Labor and the American Revolution is but one of dozens by one the most well known and controversial marxist historians of the last century, Philip S. Foner. To say he was a prolific writer is somewhat of an understatement. His obituary credited him with writing more then a hundred volumes, but Worldcat.org shows more then double that number authored or co-authored by him. In 1941, his political views brought the scrutiny of a communist witch hunt conducted by the state legislature's Rapp-Coudert Committee, which led to his subsequent dismissal from the faculty of New York's City College, along with dozens of others including his three brothers. In 1967 he finally returned to academia, joining the faculty of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. One has to wonder though if this was a step taken out of necessity, or rather a desire to teach again, and perhaps to show a kind of symbolic solidarity with the down-trodden of our society, which he dedicated so much of his life to writing about. Foner retired in 1979 and in 1981 City College finally apologized to all of those who were fired forty years earlier, for what it called regretful violations of academic freedom.
In this volume Foner presents his answer to the generational question pondered by historians, about whether or not the American Revolution was really a revolution at all in the true sense of the word. That is a class struggle, aimed at leveling the playing field of democracy in the country, or purely a political quarrel between England and her American colonies. He concludes that the revolution was most assuredly a class struggle of this ilk; one to determine “who would rule at home”, as he quoted from the noted progressive historian Carl Becker in the preface. He asserts ...
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...hinting at the possible fabrication of some original source material. Perhaps the most disturbing charge of all is that he actually destroyed some original records belonging to labor organizations. Although none of this was directed specifically at this book, a diligent scholar would be well advised to keep this information in mind.
Despite the stated shortcomings with this work and the obvious concern one must logically have about the integrity of the writer's scholastic housekeeping, this reviewer like many of Foner's staunchest critics in the past, still commends this as a highly useful piece of scholarship, which truly gives the reader a quite comprehensive picture of the role played by the urban working classes in bringing about the American Revolution.
Works Cited
Foner, Phillip S. Labor and the American Revolution. Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1976.
In Woody Holton's Forced Founders, that most revered segment of the revolutionary generation, the elitist gentry class of Virginia, comes across very much as a group of self-serving reactionaries, rather then the idealized revolutionaries of the great patriotic myth of popular history. He sets about disassembling a central portion of the myth created by earlier generations of Consensus historians, by asserting that rather then gallantly leading the charge for independence, Virginia's elitist gentry resorted to independence as their last and only means of saving their elite ruling status, their economic futures, and even their very lives many feared. While this is very much an example of revisionist history, Holton has not so much rewritten history, as he has provided the back story of the complexity and diversity of the Virginia colony on the eve of the American Revolution. For while the book's title may insinuate otherwise, lowly groups like slaves and Indians discussed here are afforded only the status of “founders” by pressing those traditionally thought of in this role to take the plunge for independence. Still the papers and correspondence of the iconic figureheads of the revolutionary generation like Washington, Jefferson, and Madison make up the bulk of primary sources.
Nash’s argument regarding to how the American Revolution portrayed “radicalism” throughout the American Revolution has been supported from the previous pieces of evidence. Moreover, the pieces of evidence listed to support Gary B. Nash’s argument are supported in embodying the true manner on how the American colonists fought to let go of their submission with the British and try to throw down Parliaments Policies. The evidence presented illustrate how the radical-lower class politics erupted to other citizens that favored British policies and caused riots that led to the account for the Revolution itself. The issues regarding to how these radical-lower class demanded British favorites demonstrated how far reaching the people would go to demolish but historically demonstrate their pride and purpose in freeing themselves from Parliament rule. These evidential claims help proclaim what argument Nash is making suggesting that radicalism was performed indeed to a very extreme point but rather to an effective point in which led to the creation of the American
He reviewed American Insurgents, American Patriots. In his review, Dierks saw the emotion of rage as the theme throughout the book (scholarworks.iu.edu). In the second paragraph of the review, he states, “only rage can explain the inexorable march toward war,” following this he makes a reference to another scholarly piece by T.H. Breen, The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence (2004). In that book, Dr. Breen explains the joining of the American Colonies because of the boycotts against England. Dierks sees American Insurgents, American Patriots as a follow up to Breen’s 2004 novel which, instead of focusing on the unification of the colonies, focuses on the unification of the people to rise up and fight The British Crown (scholarworks.iu.edu). Dierks does not mention how the idea of the colonies coming together because of the economic factor and the boycotts against England were discussed throughout American Insurgents, American Patriots and makes it appear as if the book solely focuses on the rage and violence of the colonists. He does point out that most scholars credit The Founding Fathers and their “genius” for the cause and success of The American Revolution (scholarworks.iu.edu). He agrees that this book gives credit for the revolution to the rural colonists and the average people, stating that their violence was more effective than political savvy of the colonial elite. He ends his review with saying Breen’s final thoughts are optimistic and pleasant saying the revolution was a “political triumph—independence first declared by force of words and then defended by force of arms”
On the brink of revolution, the colonies were divided amongst themselves. Two factions with different ideologies “The Patriots” & and the “The Loyalist”, to know these factions we must first know another. Because both parties played a pivotal role in the “American Revolution”.
