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Comparison of the french and american revolutions
European age of enlightenment
The enlightenment period
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In 1685 there sparked a new age in Europe, the Enlightenment. During this time enlightened thinkers brought forth enhanced ideas of equality. Men, woman, rich, poor, monarchy, or peasant, everyone should have equal rights. In 1789 France was especially influenced by the new ideals. The french realized that they were still following the social ladder of the feudal system. They could not buy bread because of the raised prices, but the Monarchy was eating a feast for every meal. They had no say in what happened to their government, and their inadequate king kept making poor decisions. You might even say they took the enlightenment to the next level and started a revolution based on equality. Although the french were fighting for freedom (like the enlightened thinkers), they were not using reason or tolerance, two key elements of the Enlightenment.
Document 1 supports the ideals of the enlightenment because of it strong ties to equality, the authors are stating the rights they feel they should have in order for everyone to be equal. They intended for the King and other members of the government to see the Declaration and put its ideas into effect. In Document 2 the authors realize that the revolution
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The American Revolution was a lot like the French revolution. The revolutionaries from America were fighting for freedom against their reigning Monarchs from Britain. The Americans (Like the French Revolutionaries and Enlightened Thinkers) were fighting for freedom against their oppressors, and like the French they didn’t use very good reason or tolerance in their fight. The French burned down an expensive building to fight wasteful spending, and the Americans poured tea into the harbor because tea was becoming too expensive. Like the french, Americans had no tolerance for people who might be
1789 was a year that would be imprinted on the minds of Western Europeans for the rest of history. The beginning of a new country who had fought for their rights… the United States of America. Spielvogel states, “To many Europeans it proved that the liberal political ideas of the Enlightenment were not the vapid utterances of intellectuals… The premises of the Enlightenment seemed confirmed; a new age and a better world would be achieved.” (Spielvogel 567). The Revolution embodied the living aspect of the Enlightenment Ideals in Western Europeans minds. They seen what the ideals looked like in action, and they started to build upon that idea to implement in their own lives When the Continental Congress drafted the Declaration of Independence, they took some of the core ideals from the great Enlightenment thinkers to create the living embodiment in the United States. The American Revolution may not have influenced Western Europe physically, however, it has influenced them in ways such as the French Revolution. The origins of the French Revolution can be traced back from two different areas. The Estates (classes), and a wave of bad agricultural years that led to a rise in the poor. However, according to Spielvogel, “The actual influence of the ideas of the philosophes is difficult to prove… but once the Revolution began, the
The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a war between England and the colonies which were settled earlier by the English. There were many factors and events that led to the American Revolution. The Revolution was mainly an economic rebellion that was fueled by taxation without representation following the French and Indian War. The English Parliament was more often than not considered cruel and unfair by the colonists. With conflicts over trade, taxes and government representation, the colonies were at a starting line of a revolution that would later transform into the basis of the United States of America.
The French wanted to bring equality to all classes. The French revolution brought much more social change than the American revolution. Inspired by Lafayette’s declaration that, “no group, no individual may exercise authority not emanating expressly therefrom” (de Lafayette 783), the class system was destroyed. The revolutionaries were open to ending slavery, however women remained marginalized within the social structure of France. Similarly to the American revolution, the enlightenment ideas that drove the French revolution were not applied to society as a whole.
To begin, the French Revolution involved radical change in a radical manner, both traits which the American Revolution lacked. A revolution is defined as a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, usually occurring with violence. The American Revolution does not appear to resemble the revolutions of other nations, in which people were killed and property was destroyed. They revolted relatively peacefully and did not kill each other or devour themselves. (Wood, 3) The French Revolution had a period of time in which all people who were considered ‘enemies of the state’ were arbitrarily arrested and at least 17,000 were officially executed. (“The French Revolution,” 20) The American Revolution had no mass executions; there was a minimal amount of deat...
The American and the French revolutions had many similarities and differences. One similarity being is that they both wanted to escape the rule of their King. Second, they both started by an uprising of people against unfair taxation by the monarchy. The French peasants were not represented by the Parliament. It was mainly composed of middle and upper class people. Now, the American colonists were not represented in England because of their lack of presence. Both wanted to set up a Republic, which provided liberty and justice to all classes of citizens. Just like France, the American colonists were composed up mainly middle and lower class citizens. The American Revolution started out by not wanting bloodshed and violence. France started out with violence and bloodshed. (American Revolution)
Revolution is briefly described as an attempt to overthrow a government to start a new one. The American Revolution took place between 1775 and 1783 and was a fight for American Independence from England. In 1764, the first of many “Intolerable Acts” were passed. The British Parliament began to excise tax on the American colonies without representation, sparking the great conflict. The British were continuing to incorporate new ways to make more money. England was the most powerful country at the time with an intimidating military, so this wasn’t a hard task to complete. The American Revolution was very Revolutionary because, it jump started the abolition of slavery, it brought about many political and social advances, and served as a stepping stone towards a democracy and a strong centralized government.
The American Revolution was sparked by a myriad of causes. These causes in themselves could not have sparked such a massive rebellion in the nation, but as the problems of the colonies cumulated, their collective impact spilt over and the American Revolution ensued. Many say that this war could have been easily avoided and was poorly handled by both sides, British and American; but as one will see, the frame of thought of the colonists was poorly suited to accept British measures which sought to “overstep” it’s power in the Americas. Because of this mindset, colonists developed a deep resentment of British rule and policies; and as events culminated, there was no means to avoid revolution and no way to turn back.
