Was the American Revolution, revolutionary?
The American Revolution was not in itself all that revolutionary, being rooted in ideals of democracy that were first determined in the city-states of ancient Greece, but the act of leaving Great Britain and the building of the colony may have been (Nash, 159-249). It was a turning point in history, in that it occurred as several other nations and states were concluding that the governance, or rather oppression, of the monarchist nobility was a negative force in their lives.

While some point to the fact that marginalized groups such as women, Native Americans and slaves did not change after the American Revolution it did provide the foundation for future improvements to civil rights. Today it may seem ironic that the white men with the patriarchal power were claiming equality without regard to those who had the least equitable relationship of power. Still, by taking away power from the monarchy and instituting the ideal of governance by the common person, the Civil Right movement would work over the next centuries to slowly advance equality for all Americans. In summary, the American Revolution was not all that revolutionary, but the conditions of the colonial social experiment outside of the confines of British tradition may have been.

Example of a compromise in the development and signing of the U.S. Constitution
An example of a compromise and collaboration which helped to ratify the U.S. Constitution was the presentation of democracy as ineffectual in James Madison’s Federalist Paper #10. Democracy and freedom were touted as the American ideals, however in Federalist Paper #10 it is argued that the states should ratify the constitution and the union because it would prevent the masses from having power through disorder. The paper argued that with individual voting the issues and power would be fractured, especially among the poor. This argument represented a major compromise of principles, but it helped to get the Constitution signed.