The taxes the King wanted to levy were relatively minor. The ruling class hypothesis doesn't explain why they would launch an expensive and dangerous revolution over a few minor taxes, nor does it explain the revolution's support from the people and intelligentsia. In fact, the rich and powerful tended Loyalist, and many of the top Revolutionaries weren't exactly landed gentry.

There's great danger in the Marxoid tendency to see everything in terms of economics and social class. Leaving aside its obvious failures in practical matters, this tendency discounts many real human emotions and often leads one to topsy-turvy assumptions compared to what actually happened.