Stephen Harding wrote in message ...
Peter McLelland wrote:

Stephen Harding wrote in message ...

Ahhh yes, the evil corporate interests were doing their despicable deeds
even then! And they did it much as they do it today, with such skill and
subtlety, that the dumb public has no clue they've been manipulated.

I hear this all the time about todays politics, so it is interesting to
see this theme being retrofitted to past history.

Much of recent history has been greatly influenced by economic
considerations, dammit the whole British Empire was based on the
generation of wealth from the colonies. There is no real reason to
shay away from such things, it is what drove all our for fathers, and
what drioves us.

Certainly true. Don't mean to imply the revolution was purely some
idealistic crusade to put human rights above all other factors.

Economics always has, and always will be, a powerful motivating force
in the behavior of governments and individuals, and there is nothing
really wrong with that in basic concept.

What I argue against is the notion that the American Revolution (or
even American actions today) are driven solely by economic forces
(and usually portrayed as underhanded ones at that). The OP to this
sidetracked OT thread appeared to portray the revolution as motivated
by raw [and illegal] self serving low life that manipulated the
majority of Americans into revolt. That is simply not the case.

In fact, most all Americans at the time considered themselves British,
with British rights, and came around rather slowly to the concept of
independence from British rule.

I certainly have never suggested that the revolutionary leaders were
'low life', but I am convinced that most of them, that is the
established american colonists, rather than the recently arrived
political agitators, which there were a few of, were as motivated by
the belief that an independant USA as it became would be a lot better
for their pockets than being a UK colony. The reality was that the
American colonists were pretty well unaffected by events in Europe,
taxation and in terferance was really minimal, but complete economic
freedom was even better, and worth the fight, especially with French
money. I don't think they were wrong, just feal that it was not just
all about basic freedoms, more about money, but after all most of life
is about money so why be shy about it.

Peter