this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2024
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The American war for independence was hardly a revolution, more like an under new management. For the average citizen, material conditions didn't change at all. Most institutions were carried over with slight rebranding. The democracy was limited and the constitution had a pound of protection for the ownership class for every ounce of franchise doled out to merchant class men.
Liberty and democracy are for 3^rd^ grade textbooks. The truth is that the ownership class was sick of taking royal orders and tired of paying franchise fees. The crown foolishly defeated the other colonial and native powers on the continent, sapping royal strength while removing British utility to the Americans.
Philomena Cunk
The short version is that it was about the transfer of power from hereditary nobility to a different elite consisting of wealthy merchants and "gentlemen" farmers. This transfer was already happening anyway throughout the British Empire, the Americans just wanted to speed it up and codify it.