I never thought I’d read about the American Revolution again. It is one of my least favorite parts of history, and it always felt like it was taught in order to flex or instill a greater sense of nationalism. It’s always been something that is taught over and over again throughout k-12. You learn it multiple times in elementary school, then again in middle school, and again in High School. I thought I knew everything there was to know; tea throwing in the sea and all. Zinn brought up some points that I had never actually thought about, things that related to the common folk.
I thought it was very interesting that most of the colonists didn’t actually support the revolution. The middle class that actually did support the revolution, only supported it because of economic reasons, not because they hated England and wanted to rebel. A lot of people also refused to fight in the Revolutionary war, and staged mutinies, which is something I was never taught. That was so interesting because it really shows that the only people who really wanted this was the elite, and the elite are those who get what they want and write history as we know it. The elites convinced the working-class people that they were going to gain a lot from this war, and that is why they need to fight it, but at the end of the day who gained more power and more wealth was the elite.
This idea really connects to the society we live in today. A lot of promises are made to us by politicians, millionaires, people in power, but nothing is ever actually done unless it benefits the 1%. They get away with this because some is given to the working class, but most stays within the 1%. The small, and I mean small, advances made for the common people is what keeps everything in order and keeps the elites elite without much sacrifice or change.
I think it’s really interesting how you connected the reading to the current political climate. The role of the wealthy and political elite were definitely evident in the readings and maybe even more evident in today’s politics. People with more wealth are more likely to hold a position of power which in turn gives them the power to break promises and not rule in the best interest of the people. These are concepts that were seen during the time of the American Revolution as well because the elite class manipulated people of lower classes to push their own agenda.