Levellers

Levellers were political radicals associated with John Lilburne, Richard Overton and William Walwyn. The term "Levellers" was coined by their enemies to imply that they favoured the abolition of property rights and the equalisation of wealth, which they strenuously denied — unlike the Diggers or "True Levellers". The Leveller program included religious toleration, reform of the law, free trade, an extended franchise, rights guaranteed under a written constitution and a government answerable to the People rather than to King or Parliament.

The movement started in London and the surrounding areas by middle ranking civilians. In October 1645 Walwyn published England's Lamentable Slaverie in which he stated that Parliament's authority derived from the people who elected it and that Parliament should be answerable directly to them. This was restated in A Remonstrance of Many Thousand Citizens, published by Overton and Walwyn in July 1646, along with calls for the dissolution of the present House of Commons, the abolition of the House of Lords, religious toleration, equality before the law and an ending of trade monopolies. The Remonstrance also expounded the theory of the "Norman yoke", which maintained that the English had enjoyed full constitutional rights and liberties until the Norman conquest, and that William the Conqueror and his successors were tyrannical usurpers.

Leveller ideas took hold in the New Model Army in 1647 the military Levellers adopted A Solemn Engagement of the Army and succeeded in setting up an Army Council where representatives of the common soldiers sat alongside the senior officers. The Case of the Armie Truly Stated called for a new constitution, in contrast to the Grandee Henry Ireton's Heads of Proposals which outlined a basis for a constitutional monarchy. The military Levellers supported the civilian Agreement of the People, leading to the Putney Debates of October-November 1647 between the Levellers and the Grandees.

Oliver Cromwell kept control of the Army during the Second Civil War and throughout the trial and execution of the King. With the establishment of the Commonwealth, however, the Levellers soon came into conflict with the Council of State. Lilburne, Overton, Walwyn and others were imprisoned in March 1649 for publishing England's New Chains Discovered.

Unrest amongst the Levellers in the Army, fanned by opposition to the Council of State's plans for the invasion of Ireland, led to the Leveller mutinies of April and May 1649. These were quickly and efficiently suppressed by Thomas Fairfax and Cromwell. Without the support of the Army, Leveller influence faded very quickly. It had ceased to exist as an organised movement by the end of 1649.

After the establishment of the Protectorate in December 1653, some of the most radical of the former Levellers and Agitators became involved in conspiracies to overthrow the Cromwellian régime, which they regarded as a betrayal of the principles for which the civil wars had been fought.

Many Leveller ideas were far in advance of their time; their legacy has been claimed as an influence by all shades of political opinion. The Levellers made full use of the printing press to circulate pamphlets and petitions, effectively developing the first mass political propaganda techniques to be used in Britain. A weekly newspaper, The Moderate, ran from July 1648 until its suppression in October 1649, co-ordinating Leveller supporters across the country.

Important Leveller Pamphlets

Petition of the Leveller Women to Parliament

Leveller women drew up a petition, which reportedly had ten thousand signatures, and taking it to Parliament Sept. 11. 1648 (Second petition 1649)though Parliament refused to admit the petition. The Leveller women argue for their right to fight for their beliefs, dying for them if necessary: "Nor will we ever rest until we have prevailed, that We, our husbands, Friends, and Servants, may not be liable to be abused, violated, and butchered at mens Wills and pleasures. But if nothing will satisfy but the bloud of those just men, those constant unda[u]nted Asserters of the Peoples freedoms will satisfy your thirst, drink also, and be glutted with our bloud, and let us all fall together: Take the blood of one more, and take all: slay one, slay all." Throughout the petition, it is possible to identify strains of what we could call early liberal feminist discourse. The Leveller women stress their intelligence and ability to reason, and, even in this short document, the word "equal" appears three times, variations of the word "liberty" can be found five times, and at several points appeals are made to justice and to the importance of overthrowing tyranny and slavery

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Levellers

Important Leveller Pamphlets

Petition of the Leveller Women to Parliament

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