The Levellers and the Origins of Anglo-American Constitutionalism
ABSTRACT
The conference had two aims: to explore the key ideas of the Levellers, with particular attention to their arguments for toleration, religious liberty, and governmental reform based on principles of limited government, individual sovereignty, and broader suffrage; and to consider how these ideas continue to make themselves felt in constitutional debates, particularly in the Anglo-American context.
READING LIST
Conference Readings
Overton, Richard. “An Arrow Against All Tyrants.” In The Levellers in the English Revolution, edited by Gerald Aylmer, 68-70. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975.
Overton, Richard, et al. “A Remonstrance of Many Thousand Citizens.” In Leveller Manifestoes of the Puritan Revolution, edited by Don M. Wolfe, 109-130. New York: Humanities Press, 1967.
Larner, William. “A Vindication of Every Free-Man’s Liberty Against All Arbitrary Power and Government.” In Tracts on Liberty by the Levellers and their Critics (1638-1660), edited by David M. Hart and Ross Kenyon. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2014-2015. Page(s): T.69, 3.10.
Robinson, Henry. “Liberty of Conscience: Or the Sole Means to Obtain Peace and Truth.” In Tracts on Liberty by the Levellers and their Critics (1638-1660), edited by David M. Hart and Ross Kenyon. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2014-2015. Page(s): T.35, 2:3.
Overton, Richard. “The Arraignment of Mr. Persecution.” In Tracts on Liberty by the Levellers and their Critics (1638-1660), edited by David M. Hart and Ross Kenyon. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2014-2015. Page(s): T.44, 2:9.
Walwyn, William. “Good Counsel to All Those That Heartily Desire the Glory of God, the Freedome of the Commonwealth, and the Good of Vertuous Men.” In Tracts on Liberty by the Levellers and their Critics (1638-1660), edited by David M. Hart and Ross Kenyon. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2014-2015. Page(s): T.38, 2:5.
Lilburne, John. “The Free-Man’s Freedom Vindicated.” In Tracts on Liberty by the Levellers and their Critics (1638-1660), edited by David M. Hart and Ross Kenyon. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2014-2015. Page(s): T.66, 3:7.
Wolfe, Don M., ed. Leveller Manifestoes of the Puritan Revolution. New York: Humanities Press, 1967.
Overton, Richard. “Remonstrance of Many Thousand Poor Tradesmen.” In Leveller Manifestoes of the Puritan Revolution, edited by Don M. Wolfe, 112-130. New York: Humanities Press, 1967.
Wolfe, Don M., ed. Leveller Manifestoes of the Puritan Revolution. New York: Humanities Press, 1967.
Wolfe, Don M., ed. Leveller Manifestoes of the Puritan Revolution. New York: Humanities Press, 1967.
Anonymous. “Humble Petition.” In The Levellers in the English Revolution, edited by Gerald Aylmer, 132-138. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975.
Walwyn, William. “Conceptions for a Free Trade.” In Commerce, Culture, and Liberty: Readings on Capitalism Before Adam Smith, edited by Henry Clark, 2-8. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003.
Anonymous. “A Remonstrance of the She-Citizens of London” (1647). In Tracts on Liberty by the Levellers and their Critics (1638-1660), edited by David M. Hart and Ross Kenyon. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2014-2015. Page(s): T.35, 2:3.
Lilburne, John. “England’s New Chaines Discovered.” In The Leveller Tracts, edited by William Haller and Godfrey Davies, 157-189. New York: Columbia University Press, 1944.
Lilburne, John. “The Just Defence of John Lilburne.” In The Leveller Tracts, edited by William Haller and Godfrey Davies, 450-464. New York: Columbia University Press, 1944.
Aylmer, G. E., eds. The Levellers in the English Revolution. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975.