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NullifyAndSecede 8 points ago +11 / -3

Ultimately, revolutions are mass phenomena, and cannot succeed without the support—indeed the active and enthusiastic support—of the great majority of the population. . . . Otherwise it will not even make a respectable showing, much less take and keep the reins of government. But the masses will not move, will not erupt, if they lack aggressive leaders to articulate their grievances and to point the path for them to follow. The leaders supply the necessary theoretical justification and analysis of the revolution’s short- and long-term goals. Unaided by leaders, the masses tend to accept each act of tyranny, not out of willing agreement, but from failure to realize that successful opposition can be mounted against the status quo. The articulation by the leaders is the final necessary spark that ignites the tinderbox of revolution.

― Murray N. Rothbard

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deleted 7 points ago +12 / -5
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NullifyAndSecede 5 points ago +8 / -3

Rothbard wrote a very detailed 5 part series on the history of the revolution, original government and subsequent adoption of the constitution. (That's where this quote comes from)

In that revolution the ideological leaders were Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine the signers of the Declaration and others.

5 to 10 percent of a population can certainly overthrow a government, but they need a common cause and some sense of direction.

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SurfingUSA 3 points ago +3 / -0

For certain.

I am digging around and finding some data points:

Though not all colonists supported violent rebellion, historians estimate that approximately 45 percent of the white population supported the Patriots’ cause or identified as Patriots; 15–20 percent favored the British Crown; and the remainder of the population chose not to take a vocal position in the conflict.

link: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/patriots-and-loyalists/

Anyway, 45 percent or so is neither a "great majority" of the population or a tiny fraction.

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deleted 4 points ago +7 / -3
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SurfingUSA 2 points ago +2 / -0

Straw man argument, maybe the finest ever on this site.

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Loiuzein 1 point ago +3 / -2

But a jew did a bad thing once! And no other creed or ethnicity matches that criteria!