The
Putney Debates were a series of discussions between members of the
New Model Army, a number of the participants were
Levellers, concerning the makeup of a new
constitution for
England. After seizing the
City of London from Presbyterian opponents in August 1647, the New Model Army had set up its headquarters at Putney. The debates began at the
Church of St. Mary the Virgin,
Putney, in the county of
Surrey (now in South West
London), starting on
28 October 1647 but moved to Quartermaster General of Foot
Thomas Grosvenor's lodgings (also in Putney) on
29 October. The debates lasted until
11 November.
Earlier that summer Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton and other officers, known as the Grandees, attempted to negotiate a settlement with Charles I of England in the aftermath of the First Civil War. Their proposals, termed the Heads of Proposals included provisions for social justice, but the monarchy and House of Lords retained a power of veto over the House of Commons. A further feature of the Heads of Proposals was that the king would be restored before the issues of the soldiers' indemnity and arrears were entrenched in law. This was contrary to the New Model Army's Declaration of 14 June 1647 and consequently the Heads of Proposals lost the support of the more radical elements among the military and civilian populations.
The New Model Army was the first army in history to have some kind of democratic debate in its ranks.[citation needed] Sometime before October 1647, five of the most radical cavalry regiments elected new Agitators – known as the New Agents – to represent their views. The New Agents issued a political manifesto The Case of the Armie Truly Stated,[1] . The fundamental ideas of the Case of the Armie would later be reflected in the constitutional proposals drafted in the Agreement of the People.[2] The radicals wanted a constitution based upon manhood suffrage ("one man, one vote"), biennial Parliaments and a reorganisation of parliamentary constituencies. Authority was to be vested in the House of Commons rather than the King and Lords. Certain "native rights" were declared sacrosanct for all Englishmen freedom of conscience, freedom from impressment into the armed forces and equality before the law.
The Putney Debates came about as a result of the publication of the Case of the Armie. According to the author of a book called A Cal to all the Soldiers of the Armie (a work usually ascribed to John Wildman), Ireton was so incensed by the Case of the Armie that the New Agents were invited to debate the Case of the Armie before the General Council of the Army. Fairfax was unwell and could not be present, so Cromwell sat in the chair. Cromwell flatly refused to accept any compromise in which the King was overthrown, while Henry Ireton (son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell) pressed the case that his own The Heads of the Proposals[3] covered all of the concerns raised by the New Agents in The Case of the Armie. The New Agents accepted the meeting, sending Robert Everard (identified on the first day of the Putney Debates as 'Buff Coat') and another New Agent from Col. Whalley's Regiment only identified as 'Bedfordshire Man' (this was possibly Trooper Matthew Weale, a signatory of the Case of the Armie and the Agreement of the People). Other members of the Army present were Colonel Thomas Rainsborough (MP for Droitwich), his brother Major William Rainsborough, and the Agitators Edward Sexby and William Allen. The New Agents also brought John Wildman and Maximillian Petty, two civilian advisors who had been involved with Army affairs since at least July 1647.
