Class Inequality In The Shoemaker And The Tea Party

In Alfred F. Young’s book, The Shoemaker and the Tea Party, George Robert Twelves Hewes remembers how the Revolutionary War was about equality and recognition. Hewes remembers the Revolutionary war as being about equality when he remembers a moment when he met John Hancock. Hewes was one of the lower class, he was extremely poor as a shoemaker. Whereas, Hancock was one of the elitest in the country. Hancock sat down with Hewes as a young boy and thanked him with a coin.

In dire need of paying off war debt, the British Parliament decided to tax the colonists due to the debt being their fault. Along with taxing the colonists, the East India Company boosted the income for the Parliament and benefited the George III by hurting the colonists economically by enacting the tea act. Blending “lethal politics, personalities, and economics”3 the American Revolution was bound to happen between the colonists and British, having little supporters of the idea of war. With the tension build up between the colonists and British Parliament, the Boston Tea Party occurred with the colonists rebelling against the Parliament’s political decision towards the colonists, symbolizing the starting point for a revolution and a step

Oppressive actions such as the Boston Massacre heavily shook the general public’s view of their British rulers. Unfair policies such as the Stamp Act, in which colonists were forced to pay taxes on almost all paper goods, further agitated unrest in the colonies. If it wasn’t for a mix of oppressive actions and overbearing policies, the Revolution likely would not have gained enough traction to sway the views of the general public, and likely Thomas Jefferson would not have had enough support to write the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson not only used the Declaration of Independence to announce the United States secession from the British Empire, but he also used it to express all of the injustices he saw against colonist’s natural

At first because the American people felt that they were part of Britain that they would be free of taxes with the goals of making revenue. The first of these taxes was the Stamp act causing direct tax on the colonies. Due to colonists not being represented and taxes becoming higher, the population began to try to reconcile with Britain peacefully however this led to a divide between those loyal to Britain called the loyalists and those who felt oppressed to the point of immediate action called the Patriots. In churches, ministers such as the Quaker leader tried to settle down their congregation by addressing the attitude that people were feeling and discussing in a candid tone how harmony would eventually be restored.(Doc 4) Patriots did not believe this publishing documents peacefully participated in boycotts against british goods in a silent revolving against the British government. However due to the taxes following the stamp act such as the tea acht and the cohesive acts tension grew to the point of revolts.

The American Revolution is the ultimate story of an underdog. People from all over the world flocked to this country prior to independence for refuge, “this new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe” (Thomas Paine, Common Sense, pg. 20). The Revolution was fought by common people from humble beginnings, this in effect created a society of equals amongst white adult men. In England, white adult men are referred to as subjects. Citizens by definition are regarded as equal in a republic (Lecture #9) whereas a subject is subjected to the ideals and a hereditary-hierarchy put in place by someone who is deemed more powerful than you.

When looking at the social and political changes that took place during the early American colonies you can see a steady progression towards ideologies that would lead to the Revolution. When you have different levels of government being put in place by the states depending upon their needs, where rural areas had different court systems than more urban areas, you see a level of independence for governance that the colonists began to see the benefit of having, separate from the rule of the Crown. To counter this increase in independence. the Crown implemented ever changing political positions that could be assigned to those who were loyal to the Crown and the social hierarchy that was prevalent in Britain at the time. These actions of corruption

The American Revolution is arguably the turning point of American history as it resulted in somewhat of a significant, positive change in politics, economics, and society as a whole. However, from 1775 to 1800, the effects of the revolution on the American society were subtle as most principles glorified by revolutionists contradicted the examples set forth by colonial reality. Perhaps most alike to revolutionary beliefs was the American economy and how it participated in free trade or encouraged the independence of hard labor. Politically, the states did apply Enlightenment and republican ideas as promised, but more often than not, the benefits of such ideas were limited to rich, land-owning, protestant, white men. This glorification of

The Shoemaker and the Tea Party describes two different interesting points. Hughes is the main character who a is representative of the lower white male class who experienced the removal of deference in the region of the North. Hughes is thus symbolic of the heart of the American Revolution as the people at this time are seeking equality. The other important thesis to be noted in this book, is the Boston Tea Party.

Britain and European roots drive in the U.S having an economic interest over freedom. Layers of self-interest are threaded and lays as unnecessary compromises for the rights and liberties given to the excluded. Their self-interest could not be achieved without disrupting a correct and unbiased, balanced government from the beginning. This needs to keep the rich and the poor divided the country and the start of rebellions. These rebellions were merchants fighting the injustices.

They all wanted freedom, equal rights, and respect. When the British began to tax the colonist, they became extremely upset and enraged, and because of this the revolution began. The colonists were unified, but also divided. Many of them were fearful for their independence because it would cause problems and turmoil with the new country. They were also divided because imported printing goods were being taxed.

During the first years of the English settlements of North America the people who immigrated from England they formed colonies that with the support of the British government. The colonist didn 't pay a lot of taxes on their trading benefits to the government. Through the years, the King and the parliament started raising taxes on almost everything that the colonist was producing in the colonies. The colonists weren 't happy with the new taxation that the king was charging to the colonies, and it led the colonist to protest at British empire. There are several reasons why the colonists revolted against the British government.

The British government was not looking for the best of the people. They were only thinking about what they wanted; the government was not interested in what the people wanted so they decided to make decisions on their own, which resulted in changes that form the United States today. Because of this, they were justified in rebelling and declaring independence. One reason why the colonists decided to rebel and declare independence was because of taxation.

You can tell these are different social classes because of some people wearing fancy wigs and others wearing no shoes. This proves that the American Revolution was revolutionary because after the revolution people are starting to disregard social classes and are starting to treat everyone equally. In modern day American people no longer care about the social class of one another, they just treat each other as equals. The War of Independence was indeed revolutionary because it’s ideas helped bring equality to women and African Americans, it paved the way for many great political changes and because it influenced many social changes.

The people of America (colonists) were tired of being controlled by England. They wanted to be free and independent. They believed that they were able to control themselves and be their own country. They wanted England to let go of their control and to view them as independent and their own country.

“The purpose of the United States Constitution is to limit the power of the federal government not the American people.” – The Federalist Papers. Our government is not the exact same way it was from the very beginning of its creation. It has changed dramatically over the course of about two-hundred years, as said in the video, “The Constitution must change for challenges in the future.” Truthfully, it has been changed and adapted to meet the ever changing needs of our society.