1646-1649: The Levellers

The Levellers - Who were they and why did they have such influence?

"Wee still find the Nation oppressed with grievances of the same destructive nature as formerly though under other notions." (Leveller Large Petition, March 1647)

The Levellers were a group of people who called for economic, political and religious reform due to the result of economic distress caused by civil war. They were influenced by the ideas of natural law and built an intellectual tradition of dissent. 

• Natural Law - a law that is set by nature and therefore has validity everywhere above human laws. Associated with natural rights that limited the power of the monarchy. 

The Levellers were led by John Lilburne, Richard Overton and William Walwyn. John Lilburne had suffered persecution in the 1630's by publishing literature against the Armenian reforms of William Laud. 

The Diggers - the "True Levellers"

The Diggers were another response to the political, economic and social effects of the Civil War. They established a commune as a solution to the social inequalities. They were led by Gerrard Winstanely who said "freedom is the man that will turn the world upside down." They believed in total political and social equality. 

Kishlansky argued that the "Digger movement appeared more ominous that it actually was" because the ideas and actions of the movement offered a fundamental challenge to the nature of politics and society at the time, but their influence was limited.

Why did the Levellers deny connections with the Diggers?

Their agenda of "leveling of all debates" - the amendment of private property rights - was too much of a radical step for the Levellers, who were attempting to negotiate a political settlement within the existing social order. 

What were the main aims of the Diggers?

1. Communal cultivation of the land and end to property rights 
2. People to support themselves by cultivating the waste and common land of England 
3. Utopian communistic society

The Putney Debates

The Putney Debates, held in November 1647, were a series of discussions between factions of the New Model Army and the Levellers concerning a new constitution for England. They were held at the Church of St Mart the Virgin, Surrey. 

• The Grandees failed attempt to negotiate a settlement with Charles had lost the support of the military and civilian radicals. The Levellers criticised Ireton in particular for being too lenient in his negotiations with the King and Parliament, and accused the Grandees of betraying the interests of the common soldiers and people of England. 
• In October 1647, the 5 of the most radical cavalry regiments elected new Agitators - known as the "New Agents" - to represent their views. The New Agents issued a political manifesto: "The Case of the Armie Truly Stated" and endorsed the constitutional proposals drafted by civilian Levellers in the "Agreement of the People."
• The radicals wanted a constitution based upon manhood suffrage ("one man, one vote"), biennial parliaments and a re-organisation of parliamentary constituencies. Authority was to be vested in the House of Commons rather than the King and Lords. Certain "native rights" were declared for all Englishmen - freedom of conscience, freedom from imprisonment into the armed forced and equality before the law.
• Cromwell and Ireton regarded the Levellers' demands for manhood suffrage as "tantamount to anarchy"

The Agreement of the People, 1647

• MP's should be elected in proportion to the amount of people in their constituencies
• Parliament should be dissolved on the 30th September 1648
• Parliaments should be held biennially and sit every other year from April to September
• A biennial parliament should be the supreme authority in the land, with the powers to make/repeal laws, appoint officials and conduct domestic and foreign policy. 

The Whitehall Debates

• After the King's defeat in the 2nd Civil War, an extended version of the Agreement of the People was promoted by Lilburne who hoped to find a middle way between royal despotism (or tyrannical absolutism) and military dictatorship. 
• The new Agreement was discussed by Levellers, London Independents and the Army Council at Whitehall in December 1648 in the aftermath of Pride's Purge. 
• Lilburne wanted to secure Parliament's acceptance of the Agreement before the King was brought to trial so that the trial would  have a basis in a legitimate and legal constitution. 
• However, Lilburne and his colleague Richard Overton walked out of the discussions when Army officers, led by Ireton, insisted upon making further modifications to the Agreement before it was presented to Parliament. 

Why was this significant?

Here, both Cromwell and Ireton were trying to curb the extremism of the Levellers, particularly over a proposal that wanted to extend the vote to all adult males. Attempts to get support for the Agreement at a meeting of the Army at Cochbush field were forcibly opposed by the Grandees. Lilburne tried making a midway point between tyrannical anarchy and military dictatorship, but this still was not enough for Cromwell and Ireton. 

In the end, discussions continued without Lilburne's input. The revised Agreement was finally presented to the House of Commons as a basis of a new constitution on 20 January 1648, the very days that the public sessions of the High Court of Justice began. As Ireton had calculated, MP's postponed discussion of the Agreement until after the King's trial, and it was never taken up again by Parliament.