Today in labor history April 26, 1649: The English authorities sentenced Robert Lockier to be shot for leading a mutiny. Cromwell’s New Model Army had just defeated Charles I in the English Civil War. However, the Army failed to negotiate a settlement with the King. And when Charles I double-crossed them, they executed him. A conflict arose between the monarchists, who wanted another king, and Cromwell, who wanted a plutocratic Parliament. Then there were the Levellers, who wanted a democracy in which every male head of household had a vote, regardless of whether he owned property. And the Diggers (AKA the True Levellers), who wanted universal suffrage AND common ownership of the land. Lockier was a Leveller and a member the New Model Army. On April 24, he and some other soldiers barricaded themselves in a Leveller meeting place in London. They demanded to paid their overdue wages. Cromwell ended the mutiny after a few days and arrested Lockier as the ringleader.

The Diggers originally called themselves the True Levellers, to distinguish themselves from the more moderate Levellers. However, in April, 1649, they began pulling down enclosures (common lands usurped by the landlords) on St. George’s Hill. And when they started planting the land in common, for the benefit of all peasants, people started calling them Diggers. Needless to say, the local landlords were peeved. They asked the New Model Army to come in and remove the Diggers. However, their commander told the landlords to use the courts. So, the landlords organized gangs to beat and burn out the Diggers. Ultimately, the court ruled that the Army could evict the Diggers if they did not leave. So, they left. But they started new commons in neighboring regions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn31l2idKTA

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #diggers #Cromwell #levellors #CivilWar #england #NewModelArmy #BillyBragg