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The US revolution and the French revolution
American Revolution and French Revolution
Essay on the american revolution and french revolution
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The American and French Revolutions were both major occurrences during the late 18th century. These revolutions were pivotal to the formation of modern day western democracies. Although these two revolutions started for very similar reasons like freedom, citizen’s rights, and equality, the differences are all in the details.
The American Revolution happened first, with the French Revolution following shortly after. One major similarity of the two revolutions was their philosophies. In France, the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” was a very important document containing the main ideals of the revolution. In America, works like “The Two Treatises of Government” and “Common Sense”, written by John Locke and Thomas Paine respectively, served as ideological pillars of the revolution (History.com Staff). All of these works, both American and French, stood for the same things: rejection of monarchies, civil rights, and independence.
However, a difference between the revolutions was the type of liberty and independence they were each fighting for. America was fighting to break away from its mother country, Britain. On the
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other hand, France was more so fighting to change the political structure of the mother country itself. Another difference between the two was that landowning men mainly started the American Revolution, while the common workers, many of which did not own any land, started the French Revolution (Holmes). A huge similarity of the revolutions was that they both source back to taxes.
The American Revolution ultimately came down to ‘no taxation without representation’. The British parliament heavily taxed the colonies, even though the colonies had no representatives in parliament. Passages of laws such as the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act, and the Tea Act pushed colonial citizens over the edge because these were all laws that they did not consent to. The French Revolution was largely about tax equality. The French government was comprised of three ‘Estates’. The first and second Estates held all of the power. When it came time to vote, these two Estates always sided together, ruling out the third Estate, which was comprised of the taxpayers. Therefore, it was like the third Estate virtually had no vote and little equality
(Burress). The most major difference between the two came with their endings. The American Revolution ended with what most everyone would call a victory. The people got exactly what they were fighting for – independence from Britain. In France things were not as simple. After the revolution, the people in power that the citizens were trying to replace were replaced by leaders who were arguably worse and more tyrannical than those who served before them. These two revolutions carry on their legacies to this very day. Reforms brought on by these revolutions are still major parts of the political structures of both countries. Later, countries all over the globe were inspired by these nation’s acts of rebellion to achieve their own freedoms.
...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 caused by a series of attempts from the British to tax American colonists. After a war against France, Britain ruled an enormous overseas empire. Britain however faced war debt and was in need of money to administer the overseas empire. The crown decided that since the colonists were the primary beneficiaries of this empire, it was time to have them contribute to the empire’s revenue by paying taxes.
Revolution is one word that summarizes complete change. To put the name of a country before the word revolution means complete change in that country's government. In some way, whether it be politically, economically, or socially, the government failed to appease the people. In France and Latin America they stopped at virtually nothing to gain their goal. Latin America literally bit the hand the fed them and France beheaded their own king. This was all done in the name of reformation and change because somehow their government severely let down their people.
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 demand for no taxation without representation was the primary force motivating the American revolutionary movement, and for many it became a symbol for democracy. Throughout the late 18th century, the British colony of America was oppressed by Parliament from "across the pond". This oppression included unequal rights compared to English citizens that lived on the mainland, unneeded taxation, and no representation in Parliament, which resulted in many laws that were unfavorable to the American colonists. It was this "taxation without representation" that was a powerful catalyst in firing up the American revolutionary movement. America was "all grown up", and no longer needed to be monitored on by Britain.
Analyzing the post-revolutionary governments of America and France will prove that the French Revolution was far more revolutionary than the American Revolution, due to the radical change that took place, the type of government implemented after, as well as the Napoleonic Code brought forth by Napoleon Bonaparte.
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)
Another aspect to keep in mind when comparing the French and American revolutions is provocation. Provocation includes such things as land war, class war, tyranny, and grievances. The American Revolution had many altercations with social classes and land. One reason the revolution began was because the British created the Proclamation of 1763, which stated that Americans couldn't move east of the Appalachian Mountains. Land was abundant in America, but the British were tired of battles amongst themselves and the Native Americans.
“The Philosophes, the early Enlightenment thinkers in France such as Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Diderot, set down some early principles of the movement: the only justification for the state is the promotion of the good life for its citizens; men should be rational, should be allowed to direct their lives by knowledge, reason and experience; the ability to use reason makes men equal; and with the use of reason, progress is sure to come (Artz 33).” Many of the most notable leaders of the American revolution were extremely influenced by English and to an extent, the French Enlightenment thought. Jefferson and Franklin both spent time in France, which was an ally because it was an enemy of England, and absorbed the influence of the French Enlightenment there. The language of natural law, inherent freedoms, and self-determination which inspired them so much that the American formation was the product...
Any historical event with-world changing consequences will always have two sides to the story. What most Americans refer to today as the American Revolution is no different. As Americans, most of us view eighteenth-century England as a tyrannical power across the ocean, and see men like George Washington as heroes who fought against the oppressor. If history and wars were that simple, everyone would understand them, and the need for wars would be diminished. The truth is, England was not the least bit tyrannical to the colonies. Actually, the rebels had no idea, nor any intention of establishing a new and separate government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." They only meant to make a statement and attempt to avoid every tax that Parliament could dream up in the process. Across the Atlantic Ocean in England's Parliament, some men such as William Pitt and Edmund Burke understood opposition to taxes by the American colonists. After all, the colonies had been all but ignored by England since they were established in the early part of the seventeenth century up until the Seven Years War (1756 - 1763). Other men such as George Grenville and Charles Townshend did not understand at all the protests against any taxes implemented by Parliament . These men felt that was not only the right of Parliament to demand taxes, but also their duty to raise money for the Crown. Parliament had the power to demand a tax of every British citizen in the empire, and these men had developed their own ideas about how those taxes would be implemented.
The American and French Revolutions took place between 1775 and 1789. Though they were closely related chronologically, the two revolutions were interrelated in several other important ways than just time itself.
These two revolutions occurred relatively at same period, but were almost complete mirror reflections of one another. The patriots of the revolution in America did not really even wanted a revolution, but had no choice, which made it peaceful aside from the war. The revolutionists in France seemed almost bloodthirsty and were very quick to kill someone for any injustice. The groups of revolutionists were too radical in that they were not willing to compromise. Compromise makes the difference between a peaceful state and a reign of terror.
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.