Oaths, covenants, associations and the origins of the Agreements of the People : the road to and from Putney / Edward Vallance -- The people of the agreements : the Levellers, civil war radicalism and political participation / Jason Peacey -- Constitutionalism : ancient, modern and early modern in the Agreements of the People / D. Alan Orr -- The Levellers, decentralisation and the Agreements of the People / Philip Baker -- Freedom of conscience and the Agreements of the People / Rachel Foxley -- The New Model Army and the constitutional crisis of the later 1640s / Ian Gentles -- Drafting the officers' Agreement of the People, 1648-49 : a reappraisal / Frances Henderson -- 'A firme and present peace; upon grounds of common right and freedome' : the debate on the Agreements of the People and the crisis of the constitution, 1647-59 / Elliot Vernon -- Diggers, true Levellers and the crisis of the English Revolution / Ann Hughes -- The Agreements of the People and the constitutions of the interregnum governments / David L. Smith.
Summary:
"The Agreements of the People were a series of constitutional schemes written, variously, by Levellers, soldiers of the New Model Army and other citizens for the settlement of 'common right and freedom' in the crisis years of the English Revolution. At the heart of these documents was the idea that a mass subscription campaign--a literal agreement of the entire population--would provide the means to rebuild the post-Civil War English state upon constitutional 'foundations of freedom' that could never be interfered with by future governments. These freedoms included legal equality before the law, freedom of religious conscience and freedom from impressment. This collection of essays, written by prominent scholars in the field, is the first book to explore the various Agreements in their constitutional, political and religious contexts, and examines how contemporaries and historians have interpreted these fascinating proposals for a system of government founded on a written constitution"--Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.