Declaration Of Independence And Enlightenment

The French Revolution began in 1789 as an attempt, by the revolutionaries, to form a new government that would give the people more liberty, equality and value people’s rights. Between 1793 and 1794 the government used extreme ways to achieve their goals. This period of time, led by Robespierre, was called the reign of Terror because between 20,000-40,000 french people were killed by the government forces. The Reign of Terror was not justified for three reasons:The external and internal threat did not deserve it, they denied natural rights against people who opposed them and the methods of the Terror were too extreme.

Both the Enlightenment and the Great awakening caused the colonists to alter their views about government, the role of government, as well as society at large which ultimately and collectively helped to motivate the colonists to revolt against England. The Enlightenment was vital in almost every part of the founding of America, which included everything from government, to politics itself, as well as religion. Many of the ideas from the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening shaped our country as a whole in its seminal years, inspiring everything from the American Revolution, to the Constitution, and even electricity and stoves. Without the central ideas and figures of both the Great Awakening and the Enlightenment era, the United States

the claim to the Crown, and he believed that individuals held the right to revolt against a

In the eighteenth century, Enlightenment ideas of universal human rights inspired the American and French Revolutions. Following Napoleon’s invasion of Spain, such ideas also ignited independence movements in Spanish America in the early nineteenth century. Simón Bolívar, the “Liberator” of much of Spanish South America, cited Enlightenment ideology to justify independence. In his “Cartagena Manifesto” and “Jamaica Letter,” Bolívar used Enlightenment political ideology to promote criollo¬-led centralized authority and to inspire criollos to support independence.

The Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen were both written to ensure the rights of the people. Before these documents were written, people were opposed to certain aspects of their government. For example, the British were too controlling of American citizens and were also unrightfully taxing American goods. This made the American colonists very unhappy. The anger of these people led to many protests and revolts against the British. Sooner or later, the founding fathers decided to send a declaration to the King of Britain, King George III, declaring their freedom and independence. This document is what led to the American Revolutionary War/American Revolution. In France, the people were treated very

Some of the leaders of the American Revolution were influenced by Enlightenment ideas which are, freedom of speech, equality, freedom of press, and religious tolerance. American colonists did not have these rights, in result, they rebelled against England for independence. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote about American's natural rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." These ideas came from the Enlightenment, the ideals led towards the American Revolution soon after (Fisk). "The American Revolution must be considered as an anticolonial war for independence, not only a war of liberation from overseas rule but a war for freedom. The American Revolution was a movement to fulfill aspirations to acquire more property" (Morris, 3).

The Declaration of Independence written on July 4, 1776, was the first of the three documents written. When reading this document it is hard to ignore the emotion it exudes of a people not just longing for independence, but rather who’ve grown tiresome of the lack of equality compared to that of those on the motherland. The Declaration of Independence is the autonomous stance of a people declaring not just independence, but claiming their right to disassociate themselves from under the leadership from whom they consider a tyrant and therefore, “unfit” to be a leader of the free land. Unlike the US Constitution, this document discusses and/or lists in depth the atrocities and unconstitutional acts displayed by the ruler of England, the King and its theme is more so a grievance.

The American Revolution promised all Americans independence. “It marked the first time in history that people fought for their independence in the name of certain universal principles such as rule of law, constitutional rights, and popular sovereignty.” (4) It was known as the war of independence by the colonies again Great Britain. There were many promises made in the American Revolution, such as, equality of all individuals. “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” (1) A19 stated in the Declaration of Independence written in 1776.

It all came down to everyone who started the Reign of Terror, ended up dying, including Robespierre, Saint-Just and many innocent

Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternité were the main principles of the French revolution. However, it was a time where these three ideals would be twisted into nothing more than moral and physical violence. The revolution was ultimately a failure which spun out of control and began to murder itself. The French wanted Freedom from its absolutist ruler, but in turn saw themselves being governed by the devil. These citizens wanted a sense of brotherhood amongst their country, but saw their nation being torn apart by violence. Furthermore, the third estate sought to benefit from a new government that promised equality; however, the result was a further imbalance in an already corrupt society. Ironically, the gruesome reign of terror which was

During the Enlightenment period, it was the age of reason. Where people understood and viewed things differently. However, centuries later from that time period (1700s) both America and France incorporated and reflected various enlightenment ideas and formed it into several documents such as the Bill of rights, Declaration of Independence both America and France, and the Constitution. These Enlightenment thinkers believed in our natural rights, our equality, and our freedom of speech, expression, and press. By having a unified government and society America and France decide to incorporate these ideas to change the fighting and all of the revolts and decided to get the freedom everyone deserves, except for women until later on. However, both America and France took bits of pieces of these ideas and slightly changed them. The one who reflected most of these enlightenment ideas was America.

During the French revolution, French citizens went against absolute monarchy and the feudal system that was antiquated. They were influenced by Enlightenment ideas such as inalienable rights and popular sovereignty. Louis XVI was the ruler at the time; he believed that his power was given to him by God, thus making him think his ruling was right despite people’s opinion. The citizens of France especially the 3rd estate disliked the king for treating them poorly. Eventually the Jacobins convicted Louis XVI to death by a guillotine for treason after finding a large iron box holding Louis XVI’s secret correspondence with foreign monarchs. The beheading of King Louis XVI was justified because he took people’s rights away and made people follow his inadequate rules and biased judgments based on status. Furthermore, if he were to be left alive it would have posed a threat to the security and stability of France.

Two very important documents, similar but different in many ways, changed the way three of todays countries functioned. The Declaration of Independence made it so the 13 Colonies could become the United States of America and was separated from England. and The Declaration of the Rights of Man got France’s King and Queen executed and threw them into the Reign of Terror. One of the main differences between the two documents is that The Declaration of Independence was written to have Americas ties completely cut from Britain as their mother country, and The Declaration of the Rights of Man was written to change the way the

The Reign of Terror was one of history's symbolic events that have changed the world for the better. Have started with King Louis XVI's reign in 1789 to 1793 (document B); which lead France down a rabbit hole of poverty, starvation of the people, and an unfair tax system (background essay). All of France's problems have manifested into something that King Louis has done, but cannot stop. With the help of Maximilien Robespierre, the Reign of Terror was declared to fix a corrupted government. The Reign of Terror was justified to rebuild the government that problems that Louis XVI created. With the help of Robespierre and the death contraption known as the guillotine, the Reign of Terror served it's purpose and helped France with its

The Royal Family of France’s attempted escape on June 20th, 1791 made many people very unhappy with the King. The mob, ever ready to exercise the uncontrolled Rights of Men, made a mock parade of the King’s Arms in the market places, and, dashing them and the figure of a crown to the ground, they trampled upon them, crying out, “Since the King has abandoned what he owed to his high situation, let us trample upon the ensigns of royalty” (Ascherson 48)! The Royal Family not only lost many of its followers through their attempted escape, but also because King Louis XVI kept making bad decisions, ones that had no benefit to France or its people. The people wanted someone who would lead them into a revolution and change France for the better, not because they wanted the power, but because they believed in France and wanted it to become a great nation. That man was Robespierre, who after the flight of the King followed the Jacobin club in its move toward republicanism. He called for universal male suffrage and the end of property qualifications for voting and office holding (Blumberg 290). Robespierre wanted to make France a republic, a government for the people and by the people, a country where everyone had the freedoms and rights they deserved. In January of 1793, Robespierre voted on whether or not he thought that King Louis should be executed for his actions. At the Convention on the trial