English Civil War

Cromwell: Sowing the Seeds of a Constitutional Government

            Oliver Cromwell can be described as a man of passion. A man of passion is someone who lives only to accomplish a specific task that they feel has been assigned to them by fate or whatever their higher power is. It is a certain level of determination that very few people have. It allows them to remove themselves from the equation and fully sell themselves to the accomplishment of the objective. They are people like; William Wilberforce, Winston Churchill, John Hancock and Abraham Lincoln who went against all odds based off of a belief that they were in the moral right. Cromwell was a simple man who had very little power, political or otherwise, yet he was able to train and control an Army and eventually overthrow an ancient system of government. He lived by his wits and his blatant audacity which enabled him to make bold decisions for the betterment of his country.

Cromwell was the son of a poor knight but was barely more than a yeoman himself. He went bankrupt twice by the time he was 30 years old. As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t for his uncle dying and leaving him an inheritance he would have never achieved the social status that he would need during the English Civil War. Even while he was a poor squire, he still served on Parliament in the House of Commons. However, he really did not make much of a name for himself at this time.  In 1640 he was elected to be the representative from Cambridge and this time he came in with a purpose. He was one of the most outspoken critics of royal policies and of the established Anglican Church. He also advocated increased Parliamentary powers, calling for annual sessions of Parliament, and for Parliament, not the king, to have the power to name army generals.(Laker, 1999)

Once war broke out between the parliament Army and Charles’s Army, Cromwell showed his true abilities as a commander. Having come from the lower class and never been trained militarily, Cromwell rapidly rose through the ranks and because of his tactical skills and his ability to lead an Army. Within 6 months he became a cavalry commander and within a year he was the commander of the Model Army. The Model Army was a new military structure that Cromwell instigated. It was based off of ability and leadership and not upon social standing; this made the quality of the soldiers and their capabilities infinitely higher than the rest of the Parliamentary Army. He was considered barbarous by Charles and his nephew Prince Rupert who didn’t like how Cromwell would open the engagements without ever meeting to discuss the terms of the war. Regularly he would begin operations as soon as his troops were in position instead of waiting on a predetermined time. This never sat well with men who were very ordered and structured in everything they did and not considered gentlemanly. (Ross,2001)(Laker, 1999)

The war was several years long, lasting until 1545. As Cromwell became more experienced he also became more feared for his military expertise. Charles refused to attack him in open field if he could possibly avoid it. This led to a lower number of casualties in this war than would be suspected of a Civil War. Instead Charles attempted to use surprise to his advantage and it never worked because the people were supporting Cromwell’s Army. As Charles would set out on a sneak attack to attack the rear of the Parliamentary Army, the citizens would send word ahead to Cromwell and he would be able to counter the move effectively. Prince Rupert was banished from the kingdom by Charles because he gave up a valuable stronghold to Cromwell’s forces and thus allowed him to march on the King. (Ross, 2001)

In 1547 the King was arrested when Cromwell marched into his palace and gave him a warrant for the charge of treason. He held him under guard and until he was held for trial. During that time he would often correspond with the House of Lords who were much more supportive of keeping the monarchy because it gave them more power. Amongst other things, the King was corresponding with foreign armies who were planning an invasion in order to overthrow Cromwell’s Army and re-establish the monarchy.  Cromwell became the leading advocate for an elected constitutional parliament. Furthermore he created a Rump Parliament that was specifically designed to try and convict the King of treason. Once the King was beheaded, Cromwell released his army and became very inactive with parliament for the next several years. The only reason he came back was because the parliament had decided to establish a new line of kings and forget everything they had fought for in the civil war. Cromwell assembled his Army and then marched into parliament and dissolved it by force. He didn’t declare himself King, but instead he called himself “Lord Protector”. He hoped to bring the change that needed to be brought to the kingdom. (Laker, 1999)

Cromwell ruled for 6 years while he was instigating changes and refueling the economy. He allowed the spread of Protestantism and also structured the electing of Parliament in order to give the people more power. He created a stronger military and gave power to the middle class. Upon his death Parliament reconvened and determined that the house of Stewart would be given the throne. James I of Scotland(Also James IV of England) took the throne and re-established the tradition of a monarchy in England. Cromwell’s death was not in vain however. By his passion he was able to lay the groundwork for a Constitutional Government. Furthermore he left Parliament with the power to remove and kill a king if need be. But perhaps his most important accomplishment would not appear for 225 years. When American colonists would once again realize that they did not need a king.

 

 

Works Cited

Laker, T. (1999). Cromwell hero or villian. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/326121.stm

Ross, D. (2001). Oliver cromwell. Retrieved from http://www.britainexpress.com/History/stuart/cromwell.htm