The Battle Over 1776 in the Present Crisis
The discussion on the importance of the American Revolution has become a central ideological conflict in the early 2000s. The elite, struggling with a legitimacy crisis, tries to both absorb and undermine the democratic ideals of 1776. At the same time, the pseudo-left has completely abandoned these traditions, reducing the Revolution to a moralistic list of hypocrisies, exclusions, and crimes. In this context, defending the American Revolution as a key bourgeois democratic movement is not just an academic issue but a crucial political stance.
The latest article, published by the British Socialist Workers Party, illustrates what happens when a pseudo-left view tackles a historic issue without a solid Marxist basis. The article exemplifies the pseudo-left’s failure to clearly answer key questions, swinging between praising the revolution’s “radical” aspects and criticising its shortcomings, concluding with a vague moral call to “make true” its promises—without explaining how or through which social forces. This is not representative of Marxism. It is political tourism through the past.
Currently, the only political organisation capable of providing a historical materialist perspective on the American Revolution is the ICFI and its online publication, The World Socialist Website. It rejects the vague “on the one hand, on the other’ approach used by the SWP and instead employs the method of historical materialism to uphold the revolutionary legacy of 1776.
A Marxist viewpoint sees the American Revolution differently. It views it as an important bourgeois-democratic movement in global history. The working class ought to rekindle the democratic ideals of 1776 — not as a patriotic legend, but as a vital part of the ongoing struggle for universal emancipation.
The Historical Necessity of the Bourgeois Democratic Revolution
Marxism does not view bourgeois revolutions as moral issues but as necessary historical stages in the evolution of capitalist society and the modern working class. The American Revolution was not just an accident, an enslaver’s conspiracy, or a simple colonial uprising. Instead, it symbolised big changes in property relations, class structure, global trade, ideological awareness, and the growth of Enlightenment universalism. The pseudo-left fails to understand this because it dismisses historical materialism, replacing analytical reasoning with moral outrage and current feelings without historical context.
By the mid-18th century, North American colonies had developed a distinct social landscape, including a petty-bourgeois class, a rising capitalist elite, and a literate, politically engaged artisan and labourer population. These colonies were also characterised by frontier society in conflict with aristocratic land claims and a political culture influenced by republicanism, dissenting Protestantism, and Enlightenment ideas. These factors made the colonies particularly receptive to revolutionary ideas. The Revolution was not a top-down imposition; rather, it was driven from the bottom up by a broad social coalition whose demands went beyond those of the elite.
The American Revolution marked the first significant break in the global system of absolutist monarchy. It came before and played a role in sparking the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, the Latin American wars of independence, and the worldwide spread of republican ideas. Tom Paine recognised this when he stated that “the cause of America” was “the cause of all mankind.” The Revolution’s universalist language was more than mere rhetoric; it reflected an ideological shift of world-historical importance.
As David North points out in his essential formulation, the Declaration “indicted the existing social and political order and called for its overthrow in the most sweeping and universal terms. “This is the key to understanding 1776. The Declaration’s assertion that “all men are created equal” was not a description of existing social relations. It was a revolutionary negation of the entire edifice of hereditary privilege, monarchy, aristocracy, and divine right.
What the Revolution Was
The American Revolution was a bourgeois democratic movement, not a socialist one, and no Marxist has ever suggested otherwise. This term is a precise, scientific description, not an insult. As David North noted in his opening remarks at the WSWS’s 250th anniversary webinar, the Declaration of Independence “condemned the existing social and political order and called for its comprehensive overthrow.” It challenged monarchy, hereditary privileges, and colonial dominance. The statement that “all men are created equal” and have “unalienable rights” was revolutionary in a world dominated by lords and kings who claimed divine right.
The Socialist Worker article hints at this but quickly shifts to moral judgment: acknowledging that the revolution was progressive yet noting that enslavers also participated, Indigenous peoples were dispossessed, and power remained in the hands of the wealthy. This ‘pros and cons’ approach fails to offer real insight. As North pointed out: ‘Calling the founders hypocrites does not explain why a revolution happened, why the Declaration gained significance beyond their intentions, or why its words resonated with abolitionists, enslaved people, workers, socialists, and civil rights activists.”
