On Oliver’s command he massacred men, women and even children. He drowned them at Wexford. In total he massacred 3,500 Irish people. In the process he also broke the other rule of ‘never kill women and children’!
‘Take only enough food for your army’, this was another rule Oliver Cromwell did indeed break. He burnt and destroyed crops and houses, took a lot of their food and transported 12,000 Irish to the West Indies. As a result of this and starvation, half of the population died.
Catholic services were forbidden and priests were executed. Cromwell would not have any Catholic religion at all. He executed ‘God’s messengers’ as some call them, this shows that Cromwell despises Catholics and wants rid of them.
So far I have only told you about the bad aspects of Oliver Cromwell. Yes, there is a good side to him, believe it or not!
There were not any wars under Oliver Cromwell’s command. He became allies with France. This then resulted in the English not having to go into battle.
The poor. Oliver Cromwell was good to the poor; he gave them money and treated them better than they were before. He also recruited the poor and common people for his soldiers which would not have happened otherwise. He raised the taxes from the rich and gave the money to the poor.
Cromwell tolerated Jews. Normally Jews were thrown out of the country, but Oliver let them be. Jews were never tolerated until the first time in 1290 by Oliver Cromwell.
Cromwell was a Puritan, and saw himself as a protector over them. He banned a lot of things like; gambling, drinking and even Christmas. However, he did not force them to become a Puritan. Although the people lived the life of a Puritan, this shows that Oliver Cromwell still had respect for different religions and beliefs.
The King. Cromwell hunted down and killed Charles I for not listening to the people. This shows that Cromwell cares for the people. In England, Cromwell did not do anything like he did in Ireland. He didn’t massacre anyone or demolish their homes; he was good to the English.
So, was Oliver Cromwell a hero or a villain? I hope you have your ideas after reading my essay. In Ireland Cromwell was a villain; he does have his reasons though. Parliament still didn’t feel safe after the King was dead. This was because most Irish were Catholics who opposed Parliament. What Cromwell did to the Irish was for a good reason. If he didn’t do what he did to the Irish they would have soon fought back and possibly would have done what Cromwell did to them. There was always that possibility, so, Oliver Cromwell in my point of view was a hero.