Many people are active in English politics,…
April 1649 CE
Many people are active in English politics, suggesting alternative forms of government to replace the old order.
These range from Royalists, who wish to place King Charles II on the throne; men like Oliver Cromwell, who wish to govern with a plutocratic Parliament voted in by an electorate based on property, similar to that which was enfranchised before the civil war; agitators called Levellers, influenced by the writings of John Lilburne, who want parliamentary government based on an electorate of every male head of a household; Fifth Monarchy Men, who advocate a theocracy; and the Diggers led by Gerard Winstanley, who advocate a more radical solution.
Winstanley and fourteen others have published a pamphlet in which they call themselves the True Levellers to distinguish their ideas from those of the Levellers.
Once they put their idea into practice and started to cultivate common land, they had become known as "Diggers" by both opponents and supporters.
The Diggers' beliefs are informed by Winstanley's writings, which encompass a world view that envisions an ecological interrelationship between humans and nature, acknowledging the inherent connections between people and their surroundings.
An undercurrent of political thought which has run through English society for many generations and resurfaced from time to time (for example, the Peasants' Revolt in 1381) is present in some of the political factions of the 1600s, including those who form the Diggers, and hold the common belief that England had become subjugated by the "Norman Yoke."
This legend offers an explanation that at one time a golden Era had existed in England before the Norman Conquest in 1066.
From the conquest on, the Diggers argue, the "common people of England" have been robbed of their birthrights and exploited by a foreign ruling class.
The Council of State receives a letter in April 1649 reporting that several individuals had begun to plant vegetables in common land on Saint George's Hill, Weybridge near Cobham, Surrey at a time when food prices reach an all-time high.
They intend to pull down all enclosures and cause the local populace to come and work with them.
They claim that their number will be several thousand within ten days.
In the same month, the Diggers issued their most famous pamphlet and manifesto, called "The True Levellers Standard Advanced".
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