Individuals and Societies Oliver Cromwell Argumentive Essay | Surya Niharsh

Karthikeyan




Oliver Cromwell was an English military leader, political leader and later turned the Lord
Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. The question today
that I am going to address everyone who are reading this essay is, was Oliver Cromwell
a hero or a villain? The quote above from Thomas Caryle is what he and other historians
in the nineteenth century thought of Oliver Cromwell. He introduced many changes
which affected the people in both positive and negative way. One of them was a
social change and one example was women got more rights than they used to. If we
take a look at the other side, there are many historians who say Oliver Cromwell was a
bad leader and had a negative impact on England. For example he attacked Ireland
because of a rumor he had heard. There are other reasons also and because of them,
he turned unpopular in his later life.
Let us consider both sides of Oliver Cromwell whether he was a malevolent ruler or
benevolent ruler. The essay will go like how it is stated in the list below:
For
Against
For:
To start off, Oliver Cromwell was a Puritan meaning he was a strong Protestant. He was
also an orthodox. One of the main reasons why Oliver Cromwell was a hero was
because he fought against King Charles I with the Parliament. The Parliament
represented the people and so it means that he was fighting on the good side. To fight
against King Charles I, he created the New Model Army. He was also one of the
signatories for King Charles I death warrant.
Under the rule of Oliver Cromwell, there were lot of changes in the society. Some of
them were religious changes and social changes. One example is that Oliver Cromwell
is strictly religious so when he became Lord Protector, the people of England and Wales
were not persecuted anymore for their religion. He also made sure that England
became more tolerant for the Jews than they were before. Oliver Cromwell made that
if someone swears, they would have to pay a fine. This might sound pretty stupid for
some people but it is actually good in a way because swearing is bad.
I confess I have an interest in this Mr Cromwell;
and indeed, if truth must be said, in him alone.
The rest are historical, dead to me; but he is
epic, still living. Hail to thee, thou strong one; hail
across the long drawn funeral-aisle and night of
time!... Thomas Caryle
Individuals and Societies Oliver Cromwell Argumentive Essay | Surya Niharsh
Karthikeyan



Oliver Cromwell made sure that the poor people got some money instead of starving.
How did he do that? He taxed the nobles more in order for this to happen. Another
thing that Oliver Cromwell did was that, he was considered a king in all but name. Even
though Oliver Cromwell tried many ways to steer people away from the idea of having
a new king, the people preferred a king to rule over them. In the end, Oliver Cromwell
got more power than any other king at that time. It was also agreed that after he died,
his son would take the responsibilities of the Lord Protector.

Against:
Like said before, modern historians consider Oliver Cromwell as an inhuman monster for
what he did to Ireland. Catholics in Ireland were harming the Protestants in ways that
one cannot imagine. For example, the Catholics started cutting of peoples hands and
legs and started beating womens brains with poles. It was Oliver Cromwells belief that
the Catholics must be punished. He had beaten the Catholic rebels in Drogheda but
they had refused to surrender to Cromwell, so he ordered his soldiers to kill them. Most
of them hid in a church but Oliver Cromwell set the church alight and many people
died. This was really bad because there might be innocent people who were scared
and didnt want to get involved in this fight.
Another bad action Oliver Cromwell took was to impose Puritanism on his people
instead of letting them have their own belief. He made sure that the people didnt
have to be part of that religion but had to practice what a typical Puritan would
practice. One example is that nobody was allowed to work or even play
football/soccer on Sundays because the people were supposed to go to church. Oliver
Cromwell and other Puritans closed down theatres because they thought that the devil
used it. They also banned dancing around May poles and on Christmas, it was
supposed to be a day of fasting (no eating allowed).
Like said before, Oliver Cromwell was king in all but name. During the years from 1649
1658, Oliver Cromwell had more power than anyone else in Britain at that time. His
enemies said that Cromwell was being greedy for power and had taken all the power
of the king yet just without the name. He also had that all MPs (Members of Parliament)
who had supported King Charles I were not allowed into the Parliament after 1648. This
is bad because MPs might have had really good ideas that would have benefited
England. Since Oliver Cromwell banned these MP, he gave their power to other
Puritans.
When Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of England and King, the power he
gained from overthrowing King Charles I changed his mindset quite dramatically which
in the end lead to his own execution after his death. He controlled the information
disseminated to the people. For example, he sent out journals that contained only
those information that he wanted them to know. Because of this, people looked up to
Individuals and Societies Oliver Cromwell Argumentive Essay | Surya Niharsh
Karthikeyan



Oliver Cromwell in a good way but didnt know what was happening behind the
scenes. In the end, history repeated itself.

On the first paragraph, I have stated that modern historians say that Oliver Cromwell
was an inhuman monster. It is true because Oliver Cromwell killed the Levellers who
wanted democracy and equality between men. He didnt stop at that point, like said
before he went to Ireland and attacked them because of how the Catholics were
torturing the Protestants. Exactly a year after that Oliver Cromwell went to crush the
Scots. In the year of 1655, Cromwell changed England under military rule which made
him very unpopular.
In conclusion, Oliver Cromwell was good to the poor but then turned bad in his life.
When he died, people dug up his grave and hanged his dead body as a revenge. His
son Richard was named as Oliver Cromwells successor and was Lord Protector of
England from September 1658 until May 1659. Richard didnt reach Cromwells height
and was forced to leave. He returned to England in 1680 and lived quietly under
another name until 1712 when he died.
My opinion of Oliver Cromwell is a villain more than hero because he started as a good
person where he fought with the parliament against King Charles I but then gradually
turned against them when he got more power. He also took some actions which
harmed innocent people such as burning the church in Ireland.

Individuals and Societies Oliver Cromwell Argumentive Essay | Surya Niharsh
Karthikeyan



Sources:
"Oliver Cromwell." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014
"Irish History Cromwell, Gods Executioner Part 1." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 18
Oct. 2014
"Oliver Cromwell's Achievements." History's HEROES. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014
"Cromwell the Politician." Cromwell the Politician. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014
Morrill, John S. "Oliver Cromwell (English Statesman)." Encyclopedia Britannica
Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 14. Web. 18 Oct. 2014
Oliver Cromwell - The King Killer." Youtube.com. BBC, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014
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