Introduction to civilization - The Anglo-American World in the Long Eighteenth Century

Résumé du document

Dominic Sandbrook, "The Man Who Wouldn't be King"

https://acfaucquez.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/brochure-l1-2018-2019.pdf
Answers of page 35 to 37 and 38 to 40.

Extraits

[...] He is seen as "one of the most bewildering figures in Britain history" according to the second paragraph. The Enlightenment Philosophers The Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes oo The State of Nature: men are made equal, physically and psychologically. oo Man animated by reason: men tend to believe that some of them are better than the others. If they want the same things, they are bond to become enemies and fight. oo The purpose of government: to prevent men from being continuously at war, in order to achieve other things - industry, art, etc. [...]

[...] Dominic Sandbrook, "The Man Who Wouldn't be King" 1. What was Cromwell's social background? Cromwell's social background is very modest, since he used to be a "yeoman farmer from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire". He even had serious financial issues How can we explain his religiousness? Cromwell's religiousness can be explained by the misery he went through before he accessed to the throne. Indeed, in 1629 and 1630, he had severe financial troubles and almost had a breakdown. It was religion that saved him, and he thought that "God had marked him out for eternal salvation". [...]

[...] The Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu oo The State of Nature: everything has its own law, so the principle of law is inherent to nature. Each law must be adapted to the thing it governs. oo Man animated by reason: when a man is given power, he is likely to use it as much as he can. oo The purpose of government: governments must prevent this abuse of power. oo The best type of government the author advocates: there can be no liberty in absolutism. [...]

[...] He also says that only moderate governments can guarantee political libertt. The Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau oo The State of Nature: men are free. oo Man animated by reason: the social contract is the solution to a fundamental problem for men: staying free while forming an association allowing them to "work in concert" and sum their forces. oo The purpose of government: the government guarantee the effectiveness of this social contract. oo The best type of government the author advocates: democracy. [...]

[...] He also believed that he was chosen by God to accomplish a divine mission How tolerant was he to other religions? Even if Cromwell's deeds might seem intolerant nowadays, the author states that "by the standards of his day, he was exceptionally tolerant". As a proof, it is recalled that there was "far more freedom of conscience" then under his predecessors. In the end, Cromwell should be remembered as "the champion of religious liberty" What happened in Ireland? As Catholic rebels had made a deal with the royalists, terrible massacres happened in late 1649, killing around 7000 people: the massacres of Drogheda and Wexford. [...]