Course:History 344 Nasty Families/Government/The Diggers

The Diggers

The Diggers were a small political group of people who first arose between 1649 and 1650 in England, particularly near Surrey (1). The Diggers mainly consisted of those who were quite poor and (like the levellers) wanted equality for all. They believed in living from the ground as it allowed everyone an equal share of the food produced, which was a big issue for the Diggers as many of them lived in poverty and were starving. However they were not like some political groups who just discussed how they wanted equality, “[t]hey built houses, cultivated the land and established a community of equals” (2). The problem was however that these lands the Diggers built on and farmed did not belong to them, they instead were common lands and lands they believed were not being occupied (3).

This led to quite a problem as a person would experience great loss if the Diggers happened to cultivate their land and build a community on it. The Diggers eventually would be chased out by the army, but it may take time for the army to come from England and remove them from their land. Diggers also did not strongly believe in ownership, mainly due to ownership leading to inequality of those in the community. An example of this is after being put on trial and losing their case, they were ordered to surrender the cows had but upon closer inspection they did not own the cows and had taken them from another pasture (4). If the Diggers were to set up a community on a person’s land, not only would their land be damaged but there is also the risk they could lose the animals they owned.

(1) Ben Sandell, “Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers”. History Review 70 (2011). Accessed on April 3, 2012. URL: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/detail?sid=176b8ac6-175c-498d-8bdc-0321445d3185%40sessionmgr112&vid=6&hid=111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=30h&AN=66782764. (2) IBID. (3) IBID. (4) IBID.