African Americans In The 18th Century

There weren’t races based on countries anymore, everyone was seen as white. They all realized that they had something in common; they were white and they were patriots. Blacks in America still didn’t have many rights and advocated for themselves immensely, but in the North they were also seen as patriots. After the Boston Massacre, there was an image in the newspaper of four coffins of the people killed. They included an African American’s coffin that died as well. This was significant because it didn’t label blacks as the “other,” it labeled the British that way. This new patriot and “American” society eliminated the divides of the white race and some discrimination towards the African Americans. Once the Constitution was created the white
The federalists and anti-federalists were the only divide in American society; people either agreed with the constitution or they didn’t. Although the white races came together as one, they still had another common enemy, the Native Americans. The Native Americans as well as the British were seen as the “other” during the 18th century. Even though the Native Americans were the original people of America, they were not white. To the new white race, they were seen as inferior and different. They had their own customs, religion, views on politics, so they had nothing in common with the white people. This created only one divide between race and ethnicity, white versus color. Before the Revolution there were many divides in religion. Christians, Catholics, Protestants, Quakers, etc., were seen as very different religions. When the Revolution arose, the same thing that happened with race happened with religion; all the religions were seen as one. There were no more competitions between religions because once again they all had a common enemy, the British. This also lead to the “othering” of Native Americans again because they’re religion was too
When America was ran by the British, the King was at the top with the lords below him. Underneath the lords were the elites and then the common people. During the Revolution, America no longer had a king or lords, so it left the elites at the top. The elites had total power and controlled the government of the new society using Enlightenment philosophy. A man named George Robert Twelve Hewes from Boston was an ordinary shoemaker. He was present during the Boston Massacre and participated in the Boston Tea Party. He was in the lower class, so when he passed men of higher class than him on the street, he’d have to tip his hat to them. The upper class was seen as physically and mentally better than people of the lower class. This began to change when the Revolution began. During the Boston Tea Party, Hewes and men of higher class worked together in supporting their country. It didn’t matter that they were in different classes; all that mattered was eliminating the enemy. The next day on the street when Hewes passed a man of higher class, the higher-class man winked at Hewes. They were now seen more as equals because they were fighting for the same cause. The high-class man didn’t ignore Hewes because he thought he was better; he acknowledged him because he was man just like him who wanted the British oppression to end. This then drastically changed when the