On Revolution

1229 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Comparison american and french revolution

On Revolution, a book Hannah Arendt published in 1963, after Eichmann’s trial. The book didn’t gain a lot of popularity at first due to the remarkable Eichmann in Jerusalem notability. On Revolution is a work of dichotomies. Arendt compared and differentiated between the French and the American Revolution. How one was successful and how the other was less successful according to her perspectives. To begin with, Arendt defines revolution as a new beginning, a novelty, an irresistible force, something that is unprecedented that cannot be controlled. She also stressed further more on this point that a revolution should have the ability to create something new that would result in more space of freedom. Arendt does not favor the liberal view of freedom, as it is the case in the American model: “pursuit of happiness”. Freedom, according to Arendt, is the freedom of participating in the political life, being an active member in politics instead of being partially active during the elections only. Arendt observed these revolutions and wanted to know what they signify. On Revolution is a narrative of the French and the American revolutions. The book received criticism and Arendt’s historical account came under-attack by historians and experts from the both side. The fact that she referred to the American Revolution as a revolution instead of calling it the war of independence stunned many. Hence not only her views and claims were problematic to some but also the title. In this paper, I’m going to argue and point out the differences between the French Revolution and the American Revolution in line with Arendt’s theory of revolution.
The French Revolution is heavily criticized by Arendt. She finds the heritage of the French Revolution to be...

... middle of paper ...

...evolution, the founding fathers presented the federal documents, they convinced the individuals, every opinion counted as important.
Arendt is entirely correct in her argument upon the vast differences between the American Revolution and the French revolution. The French model portrayed a sense of totalitarianism, while the American model emphasized on the political action that Arendt happens to promote. Both revolutions failed to achieve the ultimate goal which is the creation of public freedom, the American model promoted “pursuit of happiness”, a liberal model of freedom to seek individualistic happiness. Arendt argued that the founding fathers should’ve promoted public freedom, public “happiness” where individuals are actively participating in decision-making in the political arena, where the individual is an active political participant-- a part of the system.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of John P Roche Framing Of The Constitution

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    The U.S government has operated for about 200 years on the basis of Constitution written in 1787 and since then, there have been several debates as to whether the framing of this document was an elitist or democratic process. The framers, collectively were an elite, but the reason for why they wrote the Constitution is not fully known. John P. Roche suggests the Constitution was written upon the idea to establish an effective and controlled national government that would overcome the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and not so much to limit the power of popular majorities and protect their own property interests.

    Read More

  • Radicalism Gary B Nash Summary

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gary B. Nash argues that the American Revolution portrayed “radicalism” in the sense on how the American colonies and its protesters wanted to accommodate their own government. Generally what Gary B. Nash is trying to inform the reader is to discuss the different conditions made by the real people who were actually fighting for their freedom. In his argument he makes it clear that throughout the revolution people showed “radicalism” in the result of extreme riots against the Stamp Act merchants, but as well against the British policies that were implemented. He discusses the urgency of the Americans when it came to declaring their issues against the British on how many slaves became militants and went up against their masters in the fight

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Revolution Is Not A Dinner Party

    1904 Words  | 4 Pages

    Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party, a historical fiction book written by Ying Chang Compestine, exceptionally portrays the horrors and torture the Chinese people endured during the "revolution," or the Communist control and building of a new China.

    Read More

  • The Political Thought Of The American Revolution By Clinton Rossiter

    2116 Words  | 5 Pages

    He believes that many revolutions beyond the American Revolution sought after the same success the Americans had when defeating the British, and based their political thought on America’s political thought. Rossiter wrote The Political Thought of the American Revolution to reiterate the political values and the basis of the American thought during the Revolutions, in hopes that it could be useful to modern revolutionaries, or at least aid in the understanding of the American revolutionary mindset that led the country to a victory against a dominant world power. Through writing The Political Thought of the American Revolution, Rossiter was able to prove his idea that the political thought of America during the American Revolution “has the ring of both eternity and universality”. (Preface, viii).” The author, Clinton Rossiter, was influenced by his life when writing the book The Political Thought of the American Revolution.

