Having read dozens of Founding Fathers biographies and other books about the American Revolution and the political atmosphere of the time, I’ve begun to focus on specialized books that go into great detail about one aspect of that era. The latest is titled “Labor and the American Revolution” by Philip S. Foner, published in 1976. It focuses on the role played by the artisans, mechanics, common laborers (including slaves and indentured servants), and sailors in enforcing the non-importation protests triggered by the Stamp Act, the Townsend Acts, and the Boston Port Act; and goes on to discuss the influence that these folks had in shaping the republic after independence. These laborers were first motivated by self interest, initially because they resented the unprecedented presence of British troops in New York and Boston, partly because they were unused to such an authoritarian presence and also because off duty British troops were stiff competition as day laborers. Sailors had even more reason for resentment because of the British practice of impressing local sailors into the British navy. Mechanics and apprentices were further motivated when non-importation meant more work for domestic industries. Unlike their European brethren, most American laborers were literate and, judging by their letters, resolutions from their meetings, and other writings they commanded impressive vocabularies. Many became true patriots after associating with the likes of Sam Adams in Boston and his counterparts in other colonial cities; from such associations and especially from the famous pamphlet, Common Sense, these less sophisticated men learned about the British Constitution and the concept of Natural Rights. Early in the modern “Tea Party” movement I notice a similar phenomenon. People who first became involved because of fury over the 2008 corporate bailouts and the election to the Presidency of a man that did little to hide his socialist ideology and promised to “fundamentally transform America”, quickly gained knowledge and appreciation of the American Constitution and our founding principles. The more they learned, the more they realized how badly our nation has detoured from those principles, long before that election. Only time will tell if these modern patriots will have as much influence as those shoe makers and rope walkers of the American Revolution.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 19:36:22 +0000
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