1381 and the Price of Tyranny: Lessons From the English Peasants’ Revolt

The New American ^ | May 30, 2025 | Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

In the long catalog of uprisings against tyranny, one chapter often overlooked — but no less instructive — is the English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.

Though distant in time, the cause and character of that revolt echo loudly in our present condition: oppressive taxation, ruinous foreign wars, and a government grown unaccountable to the people it purports to serve.

We would do well to remember that the flames of rebellion are not kindled in a day.

They are fanned over time by injustice, arrogance, and a persistent disregard for the natural rights of man.

The uprising of 1381 was no exception. It was a righteous protest against the abuse of power — a rebellion born not of ambition, but of desperation.

The roots of the revolt lie in the economic and political decay of 14th-century England, a decay accelerated by the hubris of kings and the greed of the ruling elite. The Poll Tax

England had, for decades, been engaged in costly military campaigns on the Continent — the so-called Hundred Years’ War — draining the kingdom’s coffers and devastating its countryside.

To finance these foreign adventures, the crown turned inward. But not to cut its own excesses — to extract more from the already overburdened commons.

It was taxation without mercy, and often without consent. Chief among these injustices was the poll tax — a flat levy imposed on every man, woman, and child regardless of income or station.

This was not a tax aimed at raising needed revenue. It was a tax aimed at breaking the backs of the peasantry.

The third imposition of the poll tax in 1381 was the final insult, a triple burden within four years, met not with resignation but with righteous fury.

Out of that fury rose figures who would shake the kingdom...

[DownInFlames]

It will start here with the elimination of welfare and EBTs.

[SkyDancer]

And giving free stuff to illegals.

[Carry_Okie]

We would do well to remember that the flames of rebellion are not kindled in a day.

While the tools of tyranny have been developed for a century.

[discostu]

And 650 years later England still pays a bunch of money to have a royal family that does nothing but spend that money. There’s the lesson, the peasants can revolt all they want, but at the end of the day they’re still peasants.

[tumblindice]

Excellent article.
As we said to the democrats, now to the gop: secure *our* borders; and no more billions gifted to foreigners or for floating fortresses. Enforce our immigration laws.
Cut taxes & govt. waste, reduce spending, no foreign adventures.
This isn’t difficult, at least not for ‘public servants’ actually more concerned with serving the public, than fattening their own portfolios.

[No name given]

Exactly.

[SunkenCiv]

• The Peasants Revolt 1381 | A Bloody Uprising of the Common People [07/02/2024]
• Peasant Revolt Hits London [08/10/2015]

[Nateman]

You had the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Did any good come out of that?

[SunkenCiv]

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[556x45]

This is the starting point. Someone breaks into my home and the govt actively shields them from being removed. Not only that but forces me to pay for their upkeep. Once that’s fixed the indigenous loafers need to be ID’ed and removed from the dole. I think there’ll be plenty for anyone remaining.

[BenLurkin]

The peasants are revolting.

[bobbo666]

Guido had a better chance — takeoff the head of the snake.

[Alas Babylon!]

Part of this was due to the Black Death (bubonic plague) that killed half the population of England only 33 years earlier.

With many fewer people, taxes became a larger burden on those left, and able bodies became in short supply and could leave their deserted villages and sell their services to the highest bidder instead of struggling for their feudal lords and masters.

The lords resisted this, but were overwhelmed with the changes to society it brought. Hard to be a hardass boss when your underlings all died!

[Theophilus]

Recent thread 1337-1360: Bloodiest Divorce In History | The 100 Years War Episode 1 [59:00] videos mentioned this.

[SunkenCiv]

Order the duck instead.

Oh, *peasants*...

[minnesota_bound]

It must have been really bad then for the peasants to revolt. There was no social media, no telephone or newspapers. Just people traveling about and talking about what was going on in their area.