ion. He argued in 1915 that merchants were, among other shortcomings, what would today be called “sunshine patriots.” He suggested that merchants were all for non-importation as long as they could sell their wares at inflated prices, but after the supply was gone, they were back to trading and importing again (Becker 1915, 229). This example perhaps best summarizes Becker’s view of the “rebels.” To be sure, he mentions the roles of radical ministers in New England, and of other “agitators.” Becker is perhaps best known for the line: “The war was not about home rule, but about who would rule at home.” This theme springs up repeatedly in the writings of the progressive historians. Sometimes the words are a little different, but the theme remains constant. Oddly enough, one of the most outspoken writers on this topic was Charles Beard. He has entered the annals of American historiography as perhaps the quintessential economic-school historian. His seminal work, “An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States,” published in 1913, argued that the forces of the revolution were in effect subverted by the forces of the established ruling class of the pre-war period. He argued that the history of America, and that the Constitution itself, was the result of Marxian-style class struggle. He further asserted that the Constitution was an economic document designed by those with money and property to protect those with money and property. This class-struggle view was applied by Beard to all of American history. He would undoubtedly stress the labor-management strife of the 1930s and the oppression of Indians and blacks as well if he were writing today of the history of the Great Depression. He would probably explain the western movement as a result of oppressed factory workers leaving the factory in order to find opportunity in the West (this comment is offered as ...