    Read More

  • Karl Marx And Engels View The Criticisms Of The French Revolution

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels see the French revolution as a great achievement in human history. However they also discuss serious criticisms of it. Marx and Engels discussed the struggle between two distinct social groups during the French Revolution which are the city poor and the privileged classes and what happens when power fell into the hands of the revolutionary “petty bourgeoisie” and the paris workers creating a class struggle and it impact on political issues . This essay will explain how Marx and Engels view the French revolution and their analysis of the revolution’s achievements and shortcomings.This essay will also apply their analysis of the French

    Read More

  • What the Revolution Really Was

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Webster’s Online Dictionary, revolution is “a sudden, radical or complete change.” During the early settlement of the British colonies, settlers became so culturally different from those in Great Britain that they already seemed to be their own country. This is what John Adams meant in saying, “What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the Revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people… years before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.” In fact, the revolution began years before the colonists began to feel mistreated by the British. As they arrived in the new colonies, they noticed many major differences in the society and culture of this new place. As time went on, they learned about the colonies and the society there, and eventually, they evolved their cultures and lifestyles to comply with this new society. The primary changes the colonists the colonists made were in their economic system, their lifestyle, and their freedoms. In England, the economic system was primarily industrious, while in it was agriculture. In addition, the colonists, especially those in the south, relied very heavily on slave labor for agricultural purposes. In Great Britain, however, slavery did exist, but it was not relied upon for a functional society. The final change the settlers made in the New World was religion. In Great Britain, the king forced everyone to join the Church of England and leave the Roman Catholic Church. When in the colonies, settlers could go back to whatever religion they desired, so colonial religion was extremely diverse. Therefore, three main changes or “Revolutions”

    Read More

  • French Declaration Of The Rights Of Man And Citizen

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    The French Revolution was a tumultuous period, with France exhibiting a more fractured social structure than the United States. In response, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proposed that “ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities, and of the corruption of governments” (National Assembly). This language indicates that the document, like its counterpart in the United States, sought to state the rights of men explicitly, so no doubt existed as to the nature of these rights. As France was the center of the Enlightenment, so the Enlightenment ideals of individuality and deism are clearly expressed in the language of the document. The National Assembly stated its case “in

    Read More

  • The Revolution of 1800

    1680 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson succeeded in defeating the incumbent, John Adams, and assumed the presidency. In terms of elections though, the election of 1800 itself was a fascinating election in that it a heavily-contested election and was effectively the first time political parties ran smear campaigns against each other during an election. The Republican Party attacked the Federalists for being anti-liberty and monarchist and tried to persuade the public that the Federalists were abusing their power through acts such as the Alien & Sedition Acts and the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion (Tindall and Shi 315). The Federalists, on the other hand, attacked Jefferson for his atheism and support of the French Revolution and warned that his election would result in chaos (316). By the end of the presidential election, neither Adams nor Jefferson emerged with his reputation completely intact. Still, rather than an election between Adams and Jefferson, the election of 1800 ultimately boiled down to a deadlock between Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate, Aaron Burr, who each held seventy-three electoral votes, resulting in the election was sent to the House of Representatives. In the end, the deadlock was resolved only by Alexander Hamilton, whose immense hate for Burr allowed Jefferson to claim the presidency. However, the election of 1800 was more than just a simple presidential election. The election of 1800 was the first peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent party to the opposition and represented a new step in politics, as well as a new direction in foreign policy that would emerge from Jefferson’s policies, and to this extent, the election of 1800 was a revolution.

    Read More

  • German Peasants' Revolt: A Failed Revolution

    1779 Words  | 4 Pages

    The thesis of this essay is that the German Peasants’ Revolt was not a revolution because it failed to achieve a significant number of factors that arguably define revolutions. I intend to use a variety of sources that will outline the failures of the revolt whilst analysing Arendt’s theories on revolution and how her work can help explain the statement that the German Peasants’ Revolt was not a revolution. In addition to this I will identify some definitions of a revolution in order to provide insight into the shortcomings of the German Peasants’ Revolt and its inability to become a revolution.

