True Levellers Tea Towel

Was the Earth made to preserve a few covetous, proud men to live at ease; or was it made to preserve all her children?

Civil wars and bad harvests had led to widespread unemployment and discontent during the 1640s. Disorder was reported around the country as those suffering seized grains, tore down enclosures and threatened landowners.

Discontent spread to the Army as well, culminating in the Leveller mutinies of 1649. And it was against this protest that the True Leveller movement emerged.

The "True Levellers" (aka the "Diggers"" were the most radical of the sects that arose in the aftermath of the civil wars. Whereas other groups sought political reform or religious freedom, the True Levellers called for the overthrow of the monarchy and the abolition of private property rights in favour of the communal ownership of land.

Regarding the earth as a "common treasury", the True Levellers took direct action to put their ideals into practice.