What were the main threats to and boundaries of freedom during the American Revolution?

The best
way to answer this question is to begin with the boundaries of freedom. Most leaders during the
Revolution did not advocate for freedom in the sense that we usually use the word. They pushed
for independence from Great Britain but hoped that they would retain control over the affairs of
the new nation.

Most did not support democracy and reacted with horror when
some revolutionary state conventionsPennsylvania's in particularestablished even modestly
democratic constitutions that afforded voting rights to ordinary men. So the Revolution
indisputably had boundaries based on class, but those regarding enslaved people and Native
Americans were the most pronounced.

While the egalitarianism of the
Revolution led some Northern states to embark on a course of gradual emancipation, there was a
different picture in Southern states. Enslaved peoples viewed the British as a potentially
liberating force after Virginia's royal governor proclaimed freedom to all slaves who would
assist in putting down the rebellion. In the Carolinas, thousands of enslaved men and women
flocked to Cornwallis's invading army in 1780€“81.

Native Americans, too,
generally supported the British, believing them the best bulwark between their lands and
American settlers and speculators. For these people, the narrative of freedom surrounding the
Revolution was essentially inverted. For many Americans, the biggest threat to freedom was the
revolutionaries who sought to stamp out Loyalism, often at the expense of
neutrals.

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