Preview

English Civil War Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
504 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
English Civil War Essay
The English Civil War

There were three main causes of the English Civil War. The first was King Charles’ need for more money. The second was religion, and King Charles’ dislike of both the Puritans and the Catholics. Finally, the third reason was the struggle for power between King Charles and Parliament. These are the three causes of the English Civil War.
Firstly, the English Civil War was caused by King Charles’ relentless need to obtain more money. King Charles introduced many, many new taxes such as ship money (a tax used to earn money to build more ships, given to people regardless of their proximity to the ocean), and tonnage and poundage (the tax of all goods brought into the country based on their weight). In addition, he began to give away titles for money. Common people would come to him asking to be titled (duke, duchess, prince etc.), and King Charles would grant them titles in exchange for money. King Charles had an advisor (the Earl of Strafford) who came up with an incredibly large number of ways to earn King Charles money, which later became known as “Strafford’s Fork”.
Moreover, King Charles (who was Anglican) married a Catholic woman. There was plenty of surprise and irritation at this, because no one knew if their children would be Catholic or Anglican. Furthermore, The Catholics disliked King Charles because Catholics were not allowed in positions of power in the government after the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, due to the Test Acts. Catholics were discriminated against by the government/ordinary people, and disliked in general. Also, King Charles strongly disliked Puritans, and ordered one of his advisors, Archbishop Laud, to decorate the Puritans’ churches with stained glass and figurines. When the Puritans saw these changes being made to their places of worship, they rebelled and destroyed many Anglican churches.
Lastly, there was a significant struggle for power between Parliament and King Charles. King Charles, like his father, believed

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Civil War Essay

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Civil War was the most divisive war in American history. In the early 1800s, the United States experienced a growth of nationalism and unity, but it was replaced by sectionalism, leading to the Civil War. There were many reasons why the South wanted to secede, reasons the North wanted to maintain the Union, and the controversy surrounding slavery and steps taken to abolish it.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    1) The English Civil War- The English Civil War took place during the years 1642-1646. The English Civil War was the conflict between King Charles I of England and a large body of his subjects, generally called the “parliamentarians,” that culminated in the defeat and execution of the king and the establishment of a republican commonwealth. The parliamentary army’s leader, Oliver Cromwell, during the so-called Commonwealth period ruled. But after his death Parliament decided to restore the monarchy if Charles I’s son and heir, Charles II agreed to restrictions on his authority.…

    • 2160 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ap American History Dbq

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages

    During the 1630 's, there was a religious civil war. This war was between the Puritans, also known as the Protestants, and the Cavaliers, also known as the Catholics. This relgious war lasted from the year 1642 until the year of 1651. During this time, King Charles I was the monarch of England. His father, James I was ruler prior. James did not change anything about England after Queen Elizabeth 's death. He did not change the government, nor the religion. Unlike his father, Charles believed that Catholicism must be enforced in England. Because of Charles and his changing of religion, the civil war in England took place.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    on its communication with the king and of a fairer rule. Charles however went against this in the…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Charles I was James I son and Charles got executed because of the events that happened. People argued about this because the king made lots of wrong decision for example he married a French catholic and betrayed protestants and that’s how he lost control over the country however as the king was losing control parliament became more powerful and protestants trusted parliament more than the king. The civil war begun because of money, religion and power. However if the king did not care about these three things then the civil war would of never begin and Charles would have been in control and protestants would of able to trust him and it wouldn’t lead him to his own execution. Do you think it was because of Charles greedy and selfishness that lead him to he’s own execution?…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Charles I was most to blame for causing the civil war, but parliament didn’t help matters when they wouldn’t help the King. Charles’ bad start to being king didn’t help get trust from his people and other factors contributed to the start of a Civil war.…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In April 1642, the Civil war started in England. The civil war ended up by King Charles losing the war. And in my essay I am going to talk about many reasons why Charles lost the civil war.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If not for this Charles would have simply chosen to dissolve parliament again when things stopped going his way, rather than starting the first civil war. The Members of Parliament knew this and so ensured in advance that parliament would be able to go through with its policies without the threat of Charles being able to stop it. It can therefore be assumed that parliament was willing to take measures to guarantee the political situation in England was amended. However Parliament was very much divided over how harshly they should oppose the king and his methods of ruling England, some individuals, such as Oliver Cromwell thought that since the parliamentary side was winning the vast majority of battles it must be the will of God that the King is fully defeated; another Member of parliament who strongly opposed the king John Pym, who was a leader on the Committee of Safety and organised parliament’s military strategy and negotiated the allegiance with Scotland, which he realised was a fundamental factor to remove King Charles I from power. These particular individuals were willing to go to any lengths to gain parliamentary control of England, including going to war however other MPs were more inclined to make peace with the…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What was the actual reason that the Civil War started? Was it because the North didn’t want slavery anymore or was it because of something bigger than that? Could it have been an array of instances all tied together? There are many possibilities of why the Civil War began to include, slavery, money, and not having an individual leading the States. All of these are valid reason if one side opposed what the other side wanted.…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If asked, most people would blame as the cause of the civil war the issue of slavery. This is understandable; many people in the U.S. at the time were against slavery, going to far as to help runaway slaves escape to the free north. But, while slavery at face value was a major factor, international politics and economics played a major role. Several factors, including the election of Lincoln, the raid on Harper 's Ferry, the Dred Scott decision, and, most importantly, the fugitive slave law, contributed to the growing rift between the North and South and, eventually, the Civil War.…

