It was really interesting to read about the roots of America’s economic gap between rich and poor since it has been perpetuated since the 1700’s. The author of Tyranny is Tyranny begins this chapter by mentioning Bacon’s Rebellion, which resulted in eighteen uprisings with the purpose of overthrowing colonial governments. I mention this event because it shows a sort of leadership that was purely dependent on situational factors, or as the author described, “this local leadership saw the possibility of directing much of the rebellious energy against England” (page 59). I think this is extremely important because the struggles of America to gain independence from Britain were only overcome once a reasonable amount of the population was on board. Since there was so much economic inequality, one of America’s main focuses was to relieve class tensions. Patrick Henry’s oratory in Virginia suggested to “find a language inspiring to all classes, specific enough in its listing of grievances to charge people with anger against the British” (page 68). In my opinion, any group of people that desires to overthrow their government must find a unified purpose, which is why it was so important for both the upper and lower classes to have a common goal.
Tyranny is Tyranny
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Leadership through rebellion seemed to have emerged from the oppressive situations around the colonial leaders involved. Initially, the rebellious energy started off small and as an oddity to groupthink, which may have been a reason why the independence really began to take off only after enough or a “good amount” of [important] people were on board. It is so interesting to me that poor and rich people found independence to be the common cause to unite.
I also think it is interesting that the economic difference between the classes was overcome in order to find some kind of common ground and push them to work together and work for freedom, even if it was for different reasons that made them want to be independent from Britain because the poor had different struggles than the upperclassmen. I also find it interesting that it was such a big push for them to be free of the oppressive rule in England and that the consequences it caused in America such as the poor remaining poor were able to find its roots back to England and therefore, reinforcing that common ground.