American Revolution

Although considerable scholarship has been devoted to the accomplishments of the founding fathers and their role in liberating the colonies from Great Britain, the real heroes of the American Revolution were ordinary men. These men hailed from the lower strata of society, and included working class urbanites, rural peasants, immigrants, and blacks, both free and slave. Such men provided the muscle and participated in mob action against British tyranny. Mass movements such as these led to war in the American colonies.

Economic interests played a larger role in the American Revolution than many historians care to acknowledge. Granted, the ideals of freedom, liberty, and the rights of man were at the forefront in much of the rhetoric espoused by the founding fathers, but even this group, most who were property owners with considerable wealth, had many economic interests to protect: "All things considered, it seems clear that in most states the strength of the revolutionary party lay most largely in the plain people, as distinguished from the aristocracy" (Jameson 18). The common man who participated in the insurrections that preceded the declaration of war was often prompted by a strong sense of injustice. Free blacks who served in the colonial forces had their personal freedom at stake, since many of them were treated no better than slaves. Slaves who enlisted did so because of the promise of emancipation after military service. Thus core issues of fre

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ident, many leading colonial citizens, including John Adams, criticized the lower class participants in scathing terms. Most were relegated to the status of vulgar ruffians. The fact that a black man, Crispus Attucks, was among those killed, further denigrated the participants. Seeking a scapegoat, many colonial leaders blamed Attucks for the whole affair: "The evidence given in court, the newspaper reports, the earliest tradition, all single him out, in praise or blame, as the shaper of the event" (Kaplan 8). Killed along with Attucks were four white men, all members of the lower class: a ropemaker, a ship's mate, an apprentice joiner, and an individual described only as an "Irishman." A significant number of ethnic immigrants, such as Irish, participated in the insurrections that preceded the war with Great Britain. Because almost seventy percent of colonists during this period were of English descent, ethnic immigrants were referred to as "foreigners." Some of the people who emigrated to the United States during this era came for the express purpose of participating in the Revolution. Others had already settled in the colonies before the war began. Some remained loyal to England while others became patriots. Among

Category: History - A