Editing John Lilburne (section)

==Written constitution==
Lilburne was instrumental in the writing of two more editions of this famous document. The second, ''[[Agreement of the People|An Agreement of the People of England, and the places therewith incorporated, for a secure and present peace, upon grounds of common right, freedom and safety]]'',<ref>[http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/agreement-people.htm Agreement of the People of England] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211092845/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/agreement-people.htm |date=11 February 2013 }}, as presented to Parliament in January 1649</ref> was presented to [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] on 11 September 1648 after amassing signatories including about a third of all Londoners.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}

Following the defeat of the Royalists and the abolition of the monarchy and [[House of Lords]], England became a [[Republic|commonwealth]] in 1649 with the [[regicide]] of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]. It was while he was in the Tower of London that Lilburne, [[William Walwyn]], [[Thomas Prince (Leveller)|Thomas Prince]] and [[Richard Overton (pamphleteer)|Richard Overton]] wrote the third edition of ''[[Agreement of the People|An Agreement of the Free People of England. Tendered as a Peace-Offering to this distressed Nation]]''.<ref>[http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/agreement-people.htm An Agreement of the Free People of England] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211092845/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/agreement-people.htm |date=11 February 2013 }}, extended version from the imprisonment of the Leveller leaders, May 1649</ref> They hoped that this document would be signed like a referendum so that it would become a written constitution for the Commonwealth of England. The United States Supreme Court Justice [[Hugo Black]], who often cited the works of Lilburne in his opinions, wrote in an entry for ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' that he believed Lilburne's constitutional work of 1649 was the basis for the basic rights contained in the [[United States Constitution|US Constitution]] and [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]].