It turns out that the revolutionary war was making the ruling elite more secure from internal trouble in a number of different scenarios. The war was engineered by the ruling class and fought by the poor hardworking farmers.
The military conflict diminished other issues, made people chose sides in a contest that was publicly important and distracted them from taking issue with the ruling class. There was a large gap between the distribution of wealth and power in the colonies. In addition the poor and slaves outnumbered the ruling class heavily causing worry of rebellion and discourse. In addition the laborers, seaman and small farmers and local townspeople were swept up in the “rhetoric of the revolution, by the camaraderie of military service, by the distribution of land.” Zinn 65
The ruling elite were making immense profits and collecting large portions of land, while this period created terrible hardships for others, mainly the middle to lower class. This caused signifigant conflict between the classes, 1700 tenants closed the courts and broke open the jails in New York in 1766, and many tenants stopped paying rent during the war. Most soldiers in the revolutionary war were not even paid, meanwhile, the revolutionary war officers were given half-pay for life if they stuck until the end of the conflict.
In addition, the distribution of land of fleeing loyalists was distributed mainly to the revolutionary leaders with a little given to the general population in order to appease them and gain their support.
The Indian conflict was partially resolved as a result the revolutionary war also. The Indians could now be pushed out of the way, or killed if they resisted, to make room for the movement west. The Indian’s were swindled or pushed out of thousands of acres of land during this time to make room for expansion.
In summary the revolutionary war made the ruling elite more powerful and wealthy while eliminating some of the opportunities for conflict with the common working people.
Shown here is a picture of George Washington, “The richest man in America” and definitely part of the ruling elite.
Works cited
Zinn, Howard. A people’s history of the united states, Vol 1, New York: The New P, 2003
Picture courtesy of “The library of congress digital archives”, originally from the Chicago daily news
http://webct.dvc.edu/SCRIPT/HIST120_5563_SU09/scripts/student/serve_page.pl?1219012904+default_summer.htm+OFF+default_summer.htm
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