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| levellers | |
| 1647 in england | |
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Earlier that summer Oliver Cromwell , Henry Ireton and other officers, known as the '' Grandee s'', attempted to negotiate a settlement with Charles I Of England in the aftermath of the First Civil War . Their proposals all included a strong monarchy and House Of Lords , which lost them the support of the more radical elements among the military and civilian populations. In October 1647, five of the most radical cavalry regiments elected new . The radicals wanted a constitution based upon manhood suffrage ("one man, one vote"), biennial Parliaments and a reorganisation of parliamentary constituencies. Authority was to be vested in the House Of Commons rather than the King and Lords. Certain "native rights" were declared sacrosanct for all Englishmen: freedom of conscience, freedom from impressment into the armed forces and equality before the law. The Grandees responded by inviting the Agitators to debate their proposals before the General Council of the Army. Fairfax was not present, so Cromwell hosted. Cromwell flatly refused to accept any compromise in which the King was overthrown, while Henry Ireton (son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell ) pressed the case that his own The Heads Of The Proposals covered all of the concerns raised by the New Agents in ''The Case of the Armie'' while being far less radical. The Agitators accepted the meeting, sending Colonel Thomas Rainsborough ( M.P. for Droitwich ) John Wildman , and Edward Sexby as their representitives The debates opened on October 28, and were transcribed by secretary William Clarke and a team of Stenographer s. From November 2nd, however, all recording ceased. The debates were not reported and Clarke's minutes were not published at the time. They were lost until 1890 when they were rediscovered at the library of Worcester College, Oxford and subsequently published as part of the Clarke Papers. Cromwell and Ireton's main complaint about the Agreement was that it included terms for universal male Sufferage , which Cromwell considered to be Anarchy . Instead they suggested sufferage should be limited only to landholders. The Agitators, on the other hand, felt they deserved the rights in payment for their service during the war. Eventually a compromise of sorts was arranged, the Agitators agreeing to exclude servants and beggars, the Grandees agreeing that all soldiers of the war were entitled. The debates concluded with the understanding that the ''Agreement'' would not be the basis of the Army's official consitutional reform, but that it would be presented to the Army itself at a mass meeting. However, Cromwell feared a complete breakdown of discipline in the Army, and on the 8th proposed that everyone return at once to their regiments to restore order. A new group then met to draw up a Manifesto in the name of Lord-General Fairfax and the Army Council to be presented to the troops in place of the Levellers' Agreement. The presentation itself was split from one mass meeting to three smaller ones. At one of these the troops refused to agree to the new terms, leading to the Corkbush Field Mutiny on November 15th. By this point King Charles' escape from Hampton Court on November 11th had changed the situation and the entire matter was dropped, never to be seen again. Thus Rainsborough, for the Levellers:- :For really I think that the poorest he that is in England have a life to live, as the greatest he: and therefore truly, sir, I think it's clear, that every man that is to live under a government ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government. And Ireton, for the 'Grandees':- :no man hath a right to an interest or share in the disposing of the affairs of the kingdom... that hath not a permanent fixed interest in this kingdom. (Quotations as given by E. P. Thompson The Making Of The English Working Class ) SEE ALSO
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