Why Did a Civil War Begin in England in 1642?
In 1642, war broke out between two armies led by the King and Parliament. There were several causes of this conflict, some of which were to do with power, some concerning money and others connected to religion. This essay will explain how all these causes combined led to the outbreak of the Civil War.
The most important cause of the Civil War in my opinion was one concerning money and Parliament because this was the basis of the argument. Charles I and Parliament argued about money, this was down to the fact that Charles wasted lots of money on extravagant parties, pointless wars and drinking this meant that he always seemed to need more money. When Charles needed money he went to Parliament as he believed one of the only ways of getting money easily was to increase tax and Parliament were the only ones who could increase taxes. Parliament wouldn’t just increase taxes as Charles had hoped, Parliament expected Charles to listen to them but Charles being as arrogant as he was refused to listen as a result Charles didn’t get the money. Parliament were angered greatly as they were not happy with the way Charles ruled but they were unable to do anything about it unless Charles listened to them. In 1629, Charles sent Parliament off and ruled without them for the next 11 years. This helped lead to war as Charles was angered Parliament.
The second most important reason was one of which to do with power. King Charles surrounded himself with his family, friends and good looking people¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ with money. This meant that he chose his advisors depending on what they looked like and how much money they had, not on how well they could do the job. George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham was one of the king’s advisors; he was considered good looking at the time but was not very good at his job. He made lots of bad decisions one was to go to war with France and Spain both of which we were defeated and he was finally assassinated. This decision made King Charles even more
The most important cause of the Civil War in my opinion was one concerning money and Parliament because this was the basis of the argument. Charles I and Parliament argued about money, this was down to the fact that Charles wasted lots of money on extravagant parties, pointless wars and drinking this meant that he always seemed to need more money. When Charles needed money he went to Parliament as he believed one of the only ways of getting money easily was to increase tax and Parliament were the only ones who could increase taxes. Parliament wouldn’t just increase taxes as Charles had hoped, Parliament expected Charles to listen to them but Charles being as arrogant as he was refused to listen as a result Charles didn’t get the money. Parliament were angered greatly as they were not happy with the way Charles ruled but they were unable to do anything about it unless Charles listened to them. In 1629, Charles sent Parliament off and ruled without them for the next 11 years. This helped lead to war as Charles was angered Parliament.
The second most important reason was one of which to do with power. King Charles surrounded himself with his family, friends and good looking people¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ with money. This meant that he chose his advisors depending on what they looked like and how much money they had, not on how well they could do the job. George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham was one of the king’s advisors; he was considered good looking at the time but was not very good at his job. He made lots of bad decisions one was to go to war with France and Spain both of which we were defeated and he was finally assassinated. This decision made King Charles even more