    Read More

  • A Radical Revolution

    1337 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Enlightenment period can be accredited to having an impact on the radicalism of the American Revolution. “During the eighteenth century, many educated Americans began to be influenced by the outlook of the European Enlightenment.” Enlightenment thinkers were particularly fond of rationalism and reasoning as a government of human life. John Locke, a philosopher and author of this period, brought up in Two Treatises on Government the idea that the government and the governed should have a mutual agreement. This agreement, known as Locke’s “social contract” held that men should surrender themselves to be governed, and in turn, the government would recognize the natural rights of men. Life, liberty, an...

    Read More

  • The Abolitionist Movement and The Civil Rights Movement

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    Arendt, Hannah. “What Is Freedom?” Eight Exercises in Political Thought. New York: Penguin Group, 2012. 142-69. Print.

    Read More

  • John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Enlightenment was an astonishing time of transformation in Europe. During this time in the eighteenth century there was a progressive movement that was labeled by its criticism of the normal religious, social, and political perceptions. A number of significant thinkers, with new philosophies, had inspired creativeness and change. These thinkers had many different thoughts and views on people and the way they act, and views on the government. Two well-known and most influential thinkers of this time were the English political philosopher John Locke and the French political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. These two men had laid down some of the intellectual grounds of the modern day government and both had different opinions on what the government’s role in a society.

    Read More

  • The Key Elements Of The French Revolution

    1594 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before the Revolution, France experienced a period of time called the Enlightenment. Traditional concepts, such as religion and style of government, were debated upon by scholars, philosopher, and ordinary people. One of the most famous writers of the Enlightenment was philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He introduced the concept that the people should be in charge instead of an individual ruler. This idea became known as the general will. In his “Ths Social Contract” Rousseau states, “Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will, and, in our corporate capacity, we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole” (Rousseau). Throughout the future French Revolution, Rousseau’s writings became a cornerstone to the French people. His ideas gave the French people a definition on why the position of the King should be abolished. What was even better, Rousseau even described why the people be placed in charge. At the time of the Revolution an enormous amount of France’s power was allocated to the King and very little was left for the people. In order to achieve more power for themselves, the citizens of France lobbied against a monarchy and instead for Rousseau’s philosophy that the collective whole should rule. Under the ideas of Rousseau, all French citizens would receive power because the collective whole was the governing power. However, obtaining such intentions required that the people abuse the traditional powers of France as Furet

    Read More

  • Napoleon Bonaparte And The French Revolution

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    The revolution was partly founded by the ideas that were born from the philosophers of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement during the 18th century that encouraged the rejection of the social and religious values of the time in favour of the search for truth and knowledge . The Declaration echoes the Enlightenment’s theories that state that the people should have control over the governm...

    Read More

  • The Declaration of the Rights of Women

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    The French Revolution was a period of time in which France underwent many changes, many which could be considered revolutionary. France’s whole system and way of being was completely changed. New ideas were proposed everyday. An idea is revolutionary when it is a new idea, when it is something that has never been thought of before. The Declaration of the Rights of Women written by Olympe de Gouges on September 1791, was one of the ideas proposed to the National Assembly (Hunt, Web 1). The document proposed that since the French Revolution was all about finding equality for all people, women should be equal to men and therefore, should have the same rights as men did. Women at the time live in terrible conditions. They had little access to education, and therefore could not enter professional occupations that required advanced education, were legally deprived of the right to vote, and were not considered citizens (Class Discussion Notes). If equal rights were not given to women, the French Revolution had not reached its full potential, according to Gouges. She expressed this idea in her document, saying, “This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society” (Gouges, Web). Anyone that questioned the Revolution was immediately put to death (Class Discussion Notes). If Gouges’ document and ideas were important enough to catch the attention of the National Assembly and for her to be put to death, her ideas could be considered important and revolutionary (Britannica, Web 1) But, the document was not revolutionary. The Declaration of the Rights of Women was not a revolutionary document because its ideas were taken from other people and were no...

    Read More

More about On Revolution

Open Document