View source for Diggers


The Diggers called themselves "True [[Levellers]]" The Digger agenda of the "levelling of all estates" — i.e. the abandonment of private property rights — was too radical a step for the Levellers.

[[person::Gerald Winstanley]] was a leadin Digger  who was inspired by a vision of communal cultivation of the land and an ending of property rights, which he outlined in his tract: ''The New Law of Righteousness''. Similar ideas were arising spontaneously around the country. A Digger community in Buckinghamshire published a tract entitled Light Shining in Buckinghamshire in December 1648.

Winstanley attempted to put into practice his ideals for a utopian communistic society, but the Surrey Diggers were persecuted by local landowners and clergymen. The Council of State sent soldiers to break up the community and the Diggers were taken to court accused of trespassing.

In 1652 Winstanley published ''The Law of Freedom in a Platform'' in which he proposed the introduction of his utopian commonwealth by state action. Though dedicated to Cromwell, Winstanley's approach to the rights of the common man over the rights of landowners had little influence during the Commonwealth and Protectorate

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