American Revolution Dbq

Picture this...on one side of the world, people rebel against the rule of the crown, fighting for freedom from religious persecution. On the other side of the world, a people oppressed by an overbearing government are inspired and also revolt. How are these two revolutions similar and different? The American Revolution took place from 1775 to 1783. This war was between the colonial Americans and the British army. The French Revolution was from 1792 to 1802. It was between the third estate of France, the monarchy of Great Britain, and the monarchy of Spain. In this essay I will discuss how they were alike and their major differences, including the causes the revolutionaries fought for that led them to war, the amount of losses, and the final outcome of each war.

There were many different causes for each of these oppressed groups to feel the need to go to war.

The main reason Americans went to war with Great Britain was to establish independence from the motherland. The British were very influential in the governing of the colonies, controlling taxes, and importing undesirable people, making it the opposite of what the colonists were trying to accomplish. The king wanted to extend his rule into the new world, and the rebels wanted freedom from the king. The main reason the French people rebelled was they wanted to reorganize the government to make it more equal for the three estates with all the classes having a voice in the government. France was having famine and drought during that time and the people were already struggling to survive. On top of that, they had to pay 10% of their income to the church, plus taxes to the king, and even working for free, meaning they had very little resources and no one to fight for them. These are the reasons each group chose to

fight.
Both War’s rebelling groups sustained great losses. However, not all the losses were from battle. Approximately 6,000 to 7,000 casualties on the Revolutionary side were from battle but about another 18,000 died from disease, and estimates of British casualties are about 24,000. Because the conditions were poor on the battlefield, the Americans lost 3 times more soldiers due to wounds and disease. The British lost more in battle due to the sheer amount of men in battle. 80,000 deaths were estimated during both the French Revolution and the Reign Of Terror. While this happened over a span of ten years, in a time of struggle, 80,000 men was still a big loss for France. This took away their providers and young men didn't grow up to be fathers. While both wars had losses and both sides had losses, most of the death was from disease.
Though the causes for each revolt were similar, the outcomes were very different. The American Revolution resulted in a democratic government that is in place to this day. The founding fathers created a plan that changed the way people coexist. They equalized rulers and subjects, and gave everyone a voice (eventually). The French Revolution, on the other hand, did not have such a great outcome, and in fact ended up worse off than when they began. The war consumed resources that had already been scarce before the war, and after ten years, it was only worse. They ended up under the rule of Napoleon, a cruel dictator. Although they began with similar goals, the outcomes of the American and French Revolutions were very different.
We have discussed how the American and French Revolutions were alike and different, what they fought for, which was similar, the casualties of war, which were different, and the outcomes, which were also different. For the world at large, both wars had significance. The American Revolution outcome inspired the hope of a new future to the French people. The French outcome meant it would be known to the world as going from bad to worse.