Crane Brinton's Anatomy Of Revolution

A revolution, by definition, is the overthrow of one government followed by replacement with another. The American Revolution against the British during 1775 to 1783 and the French Revolution pitting the French people against their own government during 1789 to 1799 were both very important political and social turnovers. This movement towards the establishment of a constitutional government influenced political thought throughout the world. By closely examining three of the main causes of these revolutions, it is clear that although the two revolutions have their differences, the basis of cause for the revolutions have, overall, much stronger similarities.

Many revolutions have taken place throughout history, ranging from the unremarkable to the truly memorable, such as the French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution and the American Revolution. Through an examination of the social, cultural, economic and political causes of the American Revolution, an exploration of key arguments both for and against the American Revolution, and an analysis of the social, cultural, economic and political changes brought about by the American Revolution it can be demonstrated unequivocally that the American Revolution was indeed truly revolutionary.

Werner, Kirk D., ed. Turning Points in World History-the American Revolution. San Diego: GreenHaven P, 1999.

No one will argue that the American Revolution was one of the most significant events in shaping American ideology. The impact on the economy, sociological and ideological make-up of America are still seen in today's society. Many great minds have passed commentary on the causes and impacts of the American Revolution such as; Bernard Bailyn, Louis Hartz, Joyce Appleby, and Gordon Wood. This research examines why these experts believed what they did about the causes of the American Revolution and how we can correlate those causes to the economic and political crisis America is now facing in the 21st century as compared to the 18th century.

Opposing historians argue that the American Revolution is classified as a contradiction to the true qualities of a revolution. Interpreted from the class lecture regarding the AR , a revolution consist of, but is not limited to the following: Complete social reorganization such that the bottom and top of society assume their opposing position, must enact the societal transformation, and the struggle of a revolution must be bloody, gruesome, and vicious. It is assumed that the abundance of the aforementioned qualities culminate to a Revolution. A revolution is synonymous to a mutiny, revolt, or uprising; historians further argue the AR lacks such revolutionary elements. Examples of a revival of this magnitude are those

The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the United States of America after a harsh war. Many people argue that the American Revolution came about primarily through an evolving series of meetings, conventions, and congresses. However, I modify this statement because larger and more crucial events took place in categories such as: land and war, Britain’s policies, and important meetings. Although the revolution still came about through meetings, I believe that events such as war and the change of Britain’s policies had a more direct correlation to the American Revolution.

The revolution resulted, among other things, in the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in France and in the establishment of the First Republic. It was generated by a vast complex of causes, the most important of which were the inability of the ruling classes of nobility, clergy, and bourgeoisie to come to grips with the problems of state, the indecisive nature of the monarch, impoverishment of the workers, the intellectual ferment of the Age of Enlightenment, and the example of the American Revolution. Recent scholarship tends to downplay the social class struggle and emphasize political, cultural, ideological, and personality factors in the advent and unfolding of the conflict. The Revolution itself produced an equally vast complex of

The French Revolution was a huge turning point in European history, and characterized the modern European society we know today. The French Revolution was a moment of demarcation in government between the pre-modern and the modern world. This essay will examine the effects of the French Revolution by analyzing the changes in government before, during, and after 1789.

Throughout history many revolutions took place, ranging from the unremarkable to a truly memorable, as the French revolution, the American Revolution, and the Bolshevik Revolution, but American revolution took place in 1775-1783. The revolution was different from other revolution because of growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government because American revolution was not like the others. This revolution was not like the others because it was unique. It was violent, changes to state, rebellion, and the refusal of orders from the Britain. As many people say that American revolution happened quickly, but it did not because one thing led to another that drove the road to the

Unlike the events in France in 1789 or in Russia in 1917 or in China in 1949, the American Revolution was not a major social upset. An unaffected social turbulence destroys the institutional establishments of the old request and exchanges control from a decision to new social gatherings.

Comparing Sewell’s claim to Skocpol’s definition of the process of revolution, Sewell’s explanation is iffy. To start, there were no geopolitical pressures mentioned. There was a financial crisis of the state since France was going into bankruptcy, which led to tax reform. However, when the king called up the Estates General, the Estates General was not going to allow taxes to be imposed on the dominant class, which were the corporate institutions. Nevertheless, there was a state breakdown due to the financial crisis since a financial crisis can lead directly to a state breakdown. From there, there was a peasant’s rebellion, since they were the ones that were getting hurt the most from the rebellion, and the rebellion had the backing of the National Assembly to solidify their rebellion, which led to the revolution in France in 1789. This all matches Skocpol’s definition of a social rebellion, which is rapid and basic transformation based on state and class structures with the revolts coming from the lower classes. To Sewell, the class change is evident. The lower class, the peasants, had a rebellion against the upper class, the corporate interests. The state change was ideological, with a changing of ideology inside the National Assembly from a corporate ideology to the Enlightenment ideology pushed by the peasants.

The French and American revolutions are both very significant in the world’s history. The American Revolution happened first, around the last half of the 18th century where the Thirteen Colonies became the United States of America, and gained independence from the British Empire. The French revolution on the other hand, was from 1789 until the turn of the century 1799. For the French people this was a period of political and social turmoil. The idea of Enlightenment stuck a large population of the French people and led to many changes in society. These two individual revolutions have many comparisons and although they are not identical they become intertwined with separate philosophies on politics and economic expansion.

The period of 18th and 19th century is marked by the greatest transformations, reformations, revolutions and many other critical events that ever took place in human history. The credit is given to all these revolutions for enlightenment of mankind. The two most important revolutions were the French revolution and the industrial revolution. One can feel that both of these revolutions mutually reinforced each other and later became the back bone of all other revolutions. On the other hand, both revolutions had totally different impacts and consequences at various economical, political and social realms.

The French Revolution (1789-1814) was a period that affected the outcome of world history tremendously. This is considered a major turning point in European history which has led to dramatic changes in France and other regions of the world. Various social and political issues led to the start of the revolution. Politically, France suffered under the rule of Louis XVI, who ruled by absolute monarchy. Many people had their natural rights renounced and weren’t able to have a political voice. Socially, France had divided its population within 3 estates (classes). French citizens took it upon themselves to remodel their country 's’ political structure. The French Revolution had encountered both positive and negative effects. However, many Europeans viewed the Revolution as much more than just a bloody massacre. The French Revolution was used to demonstrate new ideology that would emphasize the principles of liberty and equality throughout Europe.

Both the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution induced great social transformations from the end of the 18th century on. The revolutions laid the foundation for the journey of modernization for Great Britain and France. Although the two countries were merely separated by the English Channel, the relatively low degree of pre-industrial international communications hindered the interaction of both events. Nevertheless, it is not coincidental that the revolutions occurred roughly at the same time: the rapidly increasing economic demand as well as the emergence of enlightenment philosophies served as the stimuli. However, the varied application and reaction to the two elements are country-based: the difference in the availability of natural resources, the class relations in each states, and the dissimilar applications of the philosophical ideas developed into the two distinctively varied revolutions.