Creator
David Brown
Context
Brown wrote this in one of the numerous pamphlets he circulated in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1798.
Audience
The people of Dedham, Massachusetts
Purpose
To raise opposition to a centralized government that Brown felt was taking advantage of its power
Historical Significance
Unlike elitist Jeffersonian counterparts Bache and Wade, Brown had little formal schooling or powerful connections. He languished in jail for nearly two years for his exaggerated remarks.
"Five hundred [people] out of the union of five millions receive all the benefit of public property and live upon the ruins of the rest of the community."
David Brown, "Five hundred [people] out of the union of five millions receive all the benefit of public property and live upon the ruins of the rest of the community." (1798), in Gary B. Nash and others, eds. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society, 6th ed. (New York: Pearson Education, 2004), 257.