Oliver Cromwell

Term Paper # 100444

History > Leaders

Oliver Cromwell

An analysis of Oliver Cromwell's vision of the English Republic.

2,172 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper critically explores and analyzes the origins, defining features, and practical implications of Oliver Cromwell's vision of the English Republic. The thesis is argued that Cromwell's vision was defined not so much by ideology, belief or philosophy as by a conviction that compromise and moderation were central to the government of England during the particularly divisive seventeenth century. The paper contends that, only through an understanding of Oliver Cromwell's vision of moderation as key to the resolution of civil strife, can we be begin to understand his achievement in navigating the ship of state during this highly disruptive period.

Outline:
Introduction
A House Divided
The Divisive Seventeenth Century
Squaring the Circle: Resolving Cromwell's Contradictory Vision

From the Paper:

" Critics argue that it was Cromwell's youth growing up within an England in which the commercial classes and local squires were growing in power that contributed to his vision of an English Republic: "To all this new idea of government by squires and merchants Cromwell was born; in all this he grew up; all this was native to him when he appeared, almost thirty, in the first of the new rebellious Parliaments" (Belloc 13). Indeed, Cromwell's behaviour during the Long Parliament gives us critical insights into how at this early stage in his political career - long before he rose to near absolute power - Oliver Cromwell perceived the English Republic."

Sample of Sources Used:

Belloc, Hilare. Oliver Cromwell. London: Ernest Benn, 1927.
Gaunt, Peter. Oliver Cromwell. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.
Hill, Christopher. God's Englishman: Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970.
Paul, Robert. The Lord Protector: Religion and Politics in the Life of Oliver Cromwell. London: Lutterworth, 1955.
Smith, David. "Politics and Parliamentary Rule in Cromwellian Britain." The Historical Journal. 48.2 (2005): 545-554.