Political divisions and experiments: republicanism and the Rump; millenarianism and the Nominated Assembly Flashcards
What does the Rump Parliament refer to?
MPs who remained after Pride’s Purge on 6 December 1648
- it as viewed as illegitimate by many as it was unrepresentative, as it only existed as the result of a military coup
How were the low levels of support for the new regime?
- Within weeks of the execution the government faced threats from Royalists abroad and Levellers at home
- Although the army in these years did not interfere directly in politics (Cromwell was away fighter for most of 1649-51), the new regime could not survive without military support
What did military support make harder for the government?
Made it harder for the government to gain the confidence and support of the traditional ruling class, whose participation in local government and social leadership made them essential allies
What made it difficult for the army win support?
- The army was expensive to maintain and radical in its politics - a toxic combination when it came to winning popular support
- The initial impetus to reform was soon blunted; most members were shocked to discover how thoroughly unpopular their regime was - and this weakened their morale
How did the Rump try to broaden appeal?
- By reaching out to former MPs who had been purged (numbers increased from about 70 to 150 by March 1649)
- By covering up the regime’s revolutionary origins
- By being slow to innovate especially in relation to religion
- By being relatively conservative
- By delegating as little power as possible
- By keeping the Army out of politics
Did the Rump try to become conservative?
- Yes, don’t want an overhaul of the social order
- healing and settling -> not want LoC, prefer uniformity
- made up of gentry, landowning aristocracy
What did the Rump imposed in 1650?
By Rump imposed on all men over 18 the Oath of Engagement to be faithful to the Commonwealth, but this was no guarantee of their loyalty
Why were the Rumpers so inactive?
They could not reduce the weight of taxation or disband the army for the young king Charles was planning to use Ireland as a springboard for invasion and the reconquest of that country was clearly an urgent priority
When was Charles II proclaimed King?
On 5 February 1649 in Scotland
What did the Rump declare in march 1649?
That it would dissolve and make way for a newly elected parliament ‘so soon as may possibly stand with the safety of the people’
- This though proved an empty promise
- Any new election was very likely to return a parliament hostile to the very continuance of the Commonwealth
What did the Army put pressure on the Rump to do in May 1649?
To make way for a ‘new representative’
- it responded with an alternative proposal to hold regulated top-up elections while the active Rumpers would continue to sit indefinitely
- Cromwell’s opposition persuaded the Rump to shelve this plan
What were the Rumpers anxious of doing?
To conciliate the men of substance throughout the country, so it smothered proposals for reform that would offend the conservative prejudices or cost the taxpayer money
What were the threats from the left to the Rump?
The Levellers briefly revived in 1649 asking for a more representative and accountable parliament to meet every 2 yrs, a reform of law, and religious toleration
What threats from the right did the Rump face?
- 5 Feb 1649: The Covenanter Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II King of the three kingdoms in Edinburgh
- Military threats from royalists, prepared to engage in a Third Civil War (May 1650 - September 1651)
When did Cromwell have to engage in military conflict with Royalist armies?
Between 1649 and 1651 - in Scotland, Ireland and in England
What comprised the Rump regime?
Parliament and the Army
- The Rump = conservative, the Army = radical
- basic contradiction meant the regime would find it difficult to succeed and even survive
What kind of period was 1649 in England?
A time of great social unrest
- many people became active in politics, suggesting alternative forms of government, ways of living and belief systems to replace old ones
How did the Diggers emerge?
In Late 1648: Gerrard Winstanley and 14 others published a pamphlet in which they called themselves the ‘True Levellers’
Who were the Diggers?
- Another response to the political, economic and social effects of the Civil Wars
- established a commune outside London and saw communes as a solution to social inequalities
What were the beliefs of the Diggers?
- They wanted to see the abolition of private property rights in favour of the communal ownership of land (agrarian communism)
- Believed in true social and political equality - society without money and wages
- regarding the earth as a ‘common treasury,’ the Diggers took direct action to put their ideals into practice
- elected individuals annually
What communities were established by the Diggers?
Communities were established in parts of southern + central England to cultivate waste and common land
-> hoping to begin process of restoring the land to its rightful owners, the common people, rather than the king, nobility and gentry who usurped it
-> once they put their ideas into practice, started to cultivate common land
What influence did the Diggers have?
- Less than the Levellers; relatively small number of followers
- Their commune lasted only a year before being destroyed by troops
How did Cromwell view the Diggers?
‘What is the purpose of the levelling principle… you must cut these people in pieces or they will cut you in pieces’
-> Oliver Cromwell (1649)
Where did the Diggers set up a colony?
At St George’s Hill, Weybridge, Surrey in April 1649, enraging local property-owners - used arson, violence and the courts to destroy the movement
