The Puritan Reformation: Why Cromwell Fails
The Death of Cromwell's Puritan Republic As Charles I oppressed the people of England, especially the Puritans, an opponent emurged on the forefront. Oliver Cromwell, a righteous, Calvinistic representative of parliament, spoke out against the king for the rights of all people and in particular his fellow Puritans. With the aid of a Scottish rebellion and some support from parliament, Cromwell dethroned the king and tried him for treason against the people of England. With no king throned, Cromwell then took over as caretaker of England, and began setting up a 'Puritan Republic'. But through a turn of events, his 'Puritan Repbulic' ended up resembling more a facist dictatorship than the constitutional government he originally fought for. Sadly enough he was able to maintain this government up until his death, after which his son attempted to rule unsucessfully and the people started creating the constitut
He used excerpts from the bible to motivate the troops and subsequently convinced them that they were doing the work of god. In essence, Cromwell was then in turn, repeating what Charles I had done, but with Calvinism and to a greater extreme. Charles I had forced Calvinists to adopt the Anglican Book of Prayer, denied them the right to publish, and forced upon them some of the religious trappings of Catholicism. He outlawed dancing, drunkeness, gambling and theater. Cromwell's failure to achieve a lasting Puritan Republic is primarily due to his hypocritical, political policies which alienated the majority of his initial supporters. ional government Cromwell once spoke of. A major flaw, Cromwell never actually abolished the parliamentary army, which had played a key role in his victory over Charles I. Upon his death, the people took control, resulting in the failure of his 'Puritan Republic'. Cromwell had spoken of profoud freedoms and gained support of England against their king. Thusforth all of those who supported him in hopes that he would build a constitutional monarchy ceased to do so, which comprised all but the rest of parliament. This then unallied much of parliament with Cromwell, but he responded by purging all who opposed him from parliament, contradicting his former republican beliefs and forming what was called a "rump parliament". Infact Cromwell modeled the entire army after the regiment he controlled during the English Civil war, the "ironsides". But when he succeeded he then did the reverse of what he had said, repeating the acts of the king to a far greater extent and alienating all of those who supported his fight against the king. Cromwell's next move angered all of England, except for those he had bestowed power and the most devout of Calvinists. He ittimidated them to back down, and then went and slaughtered the Irish.
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