John Cramerus U.S.

History How Revolutionary Was the American Revolution If one was to ask someone what the most important moment within American history was, how would they guess their reply would be? Perhaps they might think that when our country was almost split asunder during the civil war, or perhaps the great economic struggle that we went through during the Great Depression. It would probably be far more likely, however, that the response would be that our most defining moment was the formation of our country; The American Revolution. The question is, how revolutionary was this event in reality? Was it truly the world-turning event that America makes it out to be, or was it of a more preservative nature? In order to truly divine the answer to that question one must look at all aspects of the changes that occurred before and after the revolution. Perhaps this might be best shown by the legislature and its effects on its subjects. As was said in the Declaration of Independence, all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, (Document A). The economy itself was not drastically overthrown upon its head. While there were some shifts within the upper class and those in power, it was no French Revolution where the entire aristocracy was more or less put to death. In fact, the powerful families which supported Britain during the war which had their land confiscated were allowed to buy them back at fair prices using their pre-emption rights. (Document E). While this wasnt exactly the same as their conserving their wealth, it was similar. Of the Phillips family, one such group of loyalists who had their property taken, only a third of the land that was resold was to buyers other than members of the Phillips family who used pre-emption rights. (Document E). This wasnt to say that it was all this way, however. In totality over 1,800,000 acres of loyalist families changed hands as a result of the revolution (Document F). The members of the government, representatives of the state governments, were probably as accurate a representation of the aristocracy of those times as any other group, being that they were all members and wealthy land owners. The members of the Constitutional Convention themselves were overwhelmingly beneficiaries of the Constitutions adoption (Document H). The members of government in general, however, decreased in their economic stature, the amount of them having an income of over five thousand pounds more than halving, and the amount with an income between five hundred and two thousand pounds more than tripling (Document I). Beyond the changing of hands of property, deeds, and pounds, there were also several fundamental changes in the legislature of the states, most notably, policies concerning slavery. The abolition of slavery began in the year 1777, the year after the Declaration of Independence, when Vermont outlawed slavery, as a direct result of Americas newly gained independence. Several states had followed, outrightly outlawing or beginning to outlaw slavery and finishing at a later date. It is true

that the majority of the southern states did not outlaw slavery until Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, however (Document K). Of course, the ideals behind legalities are not always put into place within the realities of life. In the year 1819, a young black man who was valedictorian of his school in New York, which had begun the abolition of slavery but was doing so gradually, passionately spoke about the truths of a black persons opportunity within the States. While progressivism began to be put into place at the time of the Revolution, it still would be much longer until measures of equality would begin surfacing. There were other fronts being fought on the topic of equality. As John Adams wife Abigail Adams wrote her wishes to him in 1776, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors, (Document M). While the matter of womans suffrage wasnt resolved until the nineteenth amendment of the Constitution instituted in 1920, it isnt to say there werent changed following the Revolution. In the two decades of and after the ground breaking event, the favorable decrees made towards women in a court of law concerning divorce increased by significant margins (Document O). While it may be true that there was no complete cultural upheaval identifying Americans completely distinctly from their previous British Colonist selves, that doesnt mean there werent huge changes. From abolition, to equality, to the economy itself, there were major differences before and after the American Revolution. While one might pre-suppose that we were merely protecting our freedom and nothing more came of it, close examination leads to a much difference answer.