Mutiny Act

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Mutiny Act. Before the Glorious Revolution, James II had collected a large army on Hounslow Heath to intimidate London. The Bill of Rights in 1689 declared that a standing army in peacetime was illegal without parliamentary consent and the procedure was adopted of passing an annual Mutiny Act which authorized the imposition of military discipline. The navy had been under statutory authority since 1661 and was less politically delicate since the fleet could hardly be used to threaten public liberties. In 1784 the Fox–North coalition toyed with the idea of rejecting the Mutiny Bill as a means of getting rid of William Pitt's minority government, but flinched from so drastic an action. The system was reorganized by the Army Discipline and Regulation Act of 1879.

J. A. Cannon

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