Tales of the American Revolution have filled Americans with pride for years. However, Colonists at that time weren’t actually too fond of a revolution, in fact, the majority were apathetic. The Patriots were at the time deemed radicals by the average colonists, and the tensions between Loyalists and patriots were viewed as extremism.
Even after the War began the same thought process continued, however, people began to hide it from public discussion. Then as the revolution escalated and blood began to spill, moderation fell out of favor. During wartime, publications became more biased in the way of either pro or anti-patriotism. Due to this emerging radicalism, people began to segregate among themselves, critical of those who thought differently. Then as the British treatment of colonists worsened, articles like Common Sense came into popularity. Due to this moderation became a non-viable position.
If there were a moderate person they’d be declared a Loyalist by the Revolutionaries or vice versa. As the revolution raged on the divide deepened as people felt they had to join one of the sides previously deemed extreme. This feeling paired with British retaliation made the revolutionaries’ cause only grow in popularity. Said division led to the rebellious colonies suffering violent internal civil disputes. The mass exodus of Loyalists upon the British loss of the war was driven by the same division, which had made America no longer a safe place for them. Throughout the nation’s history, this pattern is seen: the drastic shift of forced radicalism and divide. It is what caused the Civil War and hundreds of the social and political tensions that line American History.
What is happening in the modern-day has happened before and will most likely happen again. Politics has infiltrated the average person’s life to an unavoidable extent. I believe we are in a period of typical social divide, another repeat in the American cycle. We are experiencing a grand separation that anyone can feel and see. Americans are once again put in boxes by radicals who infiltrate every moment of life. We feel a necessity to categorize ourselves as “you’re liberal, or you’re a conservative.” The middle ground has disappeared as radicalism sends fear into people’s hearts as it had over two hundred years ago. It keeps going until the average person is sick of the radicalism and won’t bow to it anymore. What is happening in the modern day is common throughout all of American history. However, it has always ended in a more united country as we greet each other not as people separated by opinion but as fellow countrymen. We are all Americans, and we must never forget that.
