Beginning in the 1730’s, people started to develop their own perceptions on current events and publicized it by publishing thier thoughts in different writings and hosting demonstrations and riots to further solidify their points. Gilje discusses The Commonwealth Writers and how they would publish various points of views that weren’t typically what the government wanted the public to be influenced by. The Commonwealth Writers published the stories of what was wrong with the government and the hidden corruptions that the public didnt know about. (Page 6) The Commonwealth Writers started a new trend of knowledge for Americans which was followed for years to come.
Gilje makes a good point when dicussing this topic that “people in the street often acted in..common, shared values..” (Page 7) With the help of The Commonwealth Writers, people came together and established their own beliefs and began to fight for them. Although some saw the new trend of rioting and demonstration as a sense of disorder, i feel as if this was a necessity in order to move civilization forward and bring them together to form some sense of unity among the people.
Rioting was definitely a big significance back in the day. Most riots were setup to overthrow leaders and rulers, while others brought the community/society together. In this example the riots brought the people together and helped each other at the end of the day. This is a positive start for back in the day when violence was a major issue. I would rate this argument is an 9.
I give you a 10! This is one of the most important reasons for change not only in colonial New York but in many other colonial communities. Riots produced a sense of fear and respect in the ruling class toward the lower class and also served as a glue bonding many citizens from various backgrounds. Rioting was the voice of people that didn’t have a voice.
Riots truly bring unity and voice. It shows that something will no longer be tolerated and a change needs to be done. I give a 9 for the importance of this argument.
I totally agree with you Brit. Media [back then was different of course] influence the perception of anyone. The way the people saw things influenced the creation of riots. I give you a 10 because knowing that this happened in historical NYC can help make sense of other aspects and similarities of what things are going on now. =)