Militants have often been the ones to topple the old regime, but they have rarely been good at building a replacement. The Sons of Liberty helped start the Revolutionary War, but Washington and Franklin had to fight and end it, and they and others had to write the Constitution to get the successor government on a solid footing. Brown prompted slaveholders to challenge the Union militarily, but Lincoln was the one who ended slavery. Malcolm X energized black protest in the 1960s, but Martin Luther King did more to end segregation. The militants often get better historical treatment, being more dramatic and sure of themselves, but the pragmatists are the ones who actually move history forward in a way that lasts.
Militants have often been the ones to topple the old regime, but they have rarely been good at building a replacement. The Sons of Liberty helped start the Revolutionary War, but Washington and Franklin had to fight and end it, and they and others had to write the Constitution to get the successor government on a solid footing. Brown prompted slaveholders to challenge the Union militarily, but Lincoln was the one who ended slavery. Malcolm X energized black protest in the 1960s, but Martin Luther King did more to end segregation. The militants often get better historical treatment, being more dramatic and sure of themselves, but the pragmatists are the ones who actually move history forward in a way that lasts.