History

T

he Engl i sh Ci v i l War of 1642 to 1651 was the p r oduct of a l ong l i ne of bad deci si on -m ak i ng

cou r se, anger ed the coun t r y, wh i ch at the t im e was ver y Pr otestan t . To f u r ther anger the peop l e, Char l es l et H en r i et ta p r i vatel y p r act i ce Catho l i ci sm . I t cou l d ther ef or e be sai d that h i s r ei gn got of f to a bad star t , and u l t im atel y, th i s m ar i tal deci si on wou l d be one of m any to l ead to the Engl i sh Ci v i l War , al ongsi de bei ng the t r i gger f or other poor deci si on s f u r ther down the l i ne (wh i ch I w i l l exp l or e l ater ). Second l y, Char l es deci ded i n 1628 to r u l e w i thou t Par l i am en t . D u r i ng th i s t im e, Char l es?s r el i gi ous and econom i c po l i ci es wer e unpopu l ar , w i th som e h i stor i an s cl aim i ng that th i s br ough t the Ci v i l War cl oser . W i thou t Par l i am en t f or f und i ng, Char l es had to som ehow get m oney, and thus i n f am ousl y i n t r oduced r ef orm s to the Sh i p Tax . T hese r ef orm s to the tax m ean t that , r ather than r esi den t s near the coast on l y hav i ng to pay the tax du r i ng t im es of naval need , the who l e coun t r y had to pay the tax year - r ound , whether the navy was i n need of f und i ng

and aw f u l cho i ces m ade by K i ng Char l es I . I n th i s essay, I w i l l be exp l ai n i ng the r eason s why I th i n k that Char l es I was r espon si b l e f or the Engl i sh Ci v i l War . I bel i eve that the Ci v i l War was the p r oduct not of one even t , bu t r ather of m any. I bel i eve that the K i ng was r espon si b l e f or the Ci v i l War because he m ar r i ed a Fr en ch Catho l i c, he co l l ected m oney w i thou t the perm i ssi on of Par l i am en t , he deci ded to tem por ar i l y r un the coun t r y w i thou t Par l i am en t , he ?Catho l i ci sed? the Chu r ch of Engl and , and he r ef used the N i neteen Pr oposi t i on s when he f i nal l y r eopened Par l i am en t (f or a r ecor d t im e of on l y th r ee weeks). M y f i r st po i n t i s to do w i th Char l es?s per sonal deci si on r egar d i ng h i s m ar r i age ear l y on i n h i s r ei gn . I n 1625, Char l es deci ded to m ar r y a Fr en ch Catho l i c, H en r i et ta M ar i a (who thus becam e the Q ueen Con sor t ). T h i s, of

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