Oliver Cromwell Essay
Oliver Cromwell was a strict Puritan, and played really important roles, not only in the civil war, but even in the government. He came from a gentry’s family, and when he was young, after having a good education at Cambridge, toke part of the Short and the long parliaments. Even if being a puritan, Cromwell supported the idea of militarism. In fact, during the first Civil War, having a strong commanding voice, and a huge military ability, Cromwell was authorized by the parliament to start his military career by razing a regiment to help the roundheads to fight the royal forces. The Ironsides, Cromwell’s own regiment, actually distinguished at the battle of Marston Moor and in many other minor engagements. In 1644 he was appointed second to Sir Thomas Fairfax, and was also authorized by Parliament to reorganize a new army which became a “New Model Army” in which Cromwell spread his puritan’s ideas. In fact he said to his soldiers: “I think that who prays best will fight best. Anyways, his new army had a great success by defeating the king in the First Civil War and the Scottish and Irish royalists in the second one. After taking over Ireland and Scotland, Cromwell, initiated a policy of systematic dispossession of the conquered lands by giving them to new puritan owners. In 1650 he also invaded Schootland and defeated all the royalist forces at Dunbar. When the second civil war ended, Cromwell realized that he had a lot of power. He was in fact controlling the army that controlled the government. So he
toke over the parliament and started ruling practically without it. In fact, at the beginning, he gave parliament the only power to collect taxes. But then he realized that he could not do it. He could not rule without a parliament, so trough the “Protectorate”; he established a quasi-martial law based on the militaristic policy. This policy divided England into 12 districts, each administrated by a general. After this, Oliver Cromwell, also abolished kingship and he proclaimed a common wealth form of government. Since Cromwell was strongly puritan, he reformed the English society by applying strong rules to it, like, for example, the banishing of all kinds of amusements. Even though nobody ever rebelled most British people did not like the puritan dictatorship. To deal with religion, Cromwell decided to give religious rights to everybody but the Roman Catholics. He also encouraged Jews to emigrate in England because retained them smart and rich. To deal with the nation’s economy, Cromwell adopted a mercantilist policy. He also enforced the “navigation act” which required British goods to travel on British ships. Even tough Cromwell was a really strict ruler for England; he did well in his job. He was in fact successful of holding together the gains of the civil war and the discordant groups in the Puritan Party. Even though he did the mistake of ruling without dealing with the parliament, he kept the power with his strong character.
toke over the parliament and started ruling practically without it. In fact, at the beginning, he gave parliament the only power to collect taxes. But then he realized that he could not do it. He could not rule without a parliament, so trough the “Protectorate”; he established a quasi-martial law based on the militaristic policy. This policy divided England into 12 districts, each administrated by a general. After this, Oliver Cromwell, also abolished kingship and he proclaimed a common wealth form of government. Since Cromwell was strongly puritan, he reformed the English society by applying strong rules to it, like, for example, the banishing of all kinds of amusements. Even though nobody ever rebelled most British people did not like the puritan dictatorship. To deal with religion, Cromwell decided to give religious rights to everybody but the Roman Catholics. He also encouraged Jews to emigrate in England because retained them smart and rich. To deal with the nation’s economy, Cromwell adopted a mercantilist policy. He also enforced the “navigation act” which required British goods to travel on British ships. Even tough Cromwell was a really strict ruler for England; he did well in his job. He was in fact successful of holding together the gains of the civil war and the discordant groups in the Puritan Party. Even though he did the mistake of ruling without dealing with the parliament, he kept the power with his strong character.
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