    • 888 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The civil war that occurred from 1642 to 1649 in England was unique in that it pitted a monarch and his representative assembly against one another for the first time ever. (http://www.britannica.com) Even more shockingly, the English Civil War terminated in the first ever trial and execution of a sitting monarch. The English Civil War was a highly complex conflict, one which cannot be pinned on a single cause alone. It was caused by a combination of long term and short-term factors. Some of these causes were political, other were more economic and religious. One of the major influences of the outbreak of the civil war was religion. The religious quarrels began right at the start of Charles’ reign, when he married Henrietta Maria, a French Catholic. (http://www.britannica.com) This was looked down upon by much of the public, especially the Puritans. The church also underwent many changes, most of which were the spitting image of Catholicism. (http://www.bbc.co.uk) Another factor in the outbreak of the civil war was foreign affairs. With the thirty years war going on and catholic rulers attempting to wipe out the protestants in their country, people fears in England were…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil War was the bloodiest war in all of America's history.But some things still remains a mystery in the Civil War.There were many reasons to how the Civil War was cause.A lot of people thinks that slavery was the cause,but it is only one of the many causes.Slavery, Economy, and State's Rights were the main cause to the Civil War.The slavery brought tensions,many differences in economy,and fighting for a cause.Tensions rose as Republicans and Democrats fight for a solution in slavery,the North and South many differences in their economy,and reasons to fighting in the Civil War.The Civil War was fought for slavery, economy, and State's Rights.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The New Model Army

    • 4395 Words
    • 13 Pages

    The English Civil War, in one way or another, was a response to the aftermath of the Reformation which left behind political unrest and separate religious groups with indifferences and nonconformity. The Civil War affected everyone from commoners and the up and coming rising middle classes to the ruling aristocracy and Parliament. Parliament would eventually go on to create the New Model Army in response to events that surrounded Charles I, personal rule and his marriage to a catholic Queen Henrietta Maria, the daughter of Henry IV of France. (1600-1649). (Visual Sources Book), Plate 10.1a, (p.52). (online britroyals). However, the trigger for unrest and the Civil War was brought about by the king’s demand for money through taxation. (Unit. 9, pp.18-19). Charles I, had the strong belief, that he had the divine and absolute right to rule his three kingdoms, politically and religiously as it was the divine rights of Kings.…

    • 4395 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Restoration period

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Republican Britain and the restoration period Helena Macúšová Lenka Palečková 8AA10b Restoration period Fall of Republican Britain  Cromwell´s death – The protectorate collapsed  Cromwell´s son –Richard Cromwell is not a good leader.  Richard invited Charles II. back Charles II.  Charles II. returned as publicly accepted king  The laws and Acts of Cromwell´s government were automatically cancelled  Parliament is weak  Those responsible for Charles I.´s execution are punished Catholicism, the Crown and the new constitutional monarchy  Charles II. wanted to make peace between religious groups  Wanted to allow Puritans and Cathlics to meet freely  Parliament is strongly Anglican = against  Feared Charles become catholic…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Historians have various views on what caused the civil wars and revolutions in England; here I will point out the major factors that led to the revolution.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics