levelers

Johanna Araujo

The Levelers was a group of people who came together during the English Civil War (1642-1648) to demand constitutional reform and equal rights under the law. The war brought upon instability but it also gave rise to creativity (intellectually, religious, artistic, etc.) Levelers believed all men were born free and equal and possessed natural rights; rights not given by the government. They believed the law should equally protect the poor and the wealthy and that all men should have full voting rights. "Leveler" was a term of abuse, used by their opponents to exaggerate the threat of their ideas.

The Leveler's goals were discussed at the Putney debates. The Leveler proposals were totally rejected by Ireton. A pamphlet published after the execution of Charles I resulted in severe suppression of the Levelers by Oliver Cromwell, who had constantly opposed them.

See lecture notes on Tuesday, January 15th. Theme: Religion