Levellers:
The main threat to the Rumps security came from within England via the levellers and they had to be crushed.
What did the levellers want?
To offer all male householders who contributed to poor relief the vote, they also wanted back pay.
What was the name of the pamphlet Lilburne wrote and what was happened to him as a consequence of this?
“England’s New Chains Discovered” , Lilburne accused the army of bring back slavery to England, consequently Lilburne was brought before the army council and examined, this provoked a minor mutiny within Armys cavalry regiments.
In May 1647 what happened and why?
A larger mutiny broke out in some of the regiments.
What did Fairfax and Cromwell do in response to this?
They caught up with mutineers at Burford in Oxfordshire, they were arrested and imprisoned overnight in the Church, the next day three of the ringleaders were shot in the Chruch yard. The rest were promised back-pay and pardoned. A small leveller uprising in Oxfordshire was also surpressed and its leader William Thompson was killed in a shoot out in the woods.
In order to calm the Levellers in the army down what did the Rump do and how did they do this?
The mutinies reminded the Rump that the army had to be paid, in June Parliament gave Crown lands to individual regiments to sell so they could pay themselves with the proceeds. The sale of Dean and Chapter lands supplemented their income and taxes were raised in certain counties, which were given to certain regiments. Paying the army became part of the English constitution.
The Downfall of the Rump:
The Rump finally came to an end because of the Army.
Who still hoped for reform?
Army/Levellers
Why were the senior officers beginning to worry about the Rump?
Because they thought elections would be infair and the Rump ignored the armies calls for reform.
Law Reform
What did the army think was wrong with the law?
Laws were slow, old fashioned and seemed to favour the rich.
What did Cromwell set up in 1651?
The Hale commission on law reform, it was to consider what inconveniences there are in the law and the speediest way to reform these.
What did the Rump do?
A large group of lawyers in the Rump ensured the recommendations were not taken up although procedures in court were changed to being in English.
Why was this so important?
Because the blocking of law reform made the Rump seem self interested.
Political Reform:
What did the senior officers want?
Reform.
What happened in August 1652?
In August 1652 officers tried to dictate the day when the Rump should dissolce and hold a new election, but Cromwell persuaded them not to push the matter to a conclusion.
The Downfall of the Rump
Write down 5 reasons why the army had become upset with the Rump.
- Failure to bring reform
- The Civil war and execution of the King were to make the world safe, not make politicians powerful and rich.
- Rump did not practice relifious toleration.
- There were sects in the army such as the Fifth Monarchists p116
- The Rump did not satisfy the wide range of views within the army and they were preparing to remove Cromwell as commander in chief, treating the army with little consideration
What happened on 20th April 1653?
When the Rump were debating a bill for a new representative, Cromwell ejected them using (significantly) Harrison’s regiment to force them out of the Chamber. The army were not the masters and the public did mourn the passing of the Rump.
Oliver Cromwell and the Barebones Parliament (A3 Sheet)
Cromwell’s life (p 117-8)
- Born in 1599 in Huntingdon, minor gentleman.
- Sat in the 1628 Parliament and in the 1630’s opposed the draining of the Fens.
- During 1630’s Converted to Puritanism
- In 1642 he raised a troop of horse for Parliament and because of his new found talent for soldering, rose to be commander of the Eastern Association Cavalry.
- Genius soldier, enforcer of disciplin
- By 1643 he had come up with the revolutionary promotion by merit.
- An independent in religion, he seems to have prooted like minded men,
- By 1648 with Fairfax he has created a formidable military
- 1650’s most effective army in Europe.
- His control of the army was based on 2 foundations:
- His series of victories from marston moor to Worcester gave him unparalleled trust and status with the troops.
- The fact that the army was in many ways his creation, they enjoyed a life of status and potential promotion because of his creation.
Cromwell’s Character (p118-9)
-
Remained in some of his attitudes a typical Puritan squire and MP therefore always tried to avoid becoming a military dictator and sort to create viable civilian Parliamentary governments
These two sides of his make up help to explain some of the rather confusing twists and turns of his career:
- The ‘conservative’ country gentleman,
- The ‘revolutionary’ regicide soldier.
There are other aspects of Cromwells personality and beliefs:
- Ruthless and unpredictable eg changing from conservative to radical
- Deeply religious, he believed in religious toleration
- Performed the balancing act between the army and the civilian gentry in the 1650 because he had one foot in both camps. No one else could to this
- Loyal to army yet understood the fear and dislike of them amongst the gentry.
- Great fear on anarchy
- Did not trust many politicians for example Heselrige.
Views of Cromwell p119
In some ways Cromwell remains a mystery.
- Clarendon, a royalist saw him as a ‘Brave Bad Man’.
- Ludlow, a republican, as a schemer who perverted the Republic and took power for himself.
- The radicals, as the man who had the opportunity to bring in sweeping reforms and failed to do so.
- One of his coolest admirers, Andrew Marvell, the poet and MP, saw him almost as a force of nature and at the same time the only possible leader in an impossible time: ‘If these be the times then this must be the man.’
Historians not sure of his sincerity. Motivation, successes and failures but Marvells view probably true. However can say for sure he was not consistent in what he did.