Puritanism and Liberty (1603-1660)third Edition

The period from 1603 to 1660 was perhaps the most consequential in English history: a king executed by his own Parliament, a republic declared, and the foundations of modern democratic thought laid in blood and debate. This source book gathers the original documents that tell that story in the actors' own words. Here are pamphlets from Puritans defending conscience against the crown, legal arguments from the trial of Charles I, debates over religious toleration, and the fierce proclamations that divided a nation. The reader hears Cromwell arguing with Parliament and royalists defending divine right, each voice preserved as it was first written. What emerges is not a simple narrative of good versus evil but a complicated portrait of people grappling with questions that still define us: What limits should bind government? What liberties belong to the individual? Can religious faith coexist with political obligation? Originally published in 1915 as part of the English History Source Books series, this collection has served generations of students seeking direct access to the past. For anyone studying the English Civil War, the emergence of republican thought, or the deep roots of modern Anglo-American political institutions, these pages offer something no secondhand account can: the raw, unfiltered voices of a revolutionary age.