Team work!

While reading about the struggles between the Parliament and the King, it made me think a lot about how important was to create a set of laws that would control how much power each political entity has and the boundaries and limits that must be respected.
In England, the Parliament and the King divided the army. Some members of the army would be loyal to the king and some to the Parliament. Just imagine what would happen these days if we did not have a Constitution that would regulate a balance between powers. With all the different opinions and controversy about the U.S. military intervention in other countries, we would end up having a war within the country!
It is very important to realize that back in those days the Parliament was constituted by members of the church, nobles and other powerful people. The combination of all of their personal interests and beliefs were contradictory to those of the King Charles I. After reading about Charles I, I had the impression that he wanted to rule the country without any advice. Through history we’ve learned that the best governments are those who have a good balance among powers. In this case Charles I wanted to leave the Parliament on the side, at some point he was ignoring his pleas. The Parliament was so desperate to be heard that hey had to hold him down to make him listen to them. Charles I did not like this behavior so he went 11 years without calling another Parliament. There was also a conflict of religious beliefs. Charles I supported Catholic religion, while the Parliament was Protestant. The King did not have a positive attitude towards Protestants.
Whenever the King felt like he was in trouble he would turn to the Parliament for help, but then again he would turn his back on them at some point.
The Parliament ended up dividing because of opposing religious and political views among its members, and the King wasn’t able to moderate the situation. When Charles noticed that the Parliament was taking control, he ordered to arrest 5 of its members. The Parliament was afraid of military action, so they tried to get the army to respond to them. When Charles saw this he ignored and rejected the bill, and instead, he raised his own army. This is how a Civil War started. At some point in this war the Parliament was ready to make peace, but Charles I refused to listen to them because he was winning battles and feeling powerful. The Scots became an allied against the King. Oliver Cromwell emerged as the radical’s leader, and with his leadership they became ready to take over the King. The Parliament’s army became very powerful including members from all over the nation. They finally defeated the King. When Charles I found himself defeated, he tried to make negotiations with the Parliament, but Cromwell was sick of him. The Parliament brought the King to a final trial, where he was convicted for treason and sentenced to be executed. This was the first public execution of King in Europe.
This episode of history shows how bad things go and how much violence and drama is created when the powers within a government can’t agree and make decisions together. Right now the USA is going through a very important period of change in the government, and the only way things will actually have a positive change is if the powers support each other and find ways to make decisions that will benefit the country, even if not all of them have the same ideas and beliefs.