The American Revolution was founded on contradictions. Its promises excluded enslaved individuals, women, Indigenous peoples, and those without property. However, the democratic ideals it promoted went beyond the limitations of its era. This creates a dialectic: the Revolution was both rooted in its time and forward-looking. It inspired the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, anti-colonial efforts in South America, the abolitionist movement, and later democratic and socialist campaigns. As Tom Paine stated, “the cause of America” was “the cause of all mankind.”
The Socialist Worker article views the 1788 Constitution as merely the end of a story — a compromise between Northern capitalists and Southern enslavers that temporarily masked divisions until the Civil War. However, this perspective overlooks a key point: the Civil War was not accidental or secondary. Instead, it was the second American Revolution, completing the first. As North pointed out, “The transition from the first to the second stage of the bourgeois democratic revolution proceeded rather rapidly. Thaddeus Stevens, the most prominent radical Republican, was born in the early years of George Washington’s presidency.”
The end of slavery and the Radical Reconstruction represented the realisation of the democratic ideals established in 1776, rather than their betrayal. The subsequent defeat of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow laws served as counter-revolutions that reversed the Civil War’s progress. This perspective is missing from the pseudo-left, which replaces class analysis with racial theory.
Why This Matters Now
The question “Should we celebrate the American Revolution?” is not purely academic; it has become a highly political issue in 2026. The Trump administration is intensifying its assault on democratic rights, with the president openly discussing dictatorial governance. The fundamental idea of popular sovereignty—government of, by, and for the people—is now under threat.
Under these circumstances, abandoning the revolutionary democratic tradition in favour of reaction would be a devastating political mistake. Unfortunately, that is what much of the pseudo-left effectively does when it dismisses 1776 as merely an enslaver’s plot or dismisses the Declaration’s language of equality as mere hypocrisy. As North warned: “If the left abandons the revolutionary-democratic tradition, viewing equality, rights, popular sovereignty, and universal emancipation as deception, it risks handing that tradition over to reaction. And that is precisely what is occurring.”
The working class must safeguard the democratic ideals of the American Revolution, viewing them not as complete but as unfulfilled. The goals of 1776 cannot be achieved under capitalism; instead, they demand a socialist overhaul in which the working class seizes power and the capitalist system—which accumulates wealth and authority in fewer hands—is abolished. As Andre Damon noted in 2016: “The American Revolution provided the ideological and political impetus for the French Revolution and all subsequent democratic, egalitarian and socialist movements.”
The significance of the American Revolution extends beyond mere history; it is a crucial political issue today. By 2026, democratic institutions face exceptional pressures, with the executive branch increasingly flirting with authoritarianism and democratic norms eroding rapidly. The pseudo-left’s rejection of 1776 as a conspiracy by enslavers dismisses the progressive aspects of the bourgeois revolution, rejects universal principles, weakens the ideological basis for democratic rights, and leaves the working class without political power.
Yes, we should honour the American Revolution—not as a patriotic myth, a completed achievement, or by ignoring its contradictions—but as a significant historical milestone whose democratic principles are still revolutionary today. Its unfulfilled promises can only be realised through socialist revolution, and the working class must protect its legacy against the current authoritarian threat. The ambiguous, moralistic, and politically inconsistent tone of the Socialist Worker article offers no guidance.
The democratic principles established in 1776 — such as equality, rights, and popular sovereignty — are still revolutionary. However, they cannot be fully realised within capitalism and instead demand a socialist revolution. The American Revolution was a major bourgeois-democratic revolution of global historical importance. While it had contradictions, these do not diminish its significance; rather, they highlight the need for continued revolutionary progress.
The working class must uphold the democratic legacy of 1776, not as a myth but as a historical fight for universal emancipation. Achieving the Revolution’s promises requires a socialist restructuring of society.”
A Trumpet of Sedition 