Levellers

The Levellers were a faction of left-wing democrats during the English Civil Wars. They demanded equality, an extension of suffrage and religious freedom. Their symbol was a sea-green ribbon. The Levellers were a force in English politics only from 1646 to 1950, when, in Pride's purge all their supporters were removed from parliament.

Origins

John Lilburne was one of the earliest Levellers. He distributed pamphlets in which he accused members of parliament of living comfortable lives while soldiers and other ordinary citizens lived under the harsh conditions of the Civil War. In 1646, while in prison he wrote An arrow against all tyrantss...

New Model Army

Also, common soldiers in the New Model Army elected so-called "Agitators" to represent them. A group of these drew the Agreement of the People. This document outlined a future direction of the country which directly contradicted the Heads of Proposal previously agreed upon by the Army leadership. Most of the differences were on question of who would be allowed to vote, and under which terms parliament could rule.

Suppression

The ideas of the Levellers soon got strong support among the common soldiers of the New Model Army. However, fearing for their privileged positions, Army commanders decided to declare the Heads of Proposal as the official army proposal for the future of the country. During the course of 1648 and 1649 again and again support for the Levellers reignited in different Army regiments, in some cases even going so far as to refuse to serve until the Levellers demands were fulfilled. Senior officers in all cases either dismissed those soldiers from the Army, or even declared a mutiny and had other regiments imprison them.

Seen as a threat to the power of the upper classes and therefore the unity of the country, John Lilburne, William Walwyn, Thomas Prince, and Richard Overton, the major leaders of the Levellers, were imprisoned in May 1649. This and the putdown of the Banbury mutiny, where 400 soldiers demanding higher pay and the realisation of Leveller ideas were attacked, imprisoned and executed by Oliver Cromwells forces, marked the end of the Levellers as a force in English politics.

Primary Sources

Overton, Richard. An arrow against all tyrants and tyranny, shot from the prison of Newgate into the prerogative bowels of the arbitrary House of Lords and all other usurpers and tyrants whatsoever. Wherein the original, rise, extent, and end of magisterial power, the natural and national rights, freedoms and properties of mankind are discovered and undeniably maintained; the late oppressions and encroachments of the Lords over the commons legally (by the fundamental laws and statutes of this realm, as also by a memorable extract out of the records of the Tower of London) condemned; the late Presbyterian ordinance (invented and contrived by the diviners, and by the motion of Mr Bacon and Mr Tate read in the House of Commons) examined, refuted, and exploded, as most inhumane, tyrannical and barbarous. London: Private printing, 1646. Online Version
Anonymous. To the right honovrable the Commons of England in Parliament assembled. The humble Petition of Thousands wel-affected persons inhabiting the City of London, Westminster, the Borough of Southwark Hamblets, and places adjacent. London: Private printing, 1648. Online Version
Anonymous. An Agreement of the People of England, and the places therewith incorporated, for a secure and present peace, upon grounds of common right, freedom and safety. London: Private printing, 1649. Online Version
Anonymous. An Agreement of the People for a firm and present peace upon grounds of common right. Unknown: Private printin, 1647. Online Version

References

Hill, Christopher. The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution. London: Temple Smith, 1972.
Sharp, Andrew (ed). The English Levellers. Cambridge: CUP, 1998.
Mendle, Michael (ed). The Putney Debates of 1647: The Army, the Levellers, and the English State. Cambridge: CUP, 2001
Lingard, John. "The Commonwealth" A history of England from the first invasion of the Romans to the accession of William & Mary in 1688. By John Lingard. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 2005.
Coward, Barry. A companion to Stuart Britain. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.

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