American Social Issues and Revolutionary Ideas
“The distinction between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginia, but an American,” Patrick Henry declared in his 1774 speech at a meeting of the First Continental Congress (“Patrick”). This rhetoric illustrates the sense of society Americans felt. According to Gordon S. Wood in “Rhetoric and Reality in the America Revolution,” there is a link between American social issues and Revolutionary ideas. When looking at the causes of the American Revolution, American ideas, displayed through their rhetoric, are deeply connected to the social issues of the time. To make his case, Gordon uses the development of an American Society, propaganda which …show more content…
There was a social crisis within the Virginia gentry that was spreading rapidly. The growing concerns of a ruling group included the cost of elections and the growing corruption with acquiring votes. They saw this corruption as a connection with British and Scottish factors (Wood 29). Some words that were used frequently by Virginians were word such as “corruption”, “virtue”, and “luxury” (Wood 30). The people began to have fears for their future, specifically economic concerns (Gwyn 138). Many of the Virginia Gentry found themselves indebted to British merchants. “Tobacco exports fell, but the demand for British goods rose, as did the taxes to pay for the recent French and Indian War” (Gentry). Americans saw independence and republicanism as the end for all their difficulties (Wood …show more content…
Rhetoric was one tool the American used to project their resentment towards Britain and their fear of anticipated tyranny against their principles. The developed American society, propaganda based on real fears, along with the Virginia Gentry example, display Wood’s belief there was a link between American social issues and Revolutionary ideas that lead to the American Revolution. Gordon S. Wood endorses American exceptionalism at the time of the revolution. This is shown with his favorable vocabulary when describing the qualities of Americans at the time of the revolution. “The Revolution had taken place not in a succession of eruptions that had crumbled the existing social structure, but in a succession of new thoughts and new ideas that had vindicated that social structure (Wood 6). The ideas of freedom and liberty that united Americans were linked to the social issues they faced. “It is thus the very nature of the Americans’ rhetoric…that reveals as nothing else apparently can the American Revolution as a true revolution with its sources lying deep in social structure” (Wood
“The distinction between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginia, but an American,” Patrick Henry declared in his 1774 speech at a meeting of the First Continental Congress (“Patrick”). This rhetoric illustrates the sense of society Americans felt. According to Gordon S. Wood in “Rhetoric and Reality in the America Revolution,” there is a link between American social issues and Revolutionary ideas. When looking at the causes of the American Revolution, American ideas, displayed through their rhetoric, are deeply connected to the social issues of the time. To make his case, Gordon uses the development of an American Society, propaganda which …show more content…
There was a social crisis within the Virginia gentry that was spreading rapidly. The growing concerns of a ruling group included the cost of elections and the growing corruption with acquiring votes. They saw this corruption as a connection with British and Scottish factors (Wood 29). Some words that were used frequently by Virginians were word such as “corruption”, “virtue”, and “luxury” (Wood 30). The people began to have fears for their future, specifically economic concerns (Gwyn 138). Many of the Virginia Gentry found themselves indebted to British merchants. “Tobacco exports fell, but the demand for British goods rose, as did the taxes to pay for the recent French and Indian War” (Gentry). Americans saw independence and republicanism as the end for all their difficulties (Wood …show more content…
Rhetoric was one tool the American used to project their resentment towards Britain and their fear of anticipated tyranny against their principles. The developed American society, propaganda based on real fears, along with the Virginia Gentry example, display Wood’s belief there was a link between American social issues and Revolutionary ideas that lead to the American Revolution. Gordon S. Wood endorses American exceptionalism at the time of the revolution. This is shown with his favorable vocabulary when describing the qualities of Americans at the time of the revolution. “The Revolution had taken place not in a succession of eruptions that had crumbled the existing social structure, but in a succession of new thoughts and new ideas that had vindicated that social structure (Wood 6). The ideas of freedom and liberty that united Americans were linked to the social issues they faced. “It is thus the very nature of the Americans’ rhetoric…that reveals as nothing else apparently can the American Revolution as a true revolution with its sources lying deep in social structure” (Wood