The Agreement of the People was the principal constitutional manifesto issued by the Levellers. It was intended to be signed by all those who wished to enjoy rights of citizenship. The Agreement was first drafted in October 1647 when Agitators of the New Model Army and civilian Levellers collaborated to propose a new constitution in the aftermath of the First Civil War.
Stating that sovereign power should reside in the people of England rather than with the discredited King or Parliament, the original Agreement consisted of four clauses:
- The peoples' representatives (i.e Members of Parliament) should be elected in proportion to the population of their constituencies;
- The existing Parliament should be dissolved on 30 September 1648;
- Future Parliaments should be elected biennially and sit every other year from April to September;
- The biennial Parliament (consisting of a single elected House) should be the supreme authority in the land, with powers to make or repeal laws, appoint officials and conduct domestic and foreign policy.
Certain constraints were placed on Parliament: it was not to interfere with freedom of religion; it was not to press men to serve in the armed forces; it could not prosecute anyone for their part in the recent war; it was not to exempt anyone from the ordinary course of the law; all laws passed by Parliament should be for the common good.
The Agreement was debated at the Putney Debates of October and November 1647 where the Grandees Cromwell and Ireton tried to curb the perceived extremism of the Levellers. Attempts to gain general support for the Agreement at the Army rendezvous at Corkbush Field were forcibly opposed by the Grandees.
Following the King's defeat in the Second Civil War, an extended version of the Agreement was promoted by John Lilburne who hoped to find a middle way between royal despotism and military dictatorship. The Agreement was presented to Parliament as a basis for a new constitution in January 1649. MPs postponed discussion of the Agreement until after the King's trial, and it was never taken up again by Parliament.
A fully developed version of the Agreement was issued in May 1649 which proposed:
- The right to vote for all men over the age of 21 (excepting servants, beggars and Royalists);
- No army officer, treasurer or lawyer could be an MP (to prevent conflict of interest);
- Annual elections to Parliament with MPs serving one term only;
- Equality of all persons before the law;
- Trials should be heard before 12 jurymen, freely chosen by their community.
- No-one could be punished for refusing to testify against themselves in criminal cases;
- The law should proceed in English and cases should not extend longer than six months;
- The death penalty to be applied only in cases of murder;
- Abolition of imprisonment for debt;
- Tithes should be abolished and parishioners have the right to choose their ministers;
- Taxation in proportion to real or personal property;
- Abolition of military conscription, monopolies and excise taxes.
This version appeared after the Leveller leaders had been imprisoned by the Council of State and a few weeks before Cromwell's suppression of the Army Levellers at Burford.