From the 1750's to the 1780's, American society went through a sharp change. With a new government influenced heavily by the theme of equality behind the American Revolution society became much more democratic. As evidenced by Wethersfield, Connecticut, many aspects of American life were affected by this democratic shift, including social structure, politics, and religion.

With the influence of the ongoing revolution and its theme of fairness felt, social changes began to alter American society. By 1774, Wethersfield, Connecticut had seen a decrease in the amount of owned black slaves and increase in free blacks. Although the change was small in quantity (the amount of slaves decreased from 40 to 35 and the amount of free blacks increased from 40 to 62), it was a sweeping change for Connecticut. In the northern colonies, slaves weren't numerous and with the seemingly small change, the population of free blacks rose more than 50 percent from 1756 (Document...