The Levellers were a group in England in the 1640s, in the years of the English Civil War. They asked for equal political rights and for freedom of religion: ordinary men should have a say, not only the king, the lords, and the rich. People who hated them stuck them with the name, as if they wanted to knock every person down to the same level. Though actually they were not trying to take all the land and share it out — that was more another group, the Diggers. The Levellers wanted fair laws, a voice in parliament, and the right to follow their own faith. You will meet this word in history class, with a capital L. Later English sometimes calls any person who wants more equality a “leveller”, but that looser use is not this group.