Fighting with the Majority

2002-10-4 15:06:00

Blayne,
Jefferson himself was party to going against the majority to win independence from Britain. This is why I question the context of those quotes. Most Americans at that time were fairly comfortable and did not want to rock the boat even with the abuses of the Crown. Much like Americans today. This is a striking correspondence in my view.

JJ
Jefferson did not go against the majority.

Historians tell us that one third of the households supported the British. And even among these, many of them in their hearts did so out of fear and were not adverse to the rebels winning the day. Also many of those who were not the head of the household supported the rebels. So overall the rebels had a majority opinion behind the righteousness of their cause.

The reason the founders could start and finish a revolution is because they did have majority support.


"A democracy is six wolves and one sheep voting to eat the sheep for dinner. A tyranny is one shepherd putting a bullet through the head of the sixty wolves without looking for an alternative solution to the problem."