The opinions expressed in The Lawrentian are those of the students, faculty and community members who wrote them. The Lawrentian does not endorse any opinions piece except for the staff editorial, which represents a majority of the editorial board. The Lawrentian welcomes everyone to submit their own opinions. For the full editorial policy and parameters for submitting articles, please refer to the about section.
“And do Englishmen so soon forget the Ground where Liberty was fought for? Tell your Neighbours and your Children that this is holy Ground (Worcester), much holier than that on which your Churches stand. All England should come in Pilgrimage to this Hill (Edgehill), once a Year.” John Adams quoted his own indignant words during a post-Revolution trip to England, after realizing the inhabitants of the town of Worcester were ignorant of the historic significance of the ground they stood on.
Worcester was the last major battle in a series of British civil wars from 1639 to 1653, which would see the abolishment of the monarchy and a republic established in England for a short time before it was retaken by the monarchists. While the political consequences overall did not see a total radical change in England, the principles that were advocated for and upheld would be influential for future political events, most notably the American Revolution more than a century later. Ideas and beliefs such as the freedom of worship, the regulation of overreaching authority and a republican government would surface during this period and would further influence English and eventually American thinkers, such as the aforementioned John Adams.
The war itself is a highly convoluted series of events, with multiple armed conflicts, religious disagreements, power squabbles, the rise and fall of radical principles, such as egalitarianism and the aforementioned short-term reign of a republican England. The many causes for the English Civil Wars varied widely, but the key causes and principles that would initiate armed conflict among the English, Scottish and Irish people for over a decade would be the increasing political encroachment of King Charles I’s “personal rule,” an 11-year period in his 24-year-long reign. This saw the transfer of greater authority from Parliament to Charles himself under the feudal-era practice of Divine Right. Parliament, of course, hated this deprivation of power, but the three kingdoms would tolerate the Catholic-married Charles (in Protestant England and Scotland, this was viewed with suspicion) until Charles tried something which truly was considered unforgivable: attempting to impose a universal Church of England on the Scots. This, of course, did not sit well with the Presbyterian Scots, who promptly rioted, starting the Bishops’ Wars.
This short conflict saw the English defeated in both attempts to subdue Scotland and enforce the Church of England, in the first by lack of funds and support, and in the second due the Scots being led by more experienced commanders. These events would eventually lead to the start of the English Civil Wars, with Charles growing increasingly uncompromising in his attempts to maintain personal rule over England and to carry out his plan to unite Britain under one religion. Charles would eventually be beheaded after being defeated in the second English Civil War in 1648, after, ironically, refusing any agreement by Parliamentary-aligned forces to remain on the throne but with limited powers.
The new commonwealth founded post-Charles, however, would not see many improvements to what Charles had brought; in fact, there were various similar laws or actions done by Charles’ replacements which were considered just as overreaching or unjust; notably a “decimation tax” on former Charles-aligned royalists, even those who refused to take up arms again during the Second Civil War. Further political turmoil would eventually see the establishment of a highly authoritarian and near-tyrannical “Rump (Remnant) Parliament,” which attempted to establish total authority over England, Scotland and Ireland. All this drove several anti-monarchist generals to consider bringing Charles’ son, Charles II, back from exile to England to establish a more stable government. The Third English Civil War would see the overthrow of the Rump Parliament and the invitation of Charles II back to England, where he would be welcomed warmly.
In all the events listed above, it should be noted that whenever there was a very gross overstep of authority combined with a lack of compromise, it drove people to revolt. Charles I’s refusal to compromise with those he wanted to impose personal rule over drove the Scots to riot (and started a chain of events that would begin the English Civil Wars), the parliamentary Major Generals that succeeded Charles put punitive measures on former royalists, garnering much resentment and outrage against the new government, and the Rump Parliament’s attempts to take total control of England reversed what goodwill the average English citizen had to the revolutionary government (the Puritan parliamentarians’ several attempts to ban Christmas also contributed to this). This spirit of regulated authority is reflected in the spirit of the American Revolution, which, while its principles weren’t certainly followed to its fullest and it saw many social impasses remain for decades and even centuries, such as the continuation of slavery in agricultural states and the lack of voting rights for marginalized groups, laid the foundation for future democratic societies in general: a government that did not seek to dictate every aspect of its citizens’ lives.
John Adams’ quote reflects this principle perfectly, as he attributes the spirit of why the colonists revolted to similar reasons for why Charles I was deposed: he had overstepped his boundaries and exerted unnaturally overreaching amounts of power over the little freedoms people held dear, and that was an inviolable right which could not, and should not, ever be trampled upon, and like the post-Civil War government in England, the government should be checked to ensure it would not exert excessive authority.
The English Civil Wars are highly overlooked in regards to the various revolts and revolutions that are being examined in the modern world, mostly with an emphasis on those that created a permanent societal change or impact, such as the French or Haitian Revolutions, which saw the overthrow of entire systems and the establishment of new societies that valued Enlightenment values, such as equal rights of men, voting and judgment by the law. However, the English Civil Wars should not be ignored, despite the end result of a return to monarchy after the new government’s disposal: they laid the principles for future societies and governments — that absolute overbearing authority is a violation of the citizenry.
This idea is still what runs many countries, the United States included, and is why the English Civil Wars should be studied and even commemorated more, for they were truly a first revolution for the modern world.