History

"We were ruled by a King, Lords and Commons; now by a General, Court Martial and Commons, and we pray you what is the difference?"

The Levellers were a mid [17th Century] political movement, whose most notable representative was [John Lilburne]. He resigned from the Parliamentarian Army where he was a Lieutenant-Colonel. Lilburne refused to sign [John Pimm|John Pimms]' [Solemn League and Covenant] believing it to be biased towards [Presbyterianism]. He was arrested twice for [slander] (once was the [Speaker of the House] of Commons, and the other was the Earl of [Manchester]).

In 1647 the army made it clear that it was not happy about [arrear|arrears] in pay, no [indemnity] for wartime acts and [draft|drafting]. Soldiers who knew about Lilburne and his group started selecting [delegate|delegates] (known as "Agitators") to go to [Parliament] with their problems. [Sir Thomas Fairfax] then called a rally for the whole army to discuss action. And so, the [General Council of Army] was formed - both the soldier class and the [officer class] are represented. The General Council forms its own policy, based on Lilburne's ideas.

The army split into two groups. [The Grandees] whome were composed of the officer class, and Lilburne's supporters whome were nicknamed the Levellers by [Oliver Cromwell] (second-in-command). The Levellers propose an agreement with the Officers, which was rejected because it called for religious tolerance.

After [Charles I] was executed, the Levellers increased their activity, John Lilburne, [William Walwyn], [Richard Overton] and [Thomas Prince] were then arrested for [treason] and the Levellers began a [mutiny] in London. Cromwell and Fairfax appealled for them to stop, and they did. The head of the mutiny (Robert Lockyer), was executed. The Levellers were not pleased and put together a [resistance], which was crushed by Cromwell at [Burford] in a surprise attack. And so the Levellers lost their military support, Cromwell leading the army to war against Ireland.

Lilburne, Walwyn, Overton and Prince were later released, but the Leveller movement was never again.

Politics

If afflictions make men wise, and wisdom direct to happinesse, then certainly this Nation is not far from such a degree thereof

The Levellers had very [radical] ideas about how the country should be run. Their ideas included the right to vote for all, the distribution of the landlord's land to all, equal rights, the [cessation] of wars with foreign lands and the empowering of the peasant class. They mustered support in the military - many soldiers being unhappy with the way they were treated and the poor people of England, but very unpopular with those in power (naturally). The Levellers eventually ran out of political steam.

Britain was primarily a [monarchy], with very distinct [class] divisions, the thought that these divisions should be blurred was an alien concept. Even with the Civil War, and the fight against King Charles I, the Leveller's ideas were simply too radical. The country was in the throes of massive culture shock, and was being shocked constantly by Olver Cromwell. The idea of equality, whilst attractive, was not realistic.

See also:- [Diggers]

Sources
www.libertarian.org
Agreement Of The Free People of England. By Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburne, Master William Walwyn, Master Thomas Prince, and Master Richard Overton, Prisoners in the [Tower of London], May the 1. 1649.

Levellers (thing)