The Levellers were a 17th century English political party, and were one of the largest factions on the Parliamentarian side during the English Civil War. They were organised at the national level, with offices in a number of London inns and taverns; they published a newspaper (The Moderate) and they used sea-green ribbons as an identifier. They were extremely well-supported from within the ranks of the New Model Army.
The most vocal of the Leveller leaders was John Lilburne. Other leaders included William Walwyn, Thomas Prince and Richard Overton. "Freeborn" John Lilburne regarded the term Levellers as pejorative. Lilburne called his supporters "Levellers so-called" and preferred to refer to The Levellers as "Agitators".
The Levellers' political ambitions involved a remodelling of the English political process along the lines of a more egalitarian, less class-driven regime. They held (in the words of Richard Overton) that "by natural birth all men are equally and alike borne to like propriety, liberty and freedom," and that government should be a contract between equal citizens. Their manifesto included: universal suffrage for all adult males; biannual or annual elections; complete religious freedom; an end to the censorship of books and newspapers; the abolition of the monarchy and the House of Lords; trial by jury; an end to taxation of people earning less than £30 a year and a maximum interest rate of 6%.
Their views were in stark contrast to groups such as The Diggers, who were led by Gerrard Winstanley and called themselves True Levellers. They called for a total destruction of the existing order and replacement with a communistic and agrarian lifestyle based around the precepts of the early Christians.
The whole basis of Leveller politics was original in that it was not founded on religious doctrine. What the Levellers sought was a secular republic, without religious direction from the state. In common with later liberals they called for the abolition of tithes, the feudal fee charged to pay for the state church. They argued for complete religious tolerance, a position which was markedly radical for the time.