In the early 1600s in England, King James ruled the country. King James was appointed successor to Queen Elizabeth I, whose reign covered the years from 1558 to 1603. During her rule over England, Elizabeth enacted very harsh laws for those who practiced Catholicism. Many had hoped that the anti-Catholic laws would change or even be abolished under King James I, whose wife was Catholic, but this did not prove to be true. Not only did he "retain the old religious laws that restricted Catholic worship, but he also introduced new ones" (Barrow). As Catholic laws became stricter, people like Guy Fawkes decided to rebel and carry out a plan that would later be known as the Gunpowder Plot. James further angered the Catholic population when he ordered Catholic priests to leave England. In 1605 tension began to build and people plotted to remove the king. Trouble and rebellion grew among some Catholics, who put together a plan to remove King James from the throne. The conspirators wanted to kill James and put his daughter Elizabeth on the throne. (Trueman) Under the advice of those in his inner circle, such as his espionage expert, Sir Robert Cecil, and in an attempt to please more extreme Protestants such as the Puritans, James once again increased the punishment on those who still practiced the religion Catholic. Anger grew to the point that some Catholics were willing to take extreme measures and received support from other Catholic royals in other areas of Europe. At least two attacks on King James had already "failed when a group of men met at a London inn to discuss a new strategy" (Ford). They talked about a new strategy to conduct a plot to kill not only the king of England, but also all the m...... middle of paper ...... from their graves and beheaded. Following the plot, James I was "in no mood for toleration. New laws were passed removing Catholics' right to vote and limiting their role in public life. It would be another 200 years before these restrictions were fully removed" (Greenspan ). Due to the fact that King James made the Catholic laws stricter, he gave Guy Fawkes his plan to rebel. With the survival of King James today, Britons still celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot. Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated on November 5 and has become a time to gather with friends and family, set off fireworks, light bonfires, participate in parades and burn effigies, or rag dolls, of Fawkes. Children circled their effigies, begging for a "penny for the Guy" (a custom similar to Halloween trick-or-treating) and imploring the crowd to "remember, remember November 5th".'.