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Why Did The Civil War Break Out In 1642

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Lack of Money One of the reasons why the civil war broke out in England in 1642 was because of Charles ' lack of money. To discover the source of this, we have to go back to the beginning of James ' reign. James was the first King to reign over both England and Scotland, and when he came down from Scotland it is said that he was astonished at how rich England was, while James had needed to borrow money for his travelling expenses. When James died in 1625, Charles came to the throne, and he, like his father, had very little money. Once Charles became King, the County Faction1 wanted him to go to war with the Catholics in Spain, so Charles asked them for taxes to use on the war. They refused to pay enough, so the war was hopeless, …show more content…

Parliament agreed that the Prayer Book was too Catholic, so Charles dissolved them again, but after he ran out of money to pay the Scots (see the Money section above) he was forced to call Parliament again. Parliament first put Laud on trial, and found him guilty. Later they decided to execute Strafford on charges of organising an army in Ireland, where he governed. It turned out that this was a big mistake. As soon as Strafford was executed, the Irish Catholics rebelled against the Protestants, saying they were rebelling for the King. Although it was clear this was not true, Parliament did not trust the King when he asked them for an army, and so refused, believing he would use it to crush them instead. Foreign Affairs Another factor in the outbreak of civil war was foreign affairs. On the continent, the 30 Years War was going on, where Catholic rulers attempted to wipe out the Protestants in their countries. This fuelled people 's fears that something similar might happen in England. Other foreign causes of the war were from Ireland and Scotland, and are detailed above. Charles ' Personality Although it may seem unimportant, Charles ' personality was a major factor in the events leading to civil war. To start with, Charles hadn 't expected to be King at all - his elder brother, Henry, had been expected to take

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