History

Before the Revolution happened in America, America was evolving into a more self-governing, independent and democratic society. That spark that was formed by the Great Awakening, led to an immense cry for independence. Although they experienced minor improvements in terms of democracy, development of independence for racial minorities, improvement in voting conditions, betterment in the equal distribution of town offices according to financial status of the people, those minor improvements did not enable the town to become more “democratic”. With the presence of unequal distribution of property (land), and lack of religious tolerance, Wethersfield didn’t demonstrate major progression from the 1750ґs to the 1780ґs.

Small improvements, which helped bring the colonies toward the democracy they were longing for, were good, but not good enough. One of the most notable improvements was that of the free black population, which increased. As seen in the Population Distribution of Wethersfield (Doc A), society was divided between whites, free blacks and slaves. In addition to that, between 1756 and 1774, the number of slaves decreased, yet the number of free black increased. Other than racial liberties, the Distribution of Adult White Males by Political Status in Wethersfield (Doc G) stated that, Wethersfield also received a minor increase in the percentage of adult white males meeting the freeman (voter) requirements, along with a dramatic increase in the percentage of adult white males taking freeman’s oath, men voting, and getting elected to town offices between 1751 to 1776.

During the 1750’s, the most wealthy people in the town held the most property, meaning they obtained the most power and money. As time moved on, though, voting requirements were reduced so that people who owned less land, could be involved in the government. According to Distribution of Major Town Offices among White Males (Doc H) during the years 1751-1756 the wealthy people dominated major town offices. More than half of the major town offices were taken by the richest 20% white males, where as men on the bottom didn’t occupy any place in the major town offices. Yet, in the years 1771-1776, the wealthiest 10% of adult white males that occupied major town offices fell very significantly. Also in 1776, out the poorest 30% of the population, five people received jobs. This evidence reveals that Wethersfield moved toward democracy.

Although in many ways Wethersfield was missing many important things that were needed to make a democracy work. Firstly, Distribution of taxable property grew more unequal from 1756 to 1773. Stated in the Distribution of Taxable Property (Doc B), the richest 10% of adult white males paid Ј127 in 1756 and Ј163 in 1773, but the rest all paid less. This meant that they owned less property; therefore they did not have to pay as much. This shows that while the rich became richer, the poor became poorer. Even the Wealthiest Adult Males (Doc D), it reveals how the rich