Jason MorganMr. MeyerPeriod 421 September 2015Zinn Chapter 5Between the years 1775 and 1800, the American nation fought a war for independence from Great Britain and the war was called the Revolutionary War. Despite its name, Howard Zinn argues that the war did little to help the plight of the underrepresented and kept the rich in power. Considering Zinn's argument, the wealthy retained control of the government and the economic hierarchy in the new nation remained. However, there was greater accommodation to underrepresented groups such as the poor and working class in America. Before the war, the Parliament and King of Great Britain had control of political affairs in America and kept power in the hands of wealthy Loyalists. Once the Americans had won the war, some type of government needed to be established for the new nation to function. Instead of everyone participating in the formation of the Constitution, an unequal balance occurred between rich and poor. As Zinn states, “…studying the economic backgrounds and political ideas of the fifty-five men who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft the Constitution. He [Beard] found that the majority of them were lawyers by profession, that the majority of them were men of wealth, in land, in slave-making, or in shipping..." The groups which were not represented in the Constitutional Convention were slaves, indentured servants, women and men without property. Instead of the rich British government, this time it is the rich Americans' turn, but it is still the rich who have control in the government. Even in Maryland in 1776 you had to have 5,000 pounds of property and £1,000 to be a senator. Consequently, “90 per cent of the p...... half of the paper ...... with a clear distinction in terms of wealth and property between rich and poor , the new nation changed with greater responsiveness to the underrepresented when the Bill of Rights was drafted to protect people's individual liberties The situation faced by people in the new nation can extend to today's problems in the United States. Big companies with lots of money can lobby to protect their economic interests just like the elites who write the Constitution and make laws to protect their wealth. The hierarchical society of the late 1700s is still alive today with a small number of fabulously wealthy elites passing their wealth on to their children, and then to people who face poverty and live on minimum wage. There are attempts to respond to people's needs just like in the late 1700s, so that well-being was aimed at those who need it.