The American Revolution: A Middle Class MovementThe American Revolution: A Middle Class MovementThe American Revolution: A Middle Class MovementRevolutions are generally defined by certain causes and results stemming from discontent in the governed people. Among these outcomes are change in the political, social and economic order of society. In the American Revolution, however, not all of these areas of the nation were altered in a way conducive with a true Revolution. The government was overthrown and a democracy was formed. Nevertheless, no large variance was apparent in the economic trend of development, and the tiers of society remained all but untouched following the Revolution.
As is the case in many revolutions that have taken place in the world, wealth was a contributing factor. The poorer masses become disgruntled at the overwhelming wealth of a select few. The upper class, most times, is also the ruling class. This springs from the longstanding principle in a lot of cultures of primogeniture and hereditary titles, especially with a monarchical government, as was the case in England in pre-Revolutionary times. The ruling class would feel the full wrath of the people, and more often than not got stripped of their land, money, title, and sometimes even their lives. This is where the American Revolution differs from say their French or Russian counterparts. Commonly, the riches acquired as a result of revolt were then given to the people, or used in a manner beneficial to the people, and the formerly rich were done away with. Post-American Revolutionary “spoils” consisted of large quantities of land left behind by loyalists who fled the country, or were kicked out but not killed and land which had belonged to the Crown. The majority of these plots of land, numbering millions of acres over all, were sold piece by piece to speculators or men who already had a substantial amount of land under their belts. In this specific country, land was abundant, so it was not absolutely necessary for the poorer masses to automatically acquire the land, but this, and the detail that the reformers did not dispatch their previous leaders, shows how much less radical the American movement was than those in Russia or France. Because the less fortunate did not see any of the physical aspects of the bounty of the Revolution, the land stayed within the middle class, and lower upper class, of the people. This also further defined the social classes in the newly founded United States.
In the initial settlement of America, social classes existed solely based on being settled by the English. Social distinctions were so bred into English culture that they thought to not have a difference of the classes was preposterous and barbaric. When the first few slews of boats cam to the New World, they had high hopes because, dissimilar to England, they were given a chance to rise, to a certain extent, in class through wealth. It is true that the lower classed people who came to America began as indentured servants, but they had faith that once free of their servitude they would make a great deal of money off their own land. As Crane Brinton writes, one of the conditions present as causes of major revolutions is that people are initially hopeful about the future, but they are forced to accept less than
The Second American Revolution [ edit ]
The first European revolution that took place after the collapse of feudalism was the first American revolution that the United States made with the help of some of the largest landowners of the continent, Henry Clay, David Barton, and George Washington, and brought together all the powers of the Atlantic and the Pacific as a series of national institutions, including the European Parliament, the Continental Congress, and the American government. In 1790 a majority of the working class made some of these reforms, such as creating a national corporation (citizen); establishing the union; outlawing slavery; permitting government-employee unionism; granting equal rights to women and men (such as the right to equal pay); and freeing citizens from the most unjust laws, laws, and regulations that have ever been passed, such as treason, bribery, and slavery. The U.S. constitution had a similar charter to the Constitution of the U.S., with the phrase ‘a Constitution of the United States, composed of a national body, authorized by the Congress for the common use of the United States, and also provided for the election of Senators in the houses of the states, to the presidency and the lower house, with the advice and consent of the people, to select successors.’ As in England, the Constitution of the U.S. established the Congress to direct the military government into the new form of government, to take control of military operations, to give them control of foreign affairs, to fix tariff rates for the first time or pay the cost of defending themselves and their nation, to pay their fair share in the government expenses, and to establish a system of foreign exchange in the colonies. It allowed States to set all their taxes and customs, and foreign currencies.
For the first time since the beginning of time, the U.S. government could act effectively (though without having to pay its own expenses for government or pay taxes). The U.S. Constitution also provided for the military establishment. It authorized the president, both in the Continental Congress and in the executive branch, to choose and execute the secretary of war or secretary of treasury. Some governors and admirals were appointed by the president, but some did not, and in 1795 an act giving them a degree of power that is still held in this day was passed by Congress. It provided for the establishment of the treasury, and many other laws and regulations. On June 4, 1797, the secretary of state, in his new capacity as president, authorized the Congress to use all the powers granted by the Federal constitution to pay its own expenses. The congress, for its part, was empowered to make treaties of commerce and foreign relations. It also delegated to the president such powers as he wished, which included the power to levy income taxes, authorize tax exemptions, levy duties, withhold revenue, and set up the United States Postal Service, as was done before in 1693. It allowed the presidency to appoint all the presidents, who would act for his personal political party, and it created new appointments for both houses of Congress.
In addition to many new provisions, the U.S. Constitution provided for ratification by the states, as well as the federal government,