Zinn's+A+Kind+of+Revolution

Zinn's "A Kind of Revolution"
Revolutionary leadership had to incite armed white people to revolt. Slaves and Indians wanted nothing to do with a revolution that would not serve their purposes.

Tried and true strategy = "Offering adventure and rewards of military service to get poor people to fight for a cause they may not see clearly as their own" (61)

Revolutionary War is a story of poor people fighting and dying for their country = Unequal burden of war

Foner states that the war was "a time of immense profits for some colonists and terrible hardships for others." (63)

Continental Congress = rich men comprising big business, landowners & family connections --> colonial ruling class

Officers received 1/2 pay for life while common soldiers got nothing.

Mutinies ran rampant, especially during 1777-78, in the Continental Army due to unfair and unequal treatment of soldiers.

Revolution turned into a civil war, especially in the south between poor lower class and elite planter class. Fear of slave revolts grew.

Loyalist land grabs further padded wealthy landowners' pockets while slightly empowering the middle class.

Conclusion of revolution: allowed colonial elite to replace English rulers; give some benefits to small landholders; leave poor whites and tenant farmers in their same situation.

Indians? --> Largely fought on the side of the British hoping to reinforce Proclamation of 1763; Once British lost, Indians had to fight American colonists alone. = One aspect of American Revolution was a war of Imperialists: British vs. American

Blacks? --> Began using rhetoric of Declaration of Independence to seek freedom and abolish slavery

Groups not represented in Continental Congress: slaves, indentured servants, women, and men without property = vast majority of population

Nature of representative government is that it is conservative at heart = prevents tumultuous changes and poor can never truly be heard

Constitution can be viewed as an economic rather than political document. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton believed that people were too susceptible to disillusionment and propaganda to be fully trusted with democracy.

Constitution reinforces wealthy elite --> middle class buffer --> disenfranchises poor, blacks, women and Indians

The First Amendment has been conservatively interpreted to protect government from public dissent.

Therefore, the Revolution did not create a balance of power among all --> only among those who already had it.