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Law of Freedom in a Platform, or True Magistracy Restored and the True Levellers Standard Advanced
"In the beginning of Time, the great Creator Reason, made the Earth to be a Common Treasury, to preserve Beasts, Birds, Fishes, and Man, the lord that was to govern this Creation; for Man had Domination given to him, over the Beasts, Birds, and Fishes; but not one word was spoken in the beginning, That one branch of mankind should rule over another." -- Gerrard Winstanley
Gerrard Winstanley , (1609-1676) was the leader of a agrarian socialist community known as the Diggers, who in 1649-50 cultivated common land on St. George's Hill, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. He was opposed to the enclosure of land, and to hierarchical power structures.
In True Levellers Standard Advanced Winstanley presents his philosophy; a key element is that the Earth is the common treasury of all people, and that no group naturally ruled over another. The Law of Freedom in a Platform (1652) is his outline of a communist society. He is remembered more for his thought and writing than the immediate impact of his actions. He is often called the first socialist or the first anarchist.
Gerrard Winstanley , (1609-1676) was the leader of a agrarian socialist community known as the Diggers, who in 1649-50 cultivated common land on St. George's Hill, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. He was opposed to the enclosure of land, and to hierarchical power structures.
In True Levellers Standard Advanced Winstanley presents his philosophy; a key element is that the Earth is the common treasury of all people, and that no group naturally ruled over another. The Law of Freedom in a Platform (1652) is his outline of a communist society. He is remembered more for his thought and writing than the immediate impact of his actions. He is often called the first socialist or the first anarchist.
- GenresHistory
174 pages, Paperback
First published May 30, 2005
2 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Gerrard Winstanley
42 books10 followersGerrard Winstanley, the son of a mercer, was born in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1609. He moved to London in 1690 and became an apprentice in the cloth trade and became a freeman of the Merchant Taylors' Company in 1637.
In September 1640 Windstanley married Susan King and the couple moved to Walton-on-Thames. The Civil War destroyed his business and Winstanley later wrote: "the burdens of and for the soldiery in the beginning of the war, I was beaten out of both estate and trade, and forced to accept the good-will of friends, crediting of me, to live a country life."
Influenced by the ideas of the John Lilburne and the Levellers, Winstanley published four pamphlets in 1648. He argued that all land belonged to the community rather than to separate individuals. In January, 1649, he published the The New Law of Righteousness. Soon after publishing The New Law of Righteousness he established a group called the Diggers.
In April 1649 Winstanley, William Everard, a former soldier in the New Model Army, and about thirty followers took over some common land on St George's Hill in Surrey and "sowed the ground with parsnips, carrots and beans." Digger groups also took over land in Kent (Cox Hill), Surrey (Cobham), Buckinghamshire (Iver) and Northamptonshire (Wellingborough).
Local landowners were very disturbed by these developments, and in July 1649 the government gave instructions for Winstanley to be arrested and for General Thomas Fairfax to disperse the people by force.
Instructions were given for the Diggers to be beaten up and for their houses, crops and tools to be destroyed. These tactics were successful and within a year all the Digger communities in England had been wiped out.
Winstanley continued to argue for the redistribution of land and in 1652 published The Law of Freedom, a pamphlet in which he criticised the government of Oliver Cromwell, holding to the Anabaptist view that all institutions were by their nature corrupt. He also argued for a society without money or wages.
The Law of Freedom sold well and for a while Winstanley's ideas appeared popular with the English people. However, the Restoration brought an end to the discussion about the way society should be organized.
In 1660 Winstanley moved to Cobham and later became a Quaker and worked as a merchant in London. He died on 10th September, 1676.
In September 1640 Windstanley married Susan King and the couple moved to Walton-on-Thames. The Civil War destroyed his business and Winstanley later wrote: "the burdens of and for the soldiery in the beginning of the war, I was beaten out of both estate and trade, and forced to accept the good-will of friends, crediting of me, to live a country life."
Influenced by the ideas of the John Lilburne and the Levellers, Winstanley published four pamphlets in 1648. He argued that all land belonged to the community rather than to separate individuals. In January, 1649, he published the The New Law of Righteousness. Soon after publishing The New Law of Righteousness he established a group called the Diggers.
In April 1649 Winstanley, William Everard, a former soldier in the New Model Army, and about thirty followers took over some common land on St George's Hill in Surrey and "sowed the ground with parsnips, carrots and beans." Digger groups also took over land in Kent (Cox Hill), Surrey (Cobham), Buckinghamshire (Iver) and Northamptonshire (Wellingborough).
Local landowners were very disturbed by these developments, and in July 1649 the government gave instructions for Winstanley to be arrested and for General Thomas Fairfax to disperse the people by force.
Instructions were given for the Diggers to be beaten up and for their houses, crops and tools to be destroyed. These tactics were successful and within a year all the Digger communities in England had been wiped out.
Winstanley continued to argue for the redistribution of land and in 1652 published The Law of Freedom, a pamphlet in which he criticised the government of Oliver Cromwell, holding to the Anabaptist view that all institutions were by their nature corrupt. He also argued for a society without money or wages.
The Law of Freedom sold well and for a while Winstanley's ideas appeared popular with the English people. However, the Restoration brought an end to the discussion about the way society should be organized.
In 1660 Winstanley moved to Cobham and later became a Quaker and worked as a merchant in London. He died on 10th September, 1676.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 26, 2019
2.5
Tedious to read tbh. Also, it is pretty similar to More's Utopia.
Tedious to read tbh. Also, it is pretty similar to More's Utopia.
March 23, 2021
I read this for my Church History course and was surprised by how relevant it felt centuries later. Winstanley writes after the previously-unimaginable assassination of King Charles I in England, and hopes to leverage the moment to catalyze the creation of a new kind of society. Having grown up under the deeply stratified, corrupted system of inequality that privileged the powerful and exploited the peasants, he has a clear sense of the change that is needed.
Essentially, he believes that in order to bring about true and sustainable social justice, there is need for a commonwealth government to be established. He contrasts this against the kingly government, which he critiques for its oppressive and exploitative stratifying practices, beginning with the unequal distribution of land. The commonwealth would delegate proportional land to each family in its citizenry as a means of equalizing and rectifying unjust discrepancies. From there, it would function as a communitarian society where all work towards the common good and are governed by annually elected leaders according to criteria involving integrity and peaceability.
Sounds pretty dope! I definitely appreciated Winstanley's vision for a different and most just way of organizing a society. The issue was that the writing, at least as its organized in this book, doesn't make for the most captivating read. It's pretty circular to the point of redundancy, and the descriptions of all the various officers is a slough to get through (I definitely skimmed past most of it). Still, I extend my admiration for his work and the precedent it offers towards later radical expressions of the Christian imagination around a more just world.
Essentially, he believes that in order to bring about true and sustainable social justice, there is need for a commonwealth government to be established. He contrasts this against the kingly government, which he critiques for its oppressive and exploitative stratifying practices, beginning with the unequal distribution of land. The commonwealth would delegate proportional land to each family in its citizenry as a means of equalizing and rectifying unjust discrepancies. From there, it would function as a communitarian society where all work towards the common good and are governed by annually elected leaders according to criteria involving integrity and peaceability.
Sounds pretty dope! I definitely appreciated Winstanley's vision for a different and most just way of organizing a society. The issue was that the writing, at least as its organized in this book, doesn't make for the most captivating read. It's pretty circular to the point of redundancy, and the descriptions of all the various officers is a slough to get through (I definitely skimmed past most of it). Still, I extend my admiration for his work and the precedent it offers towards later radical expressions of the Christian imagination around a more just world.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews