Mason rejects Becker's thesis of class conflict as being a significant factor in New York, although it did have a muted and diffused role in shaping the structure of the revolutionary organization. The very nature of the strife with the parent nation did, however, open the doors of power to the middle class farmers, who were learning political self-reliance and independence.
Bernard Mason is an associate professor of history with the State University of New York at Binghamton.