ood believes the revolution was meant for the elite (gentlemen) and not for the colonists themselves. It is the colonist self-motivated social and economic interests, which leads to the transformation they had been yearning for. Wood contributes several different social and economic factors to the transformation. The first social factor that led to the reformation was the colonist self-interest. The colonist self-interest seemed to conflict with principles of republicanism. The self-interest of the colonists led to capitalistic traits, while the republican idea of self-sacrifice was put on the back burner. It was natural for the colonists to want to advance their social and economic standards to that of the elite. The problem being republican virtues had to be sacrificed to gain individual prominence. Social factors played an important role in the transformation from a monarchy to a democracy. However, there were also economic factors that played an intricate role. One such economic force was trade interaction among the colonists. People became independent on one another for their lively hood. Through inner-commerce people began to share the same interests and the same goals. This was a change from previous republican views on trade. People became inherently dependent on one another instead of being dependent on the government. At this point in history you can begin to see the social ties of Americans grow stronger. Wood writes on the changing economy of the early 19th century, “America suddenly emerged a prosperous, scrambling, enterprising society not because of the constitution was created or because a few leaders formed a Smith pg.3 national bank, but because ordinary people, hundreds of thousands of them began working harder to make money and ‘get ahead.’”(Wood 325). It is economic factors such as this one that will be the driving force, which bonds Americans together in the ...
