The Voices of the Lower Classes

During the 1700s in Colonial America, society was a hierarchy of divided individual interests that was united in their common defense for freedom in self-governance and independence and expansion of commercial trade. Though the members of the wealthier classes and those of the middle class had the power to vote and influence political decisions like the forming of associations to resist British Acts, the lower classes played a huge role in fueling rebellion and paving the way for stronger action against the British in the years leading to the Revolutionary War for independence. In New York, the lower classes were mostly unemployed, faced high unaffordable living expenses and conditions, and an alarming number of seamen were forced to work for the British navy.  The “propertyless classes”, according to Chudacoff, “had a powerful way to express their political voice” by means of ‘’rallies, petitions, club activity, and physical attack” which in effect “established themselves as a distinct political entity”. (Chudacoff, p.26)  The common people, which included slaves, women, and black people, were a strong force of protesters, exemplified by their battle against British naval officers in 1747 and the 1770 New York’s Liberty Hill riot. (Chudacoff, p.26)

Chudacoff’s argument on how the lower classes played a major role in the revolt against the British is highly justified as they managed to raise their voices and express the society’s rising discontentment in a very effective way. Their actions influenced and supported their fight for freedom as outcasts who otherwise barely had any rights or opportunities in society, and made it clear that the underprivileged minority had the right to be heard. Most importantly, they demonstrated that unity between all classes and social standings was a crucial factor to win the American Revolutionary War.