A revolution is a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system. In 1775, America was ready for dramatic change, freedom, and a disconnection from Great Britain. Taxes, trade regulations, and overarching, power, made all colonists, aside from the loyalists, more than ready to detach from Great Britain’s rule. The American Revolution portrays many similarities and qualities of the French revolution, due to the inspiration of one to another. The similarities and qualities lie within their spiraling economies, selfish, money-worship-thirsty leaders, ideologies, and provocation.
The American Revolution was so much more than just a war, or a time in history. It was a time where America grew, and as the name suggests, revolutionized their way of thinking and governing. It was a time for some great thinkers to get their ideas out there, and these ideas helped shape America into what it is today. These revolutionary thinkers shared their ideas publicly, and that gave the people ways to revolutionize their thoughts as well. They flipped what they knew about government upside down. They turned against the ways of monarchy, realizing that all men should be equal and should not be under a tyrannical king any longer. While this revolution was extremely powerful, it was also a trial and error effort. The Patriots tried many
The time of the Enlightenment was a time of great change, reform, and the emergence of great minds such as Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, and even Copernicus. These men cleared the path to thinking in a new way and brought about the change necessary for the Scientific Revolution. The Enlightenment allowed people to think more critically and even was the time in which the “Experimental Method” was consolidated by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642, Buckler, J., Crowston, p.592 para. 6). It allowed people to begin to think “out of the box” if you will. Monarchies and the power of the king before this time ruled over the general population unthreatened and very rarely did opposition come to stand. Quite often if opposition did stand it was shortly met with a quick disbanding, or even the death of the “heretic” that created the uprising. Napoleon was a good example; he did not stand for freedom of speech and quite often worked to regulate public opinion. However, with the Enlightenment around the corner, it helped to pave the way and prepare the country of France for the French Revolution. Commoners, as well as the clergy, and nobility began to stand up more against monarchical rule, and voiced their opinions on controversial subjects. With the emergence of Napoleon Bonaparte the future of France seemed to be a dictatorship under his rule inevitably. The French Revolution was a time also of great change. The hopes of the people were moving from an absolutist monarchy to a hopeful constitutional rule by the peoples, with the help of the Estates General which had not been called upon since 1614 (Buckler, J., Crowston. P.689, para. 3). In July, of 1788 King Louis XVI listened to his people and called a spring sessions of the est...
The deep origins of the American Revolution come from the early 1600’s to the late 1700’s when the British went back and forth between applying strict regulations and loosely enforcing laws upon the colonists. Once the colonists felt freedom like they did starting in 1606 and 1713, it was very difficult for them to let go of it. Also, many policies such as the Navigation Acts and the Molasses Act of 1733 that Britain forced upon the colonists caused tensions that eventually led to the American rebellion. Similarly, there were even underlying ideas based on the increase of education in the colonies, their newfound system of government, and their gradual transition away from the ideas of the English “high church” that formed in the colonies.
Founded on three fundamental principles of equality, fraternity and liberty, the French revolution spanned from 1789-1799. The revolution was a historical world landmark for the massive bloodshed and intensity of the revolution. The country was torn apart by political and religious turmoil which had persisted for over a decade. The revolution began due to the resentment of feudalism, civil inequality and religious intolerance that was present in France. The people of the revolution wanted France to establish a new political and social system where all people could enjoy equality, and pushed for government centralization, abolition of feudalism, religious tolerance and equality in the access to different careers. It was a struggle against inhumanity in a bid to create a favorable atmosphere where all human beings could exercise their rights and freedoms without any obstruction.
...he fact that they had no political power and were controlled by a country that was thousands of miles away from them. The American Revolution began as a conflict over political and social change, but soon developed into a dispute over personal rights and political liberty. A decade of conflicts between the British government and the Americans, starting with the Stamp Act in 1765 that eventually led to war in 1775, along with The Declaration of Independence in 1776. Americans united as one and knew that they wanted to be an independent country, have their own laws, rights, and not be colony of the Great Britain. They fought hard for their independence and people lost their lives in the process of it but in the end they succeeded. Never give up, keep fighting till the mission is accomplished just like the Americans did when they were fighting for their independence.
The American and French Revolution were both products of Enlightenment ideals. This is the idea of natural rights and equality, the upper class was not supportive of equality or natural rights. The leadership in both countries at the time of their revolution was repressive. This meant that they were making people do things that they didn’t want to do. Especially when it came to taxation, because the upper class wanted to keep getting more money from the taxation on the lower class. Both areas suffered to put power back into the hands of the people.
One of the most remarkable events of Modern History that has impacted the way we still live today in the twenty-first century is, without a doubt, the French Revolution. The causes that led to its explosion in 1789 are divided into two main categories: long-term causes and short-term causes. The long-term causes were the language and the new way of thinking that the Enlightenment generated throughout the eighteenth century. The French phrase liberté, égalité et fraternité, which remains the official motto of France to this day, stressed the concepts of liberty, equality before the law and fraternity which changed the way people looked at the world and cast the monarchy in a bad light in the citizenry's perspective.