Enlightenment Ideas Inspired The American and French Revolutions
The American and French Revolutions were both fundamentally based on the Enlightenment ideas. The main ideas that they followed were by John Locke. His ideas inspired the Americans and the French to have a revolution. In these revolutions, the Americans had success and the French failed. The success that the Americans experienced wad due to the protection of rights they had. These rights are 'Life, Liberty and Property.? In America a constitution was put together that provided for a stable government and also a representative government. In France failure was caused by chaos, terror, fear and war. The French were unsuccessful because they failed to create a democratic government. In the end they were left with a dictator.
During the Enlightenment, many thinkers were writing about how a government should be run. John Locke was one of those thinkers. His ideas included the consent of the governed, or the ?social contract.? This social compact is what the Americans and the French both based their revolutions on (Ziegler 126 - 135).
These Revolutions started because the American and French citizens were unhappy. These people were unhappy because there was inequality throughout the entire country. They did not have any representation, in any from of government.
John Locke said that property is a right. In America?s constitution it protects property. The 4th, 5th, and 6th amendments guarantee the protection of property in America, In France they did not guarantee property. In America it was set up so that people have to earn property. The Americans wanted to expand but the Proclamation of 1763 said that they were not able to pass the Appellation Mountains (Ziegler 126 - 135).
In France property was not equal. It was divided up into different classes. Class determined how much property citizens would have. Peasants would have the least because they were at the bottom of the class structure. During the revolution the French thought that property should be divided up equality. However, during this time the peasants were stealing property. The French?s main goal was absolute equality.
A faction is a special interest group that is very passionate to their interest. James Madison, a realist, spoke of a way to deal with factions when he wrote Federalist 10. ?T...
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...roblems that could have come about with the constitution. Madison realized that people are not virtuous; that they would do and think however they want too. The French were idealists. They thought that factions were going to destroy everything they wanted to acheive so they tried to eliminate the factions. By doing this they did not enable their people to be free. Robespierre never let his people get to the absolute equality that he wanted in France. He believed that in order to have the ?Republic of Virtue? that he so desired, he would need to spread fear around his country. By doing this, he failed to reach his goal. In the end, France had a dictator.
America and France both had the same ideas in mind during their revolutions. They both followed the views by the enlightenment think, John Locke. But France and America had different ways of dealing with the important issues they faced. Specifically, things like factions. These differences are what caused the American Revolution to be successful and the French Revolution to be a failure.
Works Cited
Ziegler, Paul. History of Modern Europe and the U.S., Volume 1, Third edition. Copley Custom Publishing Group, 1997.
The enlightenment ideas affected politics for both the French and the American peoples through the form of government and individual rights. Thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, believed in the individual right of man as a citizen of a sovereign nation. In 1789, Marquis de Lafayette used Rousseau and other free thinker’s ideas to draft his Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the National Constituent Assembly in France (http://www.pbs.org/marieantoinette/revolution/america_france.html). This established universal rights for individuals that always existed at all times. The document shows many similarities to American documents such as the declaration of Human Rights in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. For instance, they all show a relationship through the declaration of individual rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. However, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen focuses more on individualism while American documents focus more on a community “We the People” (http://www.pbs.org/marieantoin...
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.
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.
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)
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 caused much more harm than good. These leaders taught the French people more about what type of government would be the best option for them. One of the most radical, and extreme leaders was Maximilien Robespierre. The duration of his dictatorship was known as "Reign of Terror." He demanded a republic and soon after his demands; the monarchy was overthrown. He also felt that a constitutional government would have to wait until all the enemies of the revolution have been eliminated. To accomplish this task, he murdered close to 40,000 people, most by guillotine, and some sentenced to life in jail. The Reign of Terror was one of the most controversial, and terrifying phases of the Revolution. Some French colonists thought it to be a path to democracy; others thought it was just a attempt for Robespierre to assume dictator. The other great leader was Napoleon Bonaparte. He believed that the only way to have control in France was to put a limit on democracy. Over a period of time Napoleon 's party overthrew Robespierre 's party. Soon enough, Napoleon was dictator of France. The French soldiers who fought in the American Revolution came back from the war with new ideas and reason for revolution. These ideas included the right to take up arms against tyranny, all men should
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