The Puritan Republic and the Restoration

In 1649, having deposed and killed the King Charles, the Puritan leaders established a republic in England and Scotland, ruled (at first) by the Parliament. However, fearful that elections would promote disorder in a time of crisis, Cromwell himself became the Lord Protector, who ruled Britain (England and Scotland combined); unlike the kings before him, he kept a standing army to enforce his laws.

To pay for that army, he confiscated lands from the Anglican Church and from Cavaliers lords who had supported the king; at the same time, he levied taxes on gentry and merchants many of whom had supported his Puritan army during the civil war. Cromwell also used this army to fight foreign wars, against the Netherlands and against Spain, from whom Britain acquired colonies in the Americas.

He granted religious freedom to all dissenters (i.e., those more Puritan than the Anglican Church had been), so that groups like the Levelers and Quakers flourished. Catholics and Anglicans, however, were not tolerated, nor was any behavior contrary to strict Puritan moralism.