The Putney Debates were a series of discussions between members of the New Model Army – a number of the participants being 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.
Read more about Putney Debates: Background, Debates, Conclusion
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“The debates of that great assembly are frequently vague and perplexed, seeming to be dragged rather than to march, to the intended goal. Something of this sort must, I think, always happen in public democratic assemblies.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)