The Putney Debates of 1647 - 951 Words

Arguments proposed by the Grandees in the simulated debate included justifications and further defense of the original Grandees’ arguments. The chief topics to focus on include the importance of immovable property and vested interests, the threat of anarchy from universal incorporation, and the essential definition of tacit consent. All aspects of these arguments set out to make the demands of the Levellers appear unobtainable at the time. When analyzing each topic, the drastic difference of the Levellers and Grandees are discovered, along with certain similarities that make both sides appear not so different in ideology. Most importantly, each argument was essential to democracy then, as they are in today’s modern society. The†¦show more content†¦The type of consent expressed by an individual did not matter in relevance to their level or authorization of participation. The main ideal behind tacit consent for the Grandees involved enjoying the laws that govern the land and protecting citizens from outside influence. These points automatically made one subjective to the decree of the government, which in this sense required one to have immovable property in order to have a vote. Along with the idea of tacit consent, the Grandees highlighted the difference between birthrights and natural rights with the latter not including the right to vote. For the Levellers, the benefits of birthrights appeared to sufficiently warrant their ability to take part in voting, but simply being born in England no longer meant allowed for their selection of leaders and officials. In relation to democracy, the type of consent present in a government should be expressed, but when the components of a recent civil war and the possibility of another are present certain types of consent can only be allowed. Furthermore, the Grandees have effectively identified which measures and precautions to take in order to prevent future conflict in England, which included ignor ing the expressed consent of the citizens. Along with identifying the consent of the populace, the Grandees accepted the service of the Levellers in the civil war as consenting to government and being subjective to itsShow MoreRelatedâ€Å"Religion was more important than politics in the failure of King and Parliament to reach a settlement. 1646-1649†, Assess the validity of this statement.1416 Words   |  6 Pagesincreased within the army, radicalising them. The development of the Leveller movement was the result of economic distress which was cause by the civil war, particularly in London, in a time of political and religious uncertainty. At the end of April 1647, eight cavalry regiments chose men as representatives for the adjutators and met with the senior officers. The Levellers ideas, under their leader John Lilburne, had clearly influenced the policies of Henry Ireton and Oliver Cromwell condemning them