What Were the Causes of the Civil War?

Religion- Charles and Archbishop Laud started making changes to the Church of England in 1630. They said they were trying to improve it but lots of people, particularly the puritans, thought they were trying to turn their Protestant church into a Catholic one and the fact that Charles' wife was Catholic didn't help! Archbishop Laud and King Charles started decorating the churches and thought that this would make the people feel closer to god and they made some other changes to the arrangement of the church.

The next stage to Civil War was the Scots rebelling to the new prayer book. It started in 1637 when Charles decided to go a step further and see where his boundaries were as a king. King Charles ruled both England and Scotland. Scotland was a lot more Puritan than England and unlike the English, they were strong enough to say no to the new prayer book, but King Charles was determined to set them straight and he ordered that the new prayer book was to be used in Scotland without asking the Scot's about it. The Scot's were not pleased, infact, they rebelled against it. Charles decided to raise an army against the Scots using the people of England's money. He made a tax called the "Coat and Conduct Money" to pay for the army's uniforms, training and transport. In 1639-40there was a taxpayer's strike due to the large amounts of money people had to pay and soon Charles was left with no money, the Scots rebelling and a whole country full of angry people.

The final stage towards Civil War was when the Long Parliament demanded reforms. Most of the parliament was now against Charles and he now appeared to be at their mercy. Here is a list showing the list of demands parliament set in November 1640:

* Charles' evil ministers must be punished.

* Ministers should be appointed who will advice Charles to follow sensible polices. Some of these ministers should come from parliament.

* The King must get rid of courts such as the court of the Star Chamber which allow him to lock up his opponents.

* Regular meetings of Parliament must be held.

* There can be no taxes without Parliament's agreement.

Reverse Laud's reforms of the Church of England.

Here is a list of concessions by Charles in summer 1641

* Triennial Act has been passed - Parliament must meet at least every three years.

* The Long Parliament cannot be dissolved by Charles without its agreement.

* Strafford has been tried for treason and executed.

* Other ministers (including Laud) are in prison.

* The Tunnage and Poundage Act means Charles can collect custom duties for only two months more.

* The Courts of the Star Chamber and the High Commission have been abolished.

* Ship Money has been made illegal.

* Some of Charles' critics within Parliament have been appointed as Charles' advisers.

I have now gone through the main stages towards Civil War and I think that by summer 1641, you have to agree; parliament and the king had settled their differences and were no longer enemies. Civil War now looked as far away from England as the South Pole but then why did Civil War start only twelve months later? I am now going to tell you about the little triggers and sparks that set off the big booms of the cannon.

The first trigger to set off the Civil War was the Grand Remonstrance in November 1641. The Grand Remonstrance was a new set of demands made by the House of Commons. Some of the Parliaments demands were to give bishops less power that Charles should only employ councillors and ministers that the parliament could trust. Charles now had some support because the House of Commons was becoming divided and the vote for the Grand Remonstrance was a very close one, 159 votes to 148. Some MP's wanted the Grand Remonstrance to be printed and sold to the public but other MP's became worried, they didn't want ordinary people involved in this.

The second trigger to set off the Civil War was the Irish Rebellion in November 1641. London was first informed of the rebellion in Ireland on November 1. The Catholics had gone against their Protestant rulers. Rumours had spread right across London and people now thought that Charles was behind the rebellion, that 200,000 Protestants had been killed and that it was the first part of a plan to make England Catholic.

The third trigger to set off the Civil War was when Charles tried to arrest five MP's in January; 1642.Many people think that Charles brought on the Civil War. This was partly because MP's did not trust him. They were afraid that he would strike at any moment and get rid of parliament and rule by himself again. In January 1642, Charles proved to many MP's that this was what he was going to do and made himself many enemies. Charles went into the House of Commons with 400 soldiers demanding the arrest of five of the most important MP's. Luckily, the MP's had been warned and had fled down the Thames. They were protected by the council of London and then treated like heroes.

The fourth trigger to set off the Civil War was the religious division in February 1642. The parliament always had disagreements in religion. Some MP's wanted to get rid of bishops, some wanted to get rid of Archbishop Lauds reforms and some even wanted to get rid of the Church of England. Parliament voted to throw bishops out of the House of Lords in February 1642.Moderate MP's became worried and started thinking about supporting Charles. They believed that there would be chaos if the national church and bishops were destroyed.

The fifth trigger to set off the Civil War was arguments about the army. The Irish rebellion was getting out of control and England needed an army. Kings had always controlled the army in the past but the king was out of London and the MP's did not trust him enough to have an army which could be used against them. The Parliament wanted to control the army but Charles refused. He was also scared that they might use this army against him. In March, Parliament took charge of the army without Charles' permission.

The final trigger to set off the Civil War was when the Commons went to far. The Parliament passed a set of demands called the Nineteen Prepositions on June1, 1642. Here are some of the Nineteen Prepositions:

* All affairs of state, including foreign policy, religion and finance, must be agreed with Parliment.All ministers must be approved of by Parliament.

* Parliament must control the education of the King's children. His children cannot marry without Parliament's approval.

* Laws against Catholics must be enforced.

* The Church must be reformed as Parliament wants.

* Parliament is to control the army.

This was the trigger that divided the King's supporters from his opponents. All of Charles' supporters and himself thought that the Nineteen Prepositions were the last straw. Charles claimed that the Nineteen Prepositions would make him a mere phantom of a King and so his supporters left London. Charles and the Parliament both ordered each county to organise an army in June. People around the country were now being forced to make a decision they didn't want to make. They had to decide between their King and their Parliament. Each side had collected an army by August. Charles raised his standard at Nottingham on August 22.

The civil war had begun!

This is the end of my essay and the beginning of the Civil Ware! I think that the most important stage was the first one and the most important trigger was the last one. This is because the first impression is the only impression. If you get off on a bad start then it's all over. After that everything goes wrong and you have a bad name. Charles should not have married a Catholic, everyone thought that he was going to make England a Catholic country and he should not have got advisers like Buckingham and Strafford. They put bad ideas in his head and turned the world upside down! I think the last trigger was the worst one because the Parliament didn't know where to stop. They pushed as far as they could and stepped over the boundaries. They may be allowed to control what happens ion the country but they certainly aren't allowed to control Charles' family and whom they marry! They tipped the anger just a step forward and turned it into rage! The last person to make the trigger before the war is always given some of the blame because they are the ones that go that little bit over the boundaries. I think that Parliament was to blame for the Civil War and that Charles should have won. I hope you have enjoyed reading my essay and that you have learnt a lot from it!