Why did Britain become a republic?

Case study 2: New government

Even today many people are not aware that Britain was ever a republic. After Charles I was put to death in 1649, a monarch no longer led the country. Instead people dreamed up ideas and made plans for a different form of government. Find out more from these documents about what happened next.

Sources:

1. Report on the arrest of Levellers, 1649

2. An account of the setting up of the Commonwealth

3. Poem on the new situation in England, 1649

4. Portrait & symbols of Cromwell & the Commonwealth

5. Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester, 1651

6. The setting up of the Instrument of Government

 

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