In the fourth chapter of the Mandell reading, “Wealth and Power in the Early Republic” there is great insight into the post-revolutionary period of America as a young nation. The detailed political and economic discussions of the time provide a deeper understanding into how this nation, which today is a world leader in terms of both politics and economics, developed in its early years.
One of the quotes that stood out to me in the chapter is “there is not under the whole canopy of heaven such another place as America, while free, for the encouragement of the poor, in their pursuits for obtaining comfortable livelihoods”(Mandell 81) which I believe translates into what we call the “American Dream” today. From the very early days of the nation, an idea of individual freedom and social mobility was present. Perhaps at first only for white males, but eventually expanding to include more people in the American Dream.
There was an “equality of property” (Mandell 82) present in early America that gave its citizens a pride of enjoying freedom more than the “subjects of any government in Europe”(Mandell 83). Although this idea of equality of property seemed great to those who hoped for the rise of a more equal society, some of the elite felt threatened by this idea. Political power and wealth were interlinked and the aristocrats were not ready to give up that power. There were many debates over whether the ability to vote should remain restricted so only property owners of a certain level could vote. Another issue that came up was the elite benefiting from war debt that would eventually create even more inequality and later led to Shays’s Rebellion.
From what is highlighted in this chapter, it seems America has always had an idea of freedom and equality but the reality has always fallen short. From the very early days to modern America, there seems to be an ever present division between the wealthy elite and the rest of the population as “Benjamin Lincoln Jr., articulated “the many who labored for a living and the few who lived on the labor of others”(Mandell 86).
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A thoughtful post, but you really only begin to touch on Mandell’s major argument in the second-to-last paragraph. Try spelling it out clearly and concisely in your intro para, and then using the rest of the post to spell out his sub-arguments, evidence, etc.
Who is speaking in the quote you use in the second para? If there was a relatively wide degree of economic equality in Early America, why did many of the figures whose quotes Mandell uses as evidence seem to think some kind of government intervention was necessary to ensure this remained the case?