Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth was the republican government which ruled first England and then the whole of Britain, Ireland, the colonies and other Crown possessions during the periods from 1649 (the monarch Charles I being beheaded on January 30 and "" being passed by the Rump Parliament on 19 May that year) to 1653 and from 1659 to 1660. (The Rump Parliament was what was left over after the purge by Colonel Pride (Pride's Purge), which expelled all the supporters of Charles I). The term is also loosely used to describe the system of government during the whole of 1649 - 1660, the years of the Interregnum, although during 1653 - 1659, the government is properly called The Protectorate and took the form of direct personal rule by Oliver Cromwell, and after his death, of his son Richard, as Lord Protector.

Political experiments of the Commonwealth

The Rump Parliament 1649-53

• The Rump was the purged remnant of the original Long Parliament. As such it was a link with the old constitution.
• With the abolition of the monarchy, Privy Council and the House of Lords, it had unchecked executive, as well as legislative, power.
• The Council of State, which replaced the Privy Council, took over many of the executive functions of the monarchy. It was selected by the Rump, and most of its members were MPs.
• Ultimately however, the Rump depended on the support of the Army with which it had a very uneasy relationship.

Structure of the Rump

• In Pride's Purge, all MPs (including most of the political Presbyterians) who would not accept the need to bring the King to trial had been removed.
• The Rump never had more than 200 members (less than half the number in the original Long Parliament). They included:
• supporters of religious independents who did not want an established church and some of whom had sympathies with the Levellers;
• Presbyterians who were willing to countenance the trial and execution of the King;
• later admissions, such as formerly excluded MPs who were prepared to denounce the Newport Treaty negotiations with the King.
• Most Rumpers were gentry, though there was a higher proportion of lesser gentry and lawyers than in previous parliaments. Less than one-quarter of them were regicides.
• The Rump was basically a conservative body with vested interests in the existing land ownership and legal systems, so they were unlikely to want to reform these.

Rump issues

• Most of England's traditional ruling classes regarded the Rump as an illegal government made up of regicides and upstarts. However, they were also aware that the Rump might be all that stood in the way of an outright military dictatorship.
• There were many disagreements amongst factions of the Rump. Some wanted a republic, but others favoured retaining some type of monarchical government.
• For the first two years of the Commonwealth, the Rump faced economic depression and the risk of invasion from Scotland and Ireland. (By 1653 Cromwell and the Army had largely eliminated these threats.)
• High taxes, mainly to pay the Army, were resented by the gentry.
• Limited reforms (see below) were enough to antagonise the ruling class but not enough to satisfy the radicals.

Rump reforms

• Religion: though the national church (now Presbyterian) was retained, the 1559 Act of Uniformity was repealed in 1650. Many independent churches were therefore tolerated, although everyone still had to pay tithes to the established church. (This wide toleration came about mainly because of the insistence of the Army.)
• Law: some small improvements were made to law and court procedure, for example all court proceedings were now conducted in English rather than in Law French or Latin. However, there were no widespread reforms of the Common Law. This would have upset the gentry, who regarded the Common Law as reinforcing their status and property rights.)
• Morals: the Rump passed many restrictive 'moral' laws to regulate people's behaviour, such as closing down theatres and requiring strict observance of Sundays. This antagonised most of the gentry.

The dissolution of the Rump

• Cromwell forcibly dissolved the Rump in April 1653. It is unclear whether he did this because:
• he feared the Rump was trying to perpetuate itself as the government, or
• because the Rump was preparing for an election which might well return an anti-Commonwealth majority.
• Many former members of the Rump continued to regard themselves as England's only legitimate constitutional authority. It had not agreed to its own dissolution when it was dismissed by Cromwell.

Achievements of the Rump

Despite its unpopularity, the Rump:

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• was the last link with the old constitution;
• helped to settle England down after the biggest upheaval in its history;
• made England secure. By 1653 Scotland and Ireland were no longer threats, and both France and Spain had recognised England's new government.

The 'Barebones' Parliament, July-December 1653

• The dissolution of the Rump was followed by a short period in which Cromwell and the Army ruled alone.
• Nobody had the constitutional authority to call an election, but Cromwell did not want to impose a military dictatorship.
• Instead, he ruled through a 'nominated assembly' which he believed would be easy for the Army to control, since Army officers did the nominating.

Membership

• The Barebones Parliament was opposed by former Rumpers and ridiculed by many gentry as being as assembly of 'inferior' people. However, over 110 of its 140 members were lesser gentry or of higher social status. (An exception was Praise-God Barbon, a Baptist merchant after whom the Assembly got its derogatory nickname.) Many were well educated.
• The assembly reflected the range of views of the officers who nominated it.
• Radicals (approximately 40). Included a hard core of Fifth Monarchists who wanted to be rid of Common Law and any state control of religion.
• Moderates (approximately 60). Wanted some improvements within the existing system and might move to either the radical or conservative side depending on the issue.
• Conservatives (approximately 40). Wanted to keep the status quo. Common Law protected the interests of the gentry, and tithes and advowsons were valuable property.

Problems

• Cromwell saw the Barebones Parliament as a temporary legislative body which he hoped would produce reforms and develop a constitution for the Commonwealth. However,
• members were divided over key issues;
• only 25 members had had previous parliamentary experience;
• although many had some legal training, there were no qualified lawyers.
• Cromwell seems to have expected this group of 'amateurs' to produce reform without management or direction. When the radicals mustered enough support to defeat a bill which would have preserved the status quo in religion, the conservatives, together with many moderates, surrendered their authority back to Cromwell who sent soldiers to clear the rest of the Assembly. The Barebones Parliament was over.

After this, Cromwell established The Protectorate, making himself a king-like figure. The Commonwealth was finished.

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