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EduFixersHistoryHow Did the American Revolution Influence Society

How Did the American Revolution Influence Society

Subject: History
Pages: 4
Words: 1215
Reading time:
5 min
Study level: College

Introduction

The late 18th century was marked by a notable event – becoming a new nation. Following the heated debates around taxation, imports, and autonomy, the American colonists broke away from the rule of Great Britain and built their government. The notable change that occurred was the diminishment of colonial class hierarchy, which transferred the power from the Crown to the people. The newly created Constitution permitted the citizens to get involved in politics and legislation. In the pre-revolution colonial societies, certain social groups, like the enslaved African Americans or women, had little to no say in these matters. With the commencement of the Revolution, the first glimpses of change started to appear, promising hope for equal rights for all. However, as the Declaration of Independence was produced, proclaiming that all men are created equal, the groups like Native Americans, women, and African Americans were still not explicitly included. In this work, the intersections between the ideas of the Revolution, the early abolitionism sentiments, and women’s rights are introduced and analyzed. Hence, although the American society was reconstructed through the American Revolution’s political, economic, and social effects, it had a long way until the sense of equality for the marginalized groups was secured.

Contextualization

First Source

Before the American Revolution, the practices of slavery were widespread in the region – enslaved people were considered property that could be sold or traded. Through the transatlantic slave trade, many were transported from Central and West Africa and used for plantation labor.1. In need of soldiers, both sides of the parties started to recruit enslaved people to fight alongside them: for instance, Abraham Lincoln described African Americans as a “great available and yet unavailed of, force for restoring the union.”2. In the aftermath of the American War, there was a momentary impression that the institution of slavery would disappear – however, the African Americans faced bitter disappointment. Frederick Douglass voices this disappointment in his speech in Rochester, delivered on July 5th, 1852. The speech is made in the context of slavery nationalization by the American Congress, which Douglass refers to as the event which put “the liberty and person of every man…in peril.” 3 The selected speech addresses the issues of slavery remaining in the post-Revolution society, providing a new perspective on African American lives.

Second Source

The proclamation of the American autonomy from the British Crown would be incomplete without one of the most important documents of its time, the Declaration of Independence. However, it would be helpful to critically examine the notions of autonomy and equality for its creators by introducing a woman’s perspective on the matter. Throughout the Revolution, women were active participants and supported the ideas of autonomy and equality despite not being granted the same rights as men. As the Committee of Five was drafting the Declaration, the members kept the correspondence with their wives. One of the most notable sources of that time is the letter written by Abigail Adams to her husband, John Adams, on March 31, 1776. In this letter, she begs to “remember the ladies”4 in the making of the new nation and to avoid putting the “unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands.”5 Mrs. Adams thus sent a powerful message to the men in charge of the new societal rules; simultaneously, her message indicates that women were not regarded as deserving of the same degree of autonomy as men. In July of the same year, the Declaration of Independence was created, with the American women not awarded explicit rights in its text. This letter speaks to the prevailing sentiments at the time, addressing the issues of the society after the Revolution.

Analysis

First Source

Although slavery would not be abolished until about a century later, the first signs of change started to appear on the horizon with the advance of the Revolution. However, the advances for equality perpetuated by the American Revolution were not, ironically, equal for all. At that time, the colonial history of associating the black population with the servitude was still persistent in the South6. The African Americans regarded the values that the Revolution perpetuated as profoundly incomplete since they did not provide freedom to the enslaved people7. The Revolution that stated that all men are created equal concluded, in many ways, with creating racial categories: having the African-descended and Indian loyalists fight with the Patriots created the divide8. The American Patriots created a new political language – that of freedom, which the African Americans subsequently used to argue for their rights9. This language rings through Douglass’s speech when he refers to the 4th of July as a day that reveals “to the American slave… the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”10 Through his speech, it is evident that the promises of “liberty and equality” of the Revolution were no more than “hollow mockery” to the African American population11.

Second Source

Understanding the impact of the American Revolution on the advances in women’s rights allows one to view the events of that time in a new light. In the events leading up to and during the American Revolution, the role of women, even educated and politically aware ones like Mrs. Adams, was often reduced to a merely symbolic status12. However, during the times of war, women had a chance to get involved with entrepreneurship like medicine13. Abigail Adams was one of the few ‘white elite’ women who wrote extensively on topics of gender equality in education and social status, exchanging letters with many influential political members.14 As the historians15 contend, the American Revolutionary War produced ‘openings’ in the society, which allowed the shift of the traditional gender roles and enabled women to move toward the new era. The upturned colonial society gave women a chance to occupy some of the previously “public, political, diplomatic, and masculine”16 spaces. As a historical phenomenon, the American Revolution did not explicitly alter female legal status: marital inequality persisted, and the explicit granting of women’s rights did not occur until much later.17 Hence, the changes were opportunistic – if women were entrepreneurial, insistent, and financially stable enough, they could carve out a new niche.

Conclusion

In conclusion, American society was profoundly altered by the events of the American Revolution, but its gains were not immediate and equal for all. In the new republic, a citizen was still a white male – this notion came with many shortcomings for the African Americans and women. The advances of slavery in the post-war period and the struggles to gain marital equality were some of the issues that persisted. Nonetheless, during the colonial times, women’s social and political capital did not count for much if it were not for a male recommendation, finance, or support; the Revolution allowed women to realize some of their potentials. Moreover, in their strive to gain independence from the British Crown, the American Patriots coined a new language of pollical liberty, which the African Americans could then use to argue for their rights. Ultimately, the Revolution opened up the space and provided some of the linguistic tools for the discriminated groups to fight for their rights to be included in American freedom. Although the results were not immediate, the events of the American Revolution began the monumental process of achieving equality for all.

Bibliography

Adams, Abigail. Letter. “To John Adams, March 31, 1776.” 1776. The American Library.

Douglass, Frederick. Oration Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester. Lee, Mann & Company, 1852.

Oberg, Barbara, ed. Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019.

Schermerhorn, Calvin. Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Footnotes

  1. Calvin Schermerhorn, Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery (Cambridge University Press, 2018), 8.
  2. Calvin Schermerhorn, Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery, 203.
  3. Frederick Douglass, Oration Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester (Lee, Mann & Company, 1852), 25.
  4. Abigail Adams to John Adams, “To John Adams, March 31, 1776,” (The American Library, 1776). Web.
  5. Abigail Adams to John Adams.
  6. Calvin Schermerhorn, Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery, 22.
  7. Calvin Schermerhorn, Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery, 48.
  8. Calvin Schermerhorn, Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery, 33.
  9. Calvin Schermerhorn, Unrequited Toil: A History of United States Slavery, 32.
  10. Frederick Douglass, Oration Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, 20.
  11. Frederick Douglass, Oration Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, 20.
  12. Barbara Oberg, ed., Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2019), 130.
  13. Barbara Oberg, ed., Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World, 130.
  14. Barbara Oberg, ed., Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World, 3.
  15. Barbara Oberg, ed., Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World, 13.
  16. Barbara Oberg, ed., Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World, 84.
  17. Barbara Oberg, ed., Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World, 229.