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| english civil war | |
| 1655 | |
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During August and September 1655, Cromwell worked with John Lambert , John Disbrowe and Sir Gilbert Pickering to finalise arrangements for the new system. The Majors-General were formally commissioned on 11 October 1655 and proclaimed on 31 October . England was divided into 10 regionsRoyle, Trevor, References Page 698 each governed by a Major-General who was answerable only to the Lord Protector . The first duty of the Majors-General was to maintain security by suppressing unlawful assemblies, disarming Royalist "malignants" and apprehending thieves, robbers and highwaymen. They were authorised to raise cavalry militias in their regions consisting of volunteers loyal to the Protectorate. The militia was funded by a new 10% Income Tax imposed on all known Royalists which was known as the Decimation Tax . It was argued that a punitive tax on Royalists was a just means of financing the militia because Royalist conspiracies had made it necessary in the first place. Assisted by specially appointed commissioners, the Majors-General were also expected to enforce moral reform in their localities. Pastimes like horse-racing, stage plays, cock-fighting and bear-baiting were abolished; laws against drunkenness, sexual licentiousness, blasphemy and swearing were enforced; unruly alehouses were closed. While the discouragement of public assemblies was partly in the interests of national security, Cromwell and the Majors-General genuinely hoped to reform the morals of the nation by these measures. The system was not intended to replace the traditional structure of Local Government . The Majors-General and their assistants worked alongside the existing hierarchy of magistrates, sheriffs, constables and town corporations. The impact of the Majors-General varied from region to region. Co-ordinated by John Thurloe , they were successful in curbing security threats to the Protectorate, but the repressiveness of enforced moral reform was widely unpopular. The legality of the system was also called into question. In the summer of 1656 , the Majors-General attemped to influence the elections for the Second Protectorate Parliament ; during its first session, MP s decisively rejected a bill that would have renewed the rule of the Majors-General and made the Decimation Tax permanent. Cromwell himself was aware of the unpopularity of military government; under mounting pressure from MPs to accept The Crown , he abolished the Major-Generals and the Decimation Tax in January 1657. THE MAJORS-GENERAL AND THEIR REGIONS There were ten regional associations covering England and Wales administered by Majors-General. Ireland under Major-General Henry Cromwell ,Henry Cromwell was nominally under the Lord Deputy Of Ireland , Charles Fleetwood, but Fleetwood's departure for England in September 1655 left him for all practical purposes the ruler of Ireland and Scotland under Major-General George Monck were in administrations already agreed upon and were not part of the scheme.Royal, Trevor References ; pages 698,699 REFERENCES
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