Some persist in the argument that the American Revolution is not really a revolutionary movement. They argue that the American Revolution did not establish a new nation, because the new government was established by the same social elites that held power before the Revolution. They point to the French Revolution, a "real" revolution by anyone's standards, and claim that because the American Revolution does not share some of the same drastic and immediate changes, it is not a real revolution. However, while both statements are arguably true, they miss the fact that there were undeniable changes in American society as a direct effect of the American Revolution. The new ideals for foundation of government, the abolition of slavery in the North, and the shifting of land-ownership to a broader, more middle-class base all carried far-reaching social and political effects. Thus these changes, brought upon by the American Revolution, define the American Revolution as undoubtedly "revolutionary."

The American government that we know today is a product of the American Revolution. This is because the ideals brought to the surface in the American Revolution were the very ideals that our gove

In 1777, Vermont's constitution declared that:

Whilst we are spilling our blood and exhausting our treasures in the defence of our own liberty, it would not perhaps be amiss to turn our eyes toward those fellowmen who are now groaning in bondage under us. We say, "all men are equally entitled to liberty, the pursuit of happiness"; but are we willing to grant this liberty to all men?...If after we have made such a declaration to the world, we continue to hold our fellow-creatures in slavery, our words must rise up in judgment against us. And by the breath of our own mouths we must stand condemned. (Foner 371)

This ideal stems from the Enlightenment thoughts of John Locke, and became a fundamental belief of the new nation. This is seen in not only the Declaration of Independence, but also the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, and the Virginia Bill of Rights. These documents have in common the same ideas that all men carry certain natural and unalienable rights. The practice of slavery, however, is in direct conflict with these ideals. How could the founding fathers establish the first real egalitarian government but establish it as a slave society? It was because slavery as a whole was too deeply rooted to be removed by the actions of the American Revolution, although some changes would take place. This point will be discussed later, but it is important to note now that although slavery could not be completely wiped out, egalitarian principles began to chisel at its foundation. Thomas Jefferson felt that the egalitarian ideals in the Declaration of Independence would undermine slavery, and after the ball of equality began to roll so to speak, it would not be stopped (Lipset 11).

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that the are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. (Commager 125)

Populism is defined as the political doctrine supporting rights and powers of common people in their struggle with the privileged elite. Therefore, the idea of populism was actually not one held by the founding fathers, who were in fact themselves the "privileged elite." The populist movement is seen in the shift of control in America to the middle class.

Following the Revolution, western lands played a large role in the development of the nation. First there was unprecedented migration west. The population in 1785 of Kentucky was between twenty and thirty thousand. By 1790, there were seventy-four thousand people there. Most of these people were farmers who bought the land in small parcels for their own use. "...but by the time the swarms of settlers debouched upon those great western plains the habit of the small farm was in the main already fixed, and the United States was to be a land of "peasant proprietors," (Jameson 43).

Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth, "that Religion or the duty which we owe our Creator and the Manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence." The religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. (Commager 507)

All men are born equally free and independent....Therefore, no male person born in the country or brought from over the sea, ought to be holden by law to serve and person as a servant, slave or apprentice after he arrives to the age of twenty-one years, nor female in like manner after she arrives to the age of eighteen years, unless they are found by their own consent after they arrive to such age, or bound by law for the payment of debts, damages, fines, costs or the like. (Foner 347)

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Approximate Word count = 2707
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)