The more you read about people in the past, especially Americans around the years leading up to the War for Independence, the more you'll realize that they actually weren't dramatically different from the heritage Americans alive today — they were just dealing with greater physical brutality. They didn't just revolt over a 2% tax (a popular lie); they were galvanized by the pigheaded brutality of the British Empire's heavy-handed policies and tactics. The oppressive establishment/elites we are dealing with today are much better at being subtle, cloak-and-dagger, and are less openly violent toward the population than the British Empire was.

That's why it seems like modern heritage Americans are more docile than their 18th-century ancestors, but that is a popular misunderstanding. It’s fake news.