To what extent do you agree with the view that the Commonwealth failed because of its lack of reforms? (30 marks)
The Commonwealth lasted from the 1649-1653 and was made up of the Rump and the Nominated Assembly. At the time there were many issues that needed reform such as religious, legal, electoral, taxation and the constitution. It is fair to say that the Commonwealth did fail because of their lack of reforms to some extent; however this was not for lack of trying. The Rump did fail to reform, but the Nominated Assembly trued to reform but was dissolved by its own members before it could. However this was not the main reason why eh Commonwealth failed seeing as they were unpopular and seen as illegitimate.
The failure of the two branches of the Commonwealth was confirmed in the Rump when Cromwell walked into Parliament in April 1653 and ejected the Rump. The failure of the Nominated Assembly was confirmed when Cromwell accepted the resignation of the moderates and became Lord Protector in 1653.
It is fair to say that the Commonwealth failed due to lack of reform as shown by the Rump. Here there was no legal reform as the Hale Commission was ignored and furthermore, 20% of the Rump were lawyers by profession and therefore weren’t willing to offer their services for free. Furthermore, there was no religious toleration as shown by the reintroduction of a form of censorship with the Blasphemy and Adultery Acts; in 1650 this shows the Commonwealth’s preference of tradition and conservatism and therefore unlikelihood to favour reform in general.
It also seemed that there was no electoral reform by the Rump as there were only planned elections for free seats. This was because the Rump realised that more radicals could be allowed in free elections and thus create a less conservative government.
This also shows that the Commonwealth failed because of its lack of reforms that pleased the army. This is exemplified further by the lack of electoral reform as the army wanted to extend the franchise and have more elections. However the army was the breeding ground for radicals and so the Commonwealth did not want to extend the franchise because of their fear of radicalism. This is further shown by their lack of religious toleration and religious reform.
However, there are other factors that suggest the Commonwealth failed for other reasons than their failure to reform. This is predominantly proven by the fact the Nominated Assembly did reform. For example, there were legal reforms where the Hale Commission nominations were accepted. Further reforms were made with JPs who were made from shop owners instead of the gentry, however their biggest attempt at reform was their biggest downfall; their attempts to reform the tithe system as this reform was hugely unpopular and led to their self-dissolution.
It is also fair to say that the Commonwealth failed because of their lack of support. This was predominantly because the Rump was seen as Regicide. In addition, the Engagement alienated Rump support; for example the Act of Pardon and Oblivion was an attempt to attract Royalist support, however, it only applied to some Royalists as it was a pardon granted for all treasonous acts against the Commonwealth committed before September 1651. However, the Act provoked hostility from many Parliamentarians and is undermined among the Royalists because so many are excepted from pardon. This also links to the lack of support of the Commonwealth due to their lack of legitimacy as the Rump came from remaining MPs from Pride’s Purge and the Nominated Assembly’s members were not elected but nominated to create a new constitution and so were even less legitimate than the Rump.
Finally it is also true to say that the Commonwealth failed owing to the role of Cromwell and the army. This was firstly because the Rump depended on the army as it was created by the army and so had an allegiance; however the army was strongly associated with radical ideas. Cromwell also lacked a clear aim as he contradicted himself with support for social conservatism, yet also supporting religious radicalism yet also wanting the constitution to return to “something monarchical”.
In conclusion, it seems that it is unfair to say that the Commonwealth failed due to its lack of reforms as the Nominated Assembly attempted the reformation of many areas. It seems more accurate to say the Commonwealth failed due to a lack of support and legitimacy which meant it was seemingly destined to fail from the start. This combined with the uncertain beliefs of Cromwell meant that the Commonwealth had no clear direction so its failure was not surprising and Lambert’s method was ready and awaiting as an escape option for Cromwell.