Although I would prefer to pledge my allegiance to the King, I cannot. There are many reasons why I would side with Parliament instead of the King during the war. Some of those reasons are stated below.
Taxes would be increased if I relied on the King. The King does not have the finances to help his people. Whenever he needs extra finances, he must go to Parliament. He would need to increase the taxes on many things that are essential to my business as a merchant. For example, Parliament is already in control of many parts of the country including the ports. Should the King be in control of the ports, he would tax me in order to use the port. Parliament, on the other hand, would allow me to use the ports, make money by using the port, but then, after I made the money, I would be tax.
English: Weekend Civil War reconstruction at York ...
English: Civil War reenactment, Castle Museum, Yor...
King Edward II 6023 at Yaxham crossingI would be taxed either way but at least I would be able to make money first before being taxed. (Bennett 22)
The King imposed many unfair taxes and only on certain people. One example was the Ship money. The coastal tonuses paid this tax, which was used for the up-keep of the Navy. The Navy was there to protect all the people so why were there only some that were burdened with the tax? All the people should have shared in the paying of this tax. Since the population was more than the toners, the taxes would have been easier and less to pay. It would have been less because it would have been divided among the population. Parliament would have represented all the people and all the people would have shared equally in the tax. (Holmes 127)
Another crazy tax that the King imposed was to...