Short answers, pulled from the story.
The word Whiggism emerged in the 1680s as a label for a political faction born from the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Lord Shaftesbury formalized these ideas during the Stuart Restoration period.
The immediate catalyst was the Exclusion Bill crisis spanning 1678 to 1681. This conflict escalated into the English Civil Wars after the Bishops' Wars set an example of violent opposition.
Most Whigs staunchly opposed granting freedom of religion or civil rights to those outside Established Churches. They continued persecuting Roman Catholics and Scottish Episcopalians while disenfranchising them from voting rights.
James Tyrrell published Patriarcha Non Monarcha in 1681, John Locke wrote Two Treatises of Government in 1689, and Algernon Sidney released Discourses Concerning Government in 1698. All three authors opposed Sir Robert Filmer's defense of divine right and absolute monarchy.
Modern historians call the period between 1714 and 1783 the age of the Whig oligarchy. Geoffrey Holmes and D. Szechi documented this era spanning Pre-Industrial Britain from 1722 to 1783.