers and appointees were to subscribe to the Association when they took the oath prescribed by the Test Act; those who failed to subscribe were to forfeit their office, and if they continued to exercise it, be subject to the Test Act's penalties for recusancy. Members of the House of Commons were henceforth to subscribe to the Association when they took their appointed oaths, or be disabled from sitting in Parliament and forfeit their seats. The courts of Chancery and King's Bench, and the courts of quarter sessions, were to keep records of subscribers, and of those who had refused to subscribe. By late July, 86 justices of the peace and 104 deputy lieutenants had been removed from office for failing to subscribe to the Association, or in a few cases subscribing late and without enthusiasm.
Later years
The Signing the Association, etc. Act 1698 postponed the date after which non-subscribers would forfeit their offices until 1 August 1700. After the death of James II in 1701, the Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1701 amended the form of the Association, replacing "against the late King James and all his Adherents" with "against all His Majesties Enemies whatsoever". After the death of King William in 1702, the Association became a nullity, and the Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1702 relieved MPs and officeholders from the necessity of subscribing to it.
