LEVELLERS, an important political party in England during the period of the Civil War and the Commonwealth. The germ of the Levelling movement must be sought for among the Agitators (q.v.), men of strong republican views. The name Leveller first appears in a letter of Nov. 1 1647: "They have given themselves a new name; viz., Levellers, for they intend to sett all things straight, and rayse a parity and community in the kingdom." The Levellers first became prominent in 1647 during the pro tracted and unsatisfactory negotiations between the King and the Parliament, and while the relations between the latter and the army were very strained. They were mainly found among soldiers; they were opposed to the existence of kingship, and they feared that Cromwell and the other Parliamentary leaders were too complaisant in their dealings with Charles. Led by John Lilburne (q.v.) they presented a manifesto, The Case of the Army truly stated, to the commander-in-chief, Lord Fairfax, in Oct. 1647. In this they demanded a dissolution of Parliament within a year and substantial changes in the constitution of future Parliaments, which were to be regulated by an unalterable "law paramount." In a second document, The Agreement of the People, they expanded these ideas, which were discussed by Cromwell, Ireton, and other officers on the one side, and by John Wildman, Thomas Rains borough, and Edward Sexby for the Levellers on the other. But no settlement was made, and in Nov. 1647, just after Charles's flight from Hampton Court to Carisbrooke, the Levellers were responsible for the mutiny of two regiments at Corkbush Field, near Ware, which was promptly suppressed by Cromwell.
Early in 1649, just after the death of the King, the Levellers renewed their activity. In a pamphlet, England's New Chains,
Lilburne asked for the dissolution of the council of State and for a new and reformed parliament. He followed this up with the Second Part of England's New Chains; his writings were declared treasonable by Parliament, and in March 1649 he and three other leading Levellers, Richard Overton, William Walwyn and Prince were arrested. The discontent which was spreading in the army was fanned when certain regiments were ordered to proceed to Ireland, and in April 1649 there was a meeting in London ; but this was quickly put down by Fairfax and Cromwell, and its leader, Robert Lockyer, was shot. Risings at Burford and at Banbury were also suppressed without any serious difficulty, and the trouble with the Levellers was practically over. The distinguishing mark of the Leveller was a sea-green ribbon.
Another form of the same movement was the assembling of about 5o men on St. George's Hill near Oatlands in Surrey. In April 1649 these "True Levellers" or "Diggers," as they were called, took possession under the direction of Winstanley of some unoccupied ground which they began to cultivate. They were, however, soon dispersed, and their leaders were arrested and brought before Fairfax, when they took the opportunity of de nouncing landowners.
In 1724 there was a rising against enclosures in Galloway, and a number of men who took part therein were called Levellers or Dykebreakers (A. Lang, History of Scotland, vol. iv.). The word was also used in Ireland during the 18th century to describe a secret revolutionary society similar to the Whiteboys.