preview

Civil War Dbq

Decent Essays
Open Document

The trend of challenge to Royal policies and authority in Early Stuart England (1603-49) was significant because it resulted in the Civil War and the overthrow of monarchical government.
This trend was influenced by political, social and economic forces. The political forces were mainly over the debate between absolutism and constitutionalism. Social forces involved a conflict within the Church of England between Arminianism/Laudianism and Puritanism. Underlying the political and social forces were economic forces which have been subject to considerable debate among historians.
The traditional interpretation of why the Civil War eventuated in England in 1642 is that there was a growing challenge by Parliament, especially the House of Commons …show more content…

The Commons stated its intention to be more outspoken in future. James I reminded them of ‘the Divine Right of Kings’ to govern. An axiom of English constitutionalism was the supremacy of law, whereas James had come from Scotland where arbitrary jurisdictions were the rule. James pronounced that parliament had no right at all except by the divinely ordained grace of the monarch. The Commons replied if he thought that was the case in England, then he had been “misinformed”. Obviously there was a tension building. This came to a head in 1610 with Salisbury’s attempt to deal with Royal debt by a comprehensive change to modernise the whole system of tax collection (known as the “Great Contract”) which was fiercely opposed by Parliament. Those in Parliament feared proposed property taxes which if accurately assessed would be harder to avoid or pass on to the lower classes. They were determined to oppose any Royal policy that would affect their situation and the whole proposal was defeated. The next “Addled” parliament of 1614 was so troubled that no laws at all were passed, nor did it vote any taxes. There was a tidal wave of criticism of Royal policies. James I confided to the Spanish Ambassador that the Commons was ‘a body without a

Get Access