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Ideas of enlightenment thinkers
American revolution changed society
Ideas of enlightenment thinkers
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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.
...on, Enlightenment ideas permeated the politics, economics, and religion of the French Revolution and the American Revolution. While both show several similarities, they predominantly differ on most things. Politically, American conservatives respected the individual and property rights of a citizen, while French politics respected the individual rights, took property rights in some cases, and used terror to influence people. Economically, the American free market idea left the economy alone, while the French input socialist ideas such as price ceilings. Religiously, the America closely associated itself with religion in the revolution, while the French public mostly despised the church.
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
By the late eighteenth century, the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason as it was called had begun to rapidly spread across Europe. People began believing in the ideals of popular government, the centrality of economics to politics, secularism, and progress. This cultural movement was sparked by intellectuals and commonwealth thinkers such as the influential writer John Locke and the famous scientist Isaac Newton, both who emphasized the fact that man, by the use of reason, would be able to solve all of his problems-whether it be problems with the government, morals or the society. However, these ideals weren’t just limited to the European nations where they had first begun. On the other side of the world, off in the United States, American intellectuals began to reason with these ideas as well. As a result, the influence on the profound of modern economic and political thought had a huge impact on the United States, resulting in one of the most important documents in known in American history; the Constitution.
The American Revolution and French Revolution were two long lasting uprisings that had great value to those battling for their rights and want they wanted to change. Yet there are a few distinctions details set them apart in a small way. The Americans wanted a change in their government, but the French wanted a huge change in everything including their government, religion, social structure (whereas American’s social system stayed the same) and economy. Other than the few differences they had, they two Revolutions were much alike, basically twin revolutions.
For starters, both revolutions were inspired by others. The French revolution was empowered by the American. News spread throughout the rest of the world that England’s American colony had overthrown their British government with a war. A period called "The Enlightenment" sparked the American Revolution. During this time, philosophers and lawmakers focused on basic human rights and creating a balanced government. Ideas from the Declaration of Independence which came from these philosophers, inspired the people of France to develop a sense of natural rights in French government. Since their current government gave the people very little natural rights, they rebelled.
The Enlightenment period in Europe was a shift in the way that society thought about power and liberty. The ideals of this period helped to inspire the revolutions of the 18th century. The American colonies desired liberty from foreign rule, the French wanted to increase the power of the people in their class structure, and the Haitians fought for representation for the millions of slaves on their island. While the ideas of the enlightenment were not fully employed in each of these revolutions, they brought the nations closer to a fully representative government, rather than one of absolute power. The American revolution was a reaction to unfavorable tax policies from the King of England.
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)
The American Revolution began due to problems within the British economy. The most prevalent issue of the time was "taxation without representation". Unlike the leaders of America, the leaders of the French did not turn out to be as positive for the country. In fact, some of these leaders have caused much more harm than good.
There are many different ways in which the Enlightenment affected the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution. One way was the by the idea of a Social Contract; an agreement by which human beings are said to have abandoned the "state of nature" in order to form the society in which they now live. HOBBES, LOCKE, and J.J. ROUSSEAU each developed differing versions of the social contract, but all agreed that certain freedoms had been surrendered for society's protection and that the government has definite responsibilities to its citizens. Locke believed that governments were formed to protect the natural rights of men, and that overthrowing a government that did not protect these rights was not only a right, but also an obligation. His thoughts influenced many revolutionary pamphlets and documents, including the Virginia Constitution of 1776, and the Declaration of Independence. The Bill of Rights was created as a listing of the rights granted to citizens, the Bill of Rights serves to protect the people from a too powerful government. These civil rights granted to U.S. Citizens are included in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, Locke’s ideas about checks and balances and the division of church and state were later embodied in the U.S. Constitution as well. The Constitution replaced a more weakly organized system of government as outlined under the Articles of Confederation.
This is because the American Revolution had influenced the French Revolution. The French Revolution is believed to have an even greater impact on Europe. Brad Mackey in his article “American Revolutionary Influences on the French Revolution” claims, “…the influence of the American Revolution on the French Revolution must include recognition that the French were interpreting the American Revolutionary ideological successes first…”. Mackey says this to explain how the French may have used America has an example when identifying their own problems. One way the American Revolution influenced The French Revolution as that it showed the Americas problem with the King of England and taxation was similar to the kings In France and the taxations of the French people. Mackey states, “the conflict between the people of America and the King of England over taxation and American representation in the British Parliament was, to the French, similar to the conflict over taxation between the Kings of France and the people of France who had been represented in the judiciary by the hereditary noble-dominated parliaments of France”. Perhaps the greatest influence on the French Revolution from the American Revolution was the similarity between them with monarchies having total control over them. In his article, Richard Mackey writes, “These conflicts in France had has as their primary source the disagreement between the monarchical government, which had claimed absolute power, and the parliamentary judiciary system which had been, since 1615, the only institution which had had the right to question that absolutism”. These are all examples of how the French had used America has a model in their revolution and also how the American Revolution had an impact in the French
The Enlightenment is a unique time in European history characterized by revolutions in science, philosophy, society, and politics. These revolutions put Europe in a transition from the medieval world-view to the modern western world. The traditional hierarchical political and social orders from the French monarchy and Catholic Church were destroyed and replaced by a political and social order from the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality(Bristow, 1). Many historians, such as Henry Steele Commager, Peter Gay, have studied the Enlightenment over the years and created their own views and opinions.
The thoughts, actions, and ideas of the Enlightenment era influenced the colonists of America to base their government on freedom, natural rights, and much more. The people involved in the Enlightenment also influenced the people to take charge of their own country and to keep tier government in check with the people.
The French Revolution was basically a war between the social classes. The middle class believed that in order to gain equality they had to get rid of the privileges that were stopping the progress of their rise in society. To do this they had to gain power within the government and make changes, such as, improving the tax system, creating a fair system of production where profits went to the producer, improving the whole economic system of the government, and many more. The revolution was a fight for equality; it was not a rebellion against poverty. Many of the French people had learned to live in poverty, for they had been living in poverty for centuries.
One of the early differences in the revolutions is the way each began. At the beginning of the French Revolution, the government was about to collapse. While at the beginning the American Revolution, the colonist felt oppressed but had a stable governing body. The French Revolution was caused by problems that can be categorized into three categories: political and social imbalance, government bankruptcy, and Enlightenment thinking. The American Revolution was caused by impeding political laws and taxation on the British colonies by England.
Both Revolutions started because of their unfair ruler and the heavy taxes they had to pay. The American Revolution emerge from unfair taxation without representation of the Parliament. The French Revolution emerge because the French citizens had to pay heavy taxes that lead