Ancient history

Puritan Revolution

Puritan Revolution

The Puritan revolution took place in England in the 17th century during the Civil War (1640-1648) where the king and parliament clashed. The conflict began when the parliament imposed on King Charles I the rights petition where it said that problems with taxes, arrests, trials and army summons would only be possible with the authorization of parliament. The king accepted the imposition, but did not comply with it. After a meeting where the parliament criticized the king's attitudes, the king dissolved the parliament and ruled without him for eleven years. The king's attitudes began to form revolts who began their protests in Scotland when the king imposed Anglicanism on Presbyterians and Puritans.

The financial crisis due to non-payment of taxes in 1640, made the king convene parliament again, but a month later it was dissolved again for not accepting to increase taxes as was the king's will. In 1641, parliament split between radical leaders and the aristocracy along with the bourgeois capitalists.

In 1642, the king tried to regain his power against parliamentary measures and this led to the Civil War in 1642.
The parliament that had the Presbyterians and the Puritans as allies defeated King Charles I, who had the Anglicans and Catholics allied with him. Parliament managed to defeat the king with Oliver Cromwell's army.

Cromwell was given command of the army and made it more efficient. The official posts then became deserving and the people thus participated in the revolution. The bourgeoisie began to fear the king when they saw that the people influenced the events that had taken place. Cromwell's army was influenced by democratic ideas that favored urban and rural proletarians who had no land.

In 1649, they were decimated by Cromwell's army when they took over land and began digging it up to show they belonged to him. Other movements emerged, but all were suppressed by Cromwell who, very disciplined, became a powerful political force. Cromwell then occupied cities, aided in the escape of Parliamentarians, and took control of the situation by having the king beheaded. The civil war ended in 1649 with the establishment of the Republic.

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