Class Struggle During the Revolutionary War essays

Class Struggle During the Revolutionary War essays According to Howard Zinn, during the Revolutionary war, aside from the struggle between the Loyalists and the Colonists, there was also a large class struggle between the rich and the poor, that both affected, and was affected by the war. In America during the 18th century, 90 percent of the population was poor, and only 10 percent was rich and had large land holdings. Also, there were laws in most states that required office holders to own a minimum amount of land, therefore the richest 10 percent of the population controlled the government. Poor people recognized the injustice that they were being served, and considering that they could not do anything to change the laws, they found the one thing that the rich needed them for, and attempted to use it to their advantage. The general mood was to take no part in a war that seemed to have nothing for them (Zinn, 82). The poor felt that conditions weren't going to improve for them either way, so there was no point in risking their lives for the cause. The southern lower classes resisted being mobilized for the Revolution they saw themselves under the rule of a political elite, win or lose against the British (Zinn, 82). Because the poor were, for the most part impartial to the war, the colonists tried to pull them to their side by offering them land that was confiscated from the Loyalists, in return for their assistance. However, when the poor farmers obtained the land, they found themselves changing who they owed money to, instead of changing their financial situation. Although they now owed some land, they remained poor and in debt. The new freeholders found that they had stopped being tenants, but were now mortgagees, paying back loans from banks instead of rent to landlords (Zinn, 85). When the war was over, and the federalists had won, rich colonists had defiantly succeeded in their goal. Not only were they free from taxes imposed by the K...