When one explains his or her ingenious yet, enterprising interpretation, one views the nature of history from a single standpoint: motivation. In The American Revolution: A History, Gordon Wood, the author, explains the complexities and motivations of the people who partook in the American Revolution, and he shows the significance of numerous themes, that emerge during the American Revolution, such as democracy, discontent, tyranny, and independence. Wood’s interpretation, throughout his literary work, shows that the true nature of the American Revolution leads to the development of United State’s current government: a federal republic. Wood, the author, views the treatment of the American Revolution in the early twentieth century as scholastic yet, innovative and views the American Revolution’s true nature as
Gross takes a different perspective on the American Revolution explaining its effect on the everyday life of those in Concord, MA. Gross focuses on the social history of a community as it relates directly to the study American civilization. These things all contributed to the buildup of the American Revolution. The declining economy and intolerable tax brought about hatred for the British. The Continental Congress raised up an army in case just for self-defense. There then was a period of dead suspense upon the Concordia’s they knew British were up to invasion just not when.
... and movements, pertaining to the rise of the working class, led to an excessive analysis of the evidence within the pages of Chants Democratic. At times Wilentz’s scrutiny of the trade unions and many other pretentious accounts of the Jacksonian era led the author’s prose to become silted to the reader. In lieu to the disarray of evidence, provided by Wilentz to give application to his arguments on the rise of the labor class; the primary thesis became lost. This leads Chants Democratic to be a great hindrance for the basic student, yet is an excellent source for someone engaged in researching the rise of a working class in American history.
Taylor believed that the revolution was more than just gaining independence from Great Britain, and not only did he believe there was other motives that fueled the revolution, he also believed that the solution of the revolution didn’t completely end once the colonies gained their independence, but continued for about 20 years after there was still an internal revolution on home ground being fought between the upper and lower classes throughout the colonies. Taylor does agree that part of the American Revolution was becoming independent and free of the British control, but Taylor disagrees with the fact that that was the only purpose and outcome of the movement. This prize winning author adds that the revolution was more or less two parts, part one was gaining independence and achieving a successful democracy throughout. While part two of the movement, was the internal issue facing the colonies, the differences between the classes and the inequality that influenced the division. Unlike Brown’s article, Taylor didn’t emphasize Great Britain’s role in the revolution, but instead he focused on what he
“If we measure the radicalism of revolutions by the degree of social misery or economic deprivation suffered, or by the number of people killed or manor houses burned, then this conventional emphasis on the conservatism of the American Revolution becomes true enough. B...
Moynihan, Daniel P. "U.S. Department of Labor -- History -- Chapter I. The Negro American Revolution." U.S. Department of Labor -- History -- Chapter I. The Negro American Revolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
The American Revolution has too often been dominated by the narrative of the founding fathers and has since been remembered as a “glorified cause.” However, the American Revolution was not a unified war but a civil war with many internal disputes that wreaked havoc and chaos throughout America. In his book, The Unknown American Resvolution, Gary B. Nash attempts to unveil the chaos that the American Revolution really was through the eyes of the people not in power, including women, African American slaves, and Native Americans. In his book, Gary B. Nash emphasizes their significance in history to recount the tale of the American Revolution not through the eyes of the privileged elite but through the eyes of the people who sacrificed and struggled the most, but were left forgotten, in their endeavors to reinvent America.
The start of the American Revolution, described by Edmund Morgan as, “the shot heard around the world,” was the “Americans’ search for principles” (Bender 63). Although the world’s colonies did not necessarily seek independence much like the Americans, the world’s colonies were nonetheless tired of the “administrative tyranny” being carried out by their colonizers (Bender 75). The American Revolution set a new standard in the colonies, proclaiming that the “rights of Englishmen” should and must be the “rights of man,” which established a new set foundation for the universal rights of man (Bender 63). This revolution spread new ideas of democracy for the colonized world, reshaping people’s expectations on how they should be governed. Bender emphasizes America as challenging “the old, imperial social forms and cultural values” and embracing modern individualism” (Bender 74). Bender shapes the American Revolution as a turning point for national governments. The American Revolution commenced a new trend of pushing out the old and introducing new self-reliant systems of government for the former
History Of the Labor Movement in the United States This is a brief history of the labor movement in the United States from the late eighteen hundreds to the present. In 1881 a movement toward organized labor was beginning to be inforced. A group of people from a few trades and industries such as carpenters, cigar- makers, the printers, merchants, and the steel workers met and formed The Federation of Organized Trades And Labor Unions. Although it had little power, the organization was defanantly and the side as the workers. It stated that a eight hour work day was considered a full day and asked that all affiliated unions include this as part of there law by May 1, 1886.
The American Revolution marked the divorce of the British Empire and its one of the most valued colonies. Behind the independence that America had fought so hard for, there emerged a diverging society that was eager to embrace new doctrines. The ideals in the revolution that motivated the people to fight for freedom continued to influence American society well beyond the colonial period. For example, the ideas borrowed from John Locke about the natural rights of man was extended in an unsuccessful effort to include women and slaves. The creation of state governments and the search for a national government were the first steps that Americans took to experiment with their own system. Expansion, postwar depression as well as the new distribution of land were all evidence that pointed to the gradual maturing of the economic system. Although America was fast on its way to becoming a strong and powerful nation, the underlying issues brought about by the Revolution remained an important part in the social, political and economical developments that in some instances contradicted revolutionary principles in the period from 1775-1800.
To what extent was the discontentment of the industrial workers the main cause of the 1905 revolution in Russia?