Anyone who has studied the history of the English Civil War of the mid-17th century will have heard of the Levellers. These radicals, whose ideas about the world were shaped by their version of democratic Christianity, are famous in England. Richard Overton was just one of the many people who were associated with this movement.
Overton himself found fame as a writer of tracts and pamphlets, which were produced in great numbers in the feverish political atmosphere of the late 1640s. The period around the English Civil War, which spread to Scotland and Ireland during the 1640s, was a controversial and stormy period in Britain, which saw the execution of King Charles I, in 1649, and the rise to power of Oliver Cromwell. In this febrile atmosphere, the Levellers became well-known in 1648 and 1649.
Their influence on the contemporary political scene had waned to almost nothing by 1650, but their name and their legend still persists in English culture, especially amongst left wing political groups. Indeed, although they were not a political party in the modern sense of the word, much of what they did bears the hallmark of early political organization. Petitioning and the production of pamphlets arguing a position were used by the Levellers, with Overton writing some of them, while members showed their support by wearing a sea-green ribbon.
The term ‘Leveller’ probably dates back to the early 17th century, when rebels who ‘levelled’ hedges in protest against enclosures were abused with the word. By the 1640s, it had come to be used to refer to members of a New Model Army group who were said to favor the killing of Charles I. As well as Richard Overton, prominent Levellers included John Liliburne and William Walwyn.
The political demands that the Levellers made seem somewhat tame to modern eyes, but they were considered very radical indeed by the standards of the 17th century. Concepts such as the vote for all adult males, parliamentary reform to eradicate corruption, Parliament to be elected every couple of years, and the abolition of imprisonment as a punishment for debt, all formed part of their program. They were also in favor of religious toleration, which had continued to be controversial during the 17th century.
Overton himself was of the opinion that liberty was the natural right of every person, something which is familiar today. Some Levellers also felt that the natural rights of the English people had been eroded since the Norman Conquest. Others felt that the justification for universal freedom could be found in the Bible.
Despite some elements in the Army mutinying in support of them, the Levellers were eventually crushed by the new, Parliamentarian government. Several mutineers were killed, and leaders such as Overton, Walwyn and Lilburne imprisoned. Many of their demands would later become the foundations of free societies across the world.
The eventual fate of Richard Overton is obscure, though he is mentioned in some documents again over the next two decades after the Levellers’ demise. He spent some time in prison, and abroad. He is also believed to have been a spy for Cromwell, and later Charles II.
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