what was ‘revolutionary’ about American Revolution

            The American Revolution was about the government’s role. The federalists and anti-federalists are concerned about government.  This fight is depicted beautifully in Alexander Hamilton’s words “you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself” (The Federalist 51). The clauses of this phrase are significant. Federalists were greatly concerned about the ability of the government to control the people thus Hamilton’s first phrase. Hamilton was known for being a federalist. Anti-federalists were principally concerned with the government’s ability to preserve individual liberties.

Any mention of women is clearly absent from the document. The first revolution was to put in place a government which served all “citizens”. The progress of social liberties had to be the next challenge. The challenge the American revolution sought to remedy was the challenge of property rights which Locke wrote of. The other significant challenge was of corruption in government. Expanding the definition of “citizen” to encompass women and African-Americans would not have been a feasible task. The task at hand was to avoid discrepancies in political influence from white landowning men. This is shown in the definitions of representation depicted in the constitution. The principal complaint which lead to the revolution was lack of representation in government not social progress for women and African-Americans.  The great fear of anti-federalists was the taking of private property. Alexander Hamilton found the Bill of Rights unnecessary because he saw the constitution as the protection of all these rights. The anti-federalists insisted on the Bill of Rights.