Oliver cromwell, hero or villain?
Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon in 1599, into the ranks of the middle gentry ; his father was a farmer. He was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1653 until his death in 1658. Cromwell has been a very controversial figure in the history of the British Isles – a regicidal dictator to some historians and a hero of liberty to others.
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I think Oliver Cromwell is a hero, because he did some great things :
. He substantially won the Civil War, when the rest of the Parliamentary commanders would have lost it.
. He set up the New Model Army which has to be one of the best armies the world has ever known - merciless and motivated fighters.
. He could be ruthless when needed (eg against the Levellers, and at Drogheda and Wexford) soEngland and Ireland had peace, because of him. Only someone of immense strength and imposing character could have forced such a warlike situation into peace.
. He pushed through the execution of the king, thus getting rid of a total tyrant and establishing in English politics that a king cannot be absolute.
. He threw out the old corrupt Rump Parliament in 1653. Everybody agrees that they deserved it. He really tried to establish a 'righteous' parliament in its place (eg the Barebone's Parliament).
. He refused the crown when it was offered him - he genuinely did not want power for power's sake - just to get England safely through this troubled period.
. He abolished bear-baiting, and punished drunkenness.
. He allowed Jews to return to start living in England, and allowed them religious toleration. He allowed everybody else to believe what they wanted - in their own homes.
. He built up the British navy - this was the real start of England's naval supremacy.
. He captured Jamaica from the Spanish - and thus began the British