English+Civil+War+-+Rule+of+Oliver+Cromwell

Matthew Childs- email= mattchilds@verizon.net Mike Brathwaite - 23mbrathwaite@gmail.com Adam Comeaux - patriotsrock1023@aol.com

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English Civil War ** The undisputed leader of Parliament was Oliver Cromwell. He had been born in Huntingdon, East Anglia in 1599, while Elizabeth was still queen. His family had done well out of the Dissolution of monasteries, under Henry VIII, but Cromwell was not wealthy. He first appeared in Parliament in 1627, but his early political career was unremarkable. He grew in influence when he sided with Henry Pym and became identified with those who opposed the king. He was a plain-looking, plain-living man with an obstinate will and a genuine talent for command and battle. He came into his own through the army. He believed utterly that he was called by God to save England and protestantism. []
 * Oliver Cromwell **

** English Civil War **** Rumblings ** The Levellers were not appeased by the execution of Charles. Their program was aimed at levelling the edifice of authority, and they saw only that the titles had changed. "We were before ruled by King, Lords and Commons, now by a General, a Court Martial and House of Commons. And we pray you what is the difference?" The radical wing of the movement was getting even more radical -- Fifth Monarchists and Diggers. These fomented more revolts and Cromwell ordered more executions. He acted so decisively that he pretty well broke the Levellers. [|http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/english/16.shtm]

August 1649-February 1650 Cromwell was in Ireland, battling the rebels there. He returned in 1650 to fight off yet another Scottish invasion, this one was led by Charles' son. Cromwell defeated this invasion decisively at Dunbar and took Edinburgh in December. In August 1651 the Scots tried it again. Charles II led them again and Cromwell defeated them again, this time near Worcester on September 3. Charles fled to France. In 1652 war broke out with Holland. Cromwell won this one the following year. In the course of this war, the British navy was further expanded and developed. []
 * English Civil War**
 * Foreign Affairs**

** English Civil War ** During these years, Cromwell found Parliament to be a contrary and difficult body, and he was as unhappy as Charles had been with it. But he also found himself every bit as dependent on it as Charles had been, for he too needed money for the wars. He had already asked Parliament to disband and it had refused. In April 1653, Parliament proposed to expand its membership and to sit permanently. Cromwell entered the House during the debate. He listened for a while, then rose to his feet and shouted: "Come, come! I will put an end to your prating. You are no Parliament. I say you are no Parliament. I will put an end to your sitting." Before the stunned MPs could recover, Cromwell had called his troops into the House and cleared it. Oliver Cromwell had seized power. [] = = Cromwell tried once more, calling a new Parliament, known as the Parliament of Saints, or the Bare-bones Parliament. It was the most radical yet, though, and he dissolved it after six months of squabbling. Cromwell had adopted the title of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. By April 1653 had moved into Whitehall, the former royal residence, with his family. He was effectively the dictator of England. []
 * Parliament and Cromwell **
 * English Civil War**
 * Parliament of the Saints**

Three parliaments were convened during the Protectorate and Cromwell had trouble with all three. In March 1657, moderates offered Cromwell the crown, but he refused it. He did, however, accept the right to name his successor. He named his son. Cromwell's rule as Lord Protector was plagued with war. There were Royalist revolts, an especially serious one occurring in 1655. There was war with Spain in 1656, in addition to the earlier conflicts with Ireland, Scotland and Holland. The many wars left the treasury empty, making it difficult to accomplish much else. Still, Cromwell did manage to hold at bay England's many enemies. he acquired Dunkirk and Jamaica as a result of his wars. The British Navy under Cromwell became a regular military service. And, of course, Puritans at last found a place in English government. Cromwell died 3 September 1658. His son succeeded him, but Richard Cromwell was not a strong ruler, and almost immediately the royalists began to work for a restoration of the Stuarts. []
 * English Civil War**
 * The Protectorate**

Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599 in Huntingdon, England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. His family's original name was Williams, but they changed it to Cromwell to honor the man that made them wealthy, Thomas Cromwell, a statesman that served King Henry VIII. Thomas Cromwell was involved with the dissolution of the monastaries. He grew up to be a humble man wearing plain cloths and not wanting much. He was a talented leader in terms of battle and thought that it was his duty to save Protestantism and England. []
 * Early Years/Background of Oliver Cromwell**

**Parliamentary General** The son of a gentry family, he entered Cambridge in 1616 but probably left the next year. Cromwell entered Parliament in 1628, standing firmly with the opposition to Charles I, and was active in the Short and Long Parliaments (1640), although not a conspicuous leader. During the first civil war (see English civil war) he rose rapidly to leadership because of his military ability and his genius for organizing and inspiring the parliamentary armies. His own regiment, the Ironsides, distinguished itself at Marston Moor (1644) and in numerous minor engagements.

In 1644 he pressed for a thorough reorganization of the parliamentary forces and was appointed (1645) second in command to Sir Thomas Fairfax (later Baron Fairfax of Cameron) in the resulting New Model Army, which defeated the king at Naseby in 1645. In the quarrel between the army and Parliament following the first civil war, Cromwell supported the sectarians in the army and approved the seizure (1647) of Charles from Parliament. However, he favored a moderate settlement with the king (as opposed to the radical proposals of the Levelers) until Charles's flight to Carisbrooke (1647) and secret dealings with the Scots caused him to lose all hope of further negotiations with the king.

In the second civil war he repelled the Scottish royalist invasion at Preston (1648). His political power was enhanced by the removal of Presbyterian leaders from Parliament in Pride's Purge (see under Pride, Thomas), and at the king's trial (1649) his was the leading voice demanding execution. - http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/CromwellO

The first Earl of Clarendon remarked of his sworn enemy ** Oliver Cromwell ** that 'his greatness at home was but a shadow of the glory he had abroad'. In fact ** Cromwell ** was more consistently successful in pursuing his trade-driven foreign policies than he ever was in imposing domestic ones. He terminated the Anglo-Dutch war of 1652, guaranteeing England's commercial access to the Baltic Sea. Trade with Portugal was likewise secured by means of a treaty in 1654. ** Cromwell's ** sympathy for the Protestant cause led him to enter into negotiations with Mazarin's France, as a consequence of which Protestants in Savoy were protected from further persecution. England's enmity with Spain led to various spectacular captures of Spanish treasure fleets. However, it was the capture of Jamaica in 1655 that ultimately dented Spain's hegemony overseas and set England on the course of empire.
 * Oliver Cromwell's foreign policy**

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 * Time line**

The Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions - Jack A. Goldstone, Editor (still needs to be formated in APA)