What caused the first civil war Flashcards
What were the 4 overall main causes for the outbreak of the first civil war
- Parliament’s actions
- Religion
- Charles’ untrustworthy behaviour
- Attempted arrest of the five members
Give the 3 examples of Parliaments setting the scene for the first civil war
- The grand Remonstrance
- The Militia Ordinance
- The Nineteen Propositions
How did the grand remonstrance contribute to the outbreak of the first civil war
- List of grievances presented to Charles in December
1641 - It was passed onto the house of commons during the
long parliament - It was instigated to John Pym who needed to make a
strong case against Charles, this led him to draw up a
detailed critique of Charles to prove how unfit he was - long and bitter debate on the Grand Remonstrance i n
parliament
How did Militia Ordinance contribute to the outbreak of the first civil war
- After attempted arrest of 5 members, parliament was
bombarded with petitions - Some were accompanied by thousands of supporters
calling for military action to restore order - In March 1642, the Militia ordinance was issued without
taking the Kings consent meaning parliament was
taking away the Kings rights to control the army - Outraged the Charles
-This was the first time that Parliament had ever put a law
into effect without royal assent. Such an unprecedented
assertion of Parliamentary sovereignty made war far
more likely.
How did the Nineteen propositions contribute to the outbreak of the first civil war
- The commons drew up the nineteen to Charles, June
1642 - It demanded that the two houses should approve all
privy councillors, five members be pardoned etc. - The Kings answer declared parliament’s proposals
threatened the ancient constitution of the Kingdom - if he agreed he would be effectively removing himself
of all of his future in power
How did religion contribute to the outbreak of the first civil war
- Charles was increasingly being seen as a Catholic
sympathiser - With the recent events in Scotland, showing the extent
to which Charles was determined to impose the
Arminian style of worship, discontent was growing - Sympathising with the Catholics was a dangerous and
unpopular opinion to hold
How did the attempted arrest of the five members contribute to the outbreak of the first civil war
- Charles moved for impeachment of Johm Pym and his
four followers for which he saw as a threat to the
Monarchy - January 1642, the King entered the parliament on the
4th January 1642 with 400 armed men - The outcome was a heightened atmosphere of
suspicion and fear - The commons had refused to surrender the five
members, an act of defiance - It was a last straw for much of parliamentary opposition,
you could argue it was the greatest reason for the
outbreak of the civil war. It united the Lords and
Commons against him. - If Charles was prepared to use violence as a a means
of keeping power, why couldn’t parliament ?
Short parliament 1640
-King needed money to restore Scotland
-However Parliament wanted to talk about the issues that had created so much division over the last 11 years
-John Pym at the forefront of this
-Commons were not prepared to discuss money without talking about ship money first
- Charles dissolved parliament in frustration
-Lost all opportunity to show parliament that he wanted
relations improved
Long Parliament November 1640
August 1640 Scots invade Northumberland
Charles calls parliament
For the first time things are in the favour parliament
Charles cannot dissolve parliament at will, his only option is parliament
