Question

by the late 1650's the english people had had enough of Cromwell's military dictatorship. Many people wanted to restore the monarchy to England. Describe three major events of the Restoration

Answer 1

The Restoration, which extended from 1660 to 1668, took place during the Stuart period and was preceded by Cromwell's Interregnum, which gave England various forms of republican government.

Three major events took place during the Restoration. One of them was the issuing of the Declaration of Breda in 1660. This declaration offered pardon to every person that had fought against Charles II and it also stated that the King would rely on the assistance and advice of the Parliament, especially when it came to taxation issues. Furthermore, the Declaration of Breda specified that no man should be prosecuted for differences in religion. However, the passing of the Clarendon Code (1661-1665), another major event during the Restoration period, went against what the Declaration of Breda had stated previously. The Clarendon Code, which was made up of four acts, was a way of prosecuting puritans. The main aim of these statutes was to prevent puritans from coming into government again. The monarch was pressured into accepting the Code. Moreover, another major event was the first general election fought on party lines in 1679. This election meant the emergence of two political parties: the Whigs, which were liberals, and the Tories, which were conservatives. While the Whigs were supporters of change and the constitutional monarchy, the Tories were supporters of the Crown and royal absolutism. The Whigs ended up winning the elections, which led to a Whig majority in Parliament.