A revolution is a total or radical change. Did the American Revolution bring about change? Many historians would say that it did, however, there is much evidence supporting the opposing view. The question is, should the American Revolution be thought of as a true revolution or merely a civil war where there was a change in power, but the elements of daily life remained the same. Contrary to popular belief, the American Revolution did not bring about change, because the rights, class structure and government remained the status quo in the colonies.

For the most part, the rights of the colonists did undergo a transformation because of the Revolutionary War. It is a widely held belief that the war was declared in defense of the “natural rights:” life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, the war did little in protecting these rights. After the war, there was still no liberty for Blacks, in fact, the colonists disliked the idea of granting freedom to Blacks that they refused their offer to fight on the side of the patriots. “George Washington had turned down the requests of blacks, seeking freedom, to fight in the Revolutionary army.” (pg. 82 in

The class structure remained the same as before the revolution, with the rich on the top and the poor on the bottom. It is interesting that what little change did occur only affected a small minority of the population, while the majority would have suffered the same fate even if the British had won the war. “The southern lower classes resisted being mobilized for the revolution. They saw themselves under the rule of a political elite, win or lose against the British.” (pg.82 Zinn) The Revolution also did nothing to change the plight of the indentured servants. “The class structure did not change… there were more indentured servants than ever, and the Revolution did nothing to end and little to ameliorate white bondage.’” (pg. 84 Zinn) The only real change that occurred in relation to class structure was that the rich men of the colonies were able to get richer as a result of the navigation laws and the economic system of mercantilism being void. However, this can be regarded as to insignificant change to be taken into account, because it affected such a small percentage of the population. Similar to the class structure, the revolutionary war did little to change the government.

The government saw little change as a result of the war. The colonies were already governing themselves with

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