How Did The Enlightenment Play A Role In The French Revolution

No one could have imagined the impact that the Enlightenment would have and its long-lasting effect. The Enlightenment and its ideas became so widespread that they did not only affect France, but many other countries also. The French Revolution was directly inspired and influenced by the Enlightenment. Revolutionaries in France built their cause around the ideals of the Age of Reason.

The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political change in France that lasted from 1789 to 1799. Before the revolution there was a period of time called the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement in which followers considered that human reason brought a move from theory to practice and criticism to reforming education, household administration, social reactions and politics. Voltaire, a French philosopher and contributor to the Age of Enlightenment, expressed these ideas utilizing his intelligence, wit and style to mark his name as one of France’s greatest writers. The Enlightenment influenced the French Revolution to a great extent by introducing new ideas that encouraged questioning of authority and religion, advancing people’s outlook on commodities, and forcing citizens to compare their need with the Republic’s needs. This further brought an uprising of people wanting more such as equality and civil rights. In the process to do so there were 250,000 casualties in the Reign of Terror followed the Thermidorian Reaction which implemented an oligarchy government called the Directory. Royalist riots prompted the Coup d’etat of Fructidor which brought Napoleon into Directory which he later overthrows and creates an Authoritarian Republic.

During the 18th century a European intellectual movement referred to as the Age of Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason, shaped the Western world with the introduction of concepts such as natural rights and the separation of powers. These concepts influenced significant events in history such as the French Revolution, which later on inspired and influenced the American Revolution against Great Britain’s heavy taxation. Furthermore, these significant events introduced the foundations of an ideal government, which stemmed from the ideas of the philosophes of the Age of Enlightenment. For example, John Locke argued that the duty of a government was “to protect the natural rights of the people” ("Foundations of American Government"). Also, Montesquieu

This ideology is embraced during the French Revolution as “before the revolution, French society was grounded in the inequality of rights,” among the citizens. (Spielvogel578) The French were divided into classes, having no voice among the three estates, leading to the national assembly. The national assembly, influenced by John Locke’s ideology of rejecting royal reign superiority, created the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Locke’s argument of revolution against tyranny was accepted to bring reasonable rule to the nation and citizens. The same liberalist view of overthrowing of ruler is seen during the napoleon rule. Benjamin Constant published The Principles of Politics advocating for the regulations of the generals will of the individuals liberty, “distinguishing between sovereignty, authority, and individual freedom,” right before Napoleon’s final defeat. (Primary Sources 342)

How and to what extent did Enlightenment ideas about religion and society shape the policies of the French Revolution in the period 1789 to 1799?

The ideas of the Enlightenment were influenced by several thinkers and French philosophers like Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Locke. Each philosopher had new ideas of freedom that inspired the ones not in power, the lower classes, to defy the monarchy. These unaccustomed concepts related to the rights of the French peasants and created envy for the monarchy. The enlightenment was not only a movement of new ideas, but a spark among French peasants that helped to spread the ideas of individual freedom which, in turn, led to the French Revolution.

Enlightenment thinkers, also known as philosophers had a major impact on the American and French Revolution. Philosophers from the 1700s influenced the making of two documents known as United States’ Declaration of Independence and France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens. The Declaration of Independence is a document that was written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson. It reflects the beliefs of enlightenment philosopher, John Locke. Written in 1793 by Marquis de Lafayette, the Declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen was influenced by the beliefs of Voltaire, another Enlightenment thinker. John Locke didn’t like the idea of absolute monarchy. He favored the idea of self- government and equal rights. Locke believed that the

To what extent were Enlightenment ideas responsible for the outbreak of the French Revolution and the reforms of 1789?

The French Revolution was based on an assortment of Enlightenment ideals. French philosophers, including Voltaire and Rousseau led the revolution leading up to the revolution, so to speak, coming up with progressive ideals as to government, social structure, and the nature of people. Indeed, the ideals which the revolution was fought in the name of progressed throughout France and, eventually, Europe. Though the revolution took wrong turns along the way, the ideals which it was based on never wavered. Even during the heart of his Reign of Terror, Robespierre spoke of a state where each citizen wants to do good by his country. This shows Robespierre with an unwavering commitment to the state, an ideal which came out of the Enlightenment. Though he may have carried out his beliefs in a gruesome and perhaps wrong way, his ideals were the same as the Enlightenment philosophers: make the state better for all to live in.

Assess the view that the Enlightenment had been the main cause of the French Revolution.

America’s Revolution gave birth to real applications of Enlightenment ideals, and in doing so spurred movements of independence and democracy around the world during the same time period and into the future. “Three major events of the American Revolution had great influence on Europe: Signing the Declaration of Independence, Implementing the ideas of Enlightenment, Forming the U.S constitution” (ADD SOURCE). In the years following the American Revolution, France fell into their own revolution, which Thomas Jefferson said “[The French Revolution] has been awakened by our [American] revolution” (Strayer 784). On the dawning of the French Revolution, a Paris newspaper announced that the United States was “the hope and model of the human race” (Dunn). Because the French were our allies in our revolution against Britain, many of their leaders had a very intimate experience with our ideals of freedom and political representation. They brought back the ideas they heard and witnessed and used them to shape their own revolution against King Louis XVI, and they were the most important parts of the revolution the French people built. “The French

Many of the leaders of the American Revolution - Jefferson, Washington, Franklin - were powerfully influenced by Enlightenment thought and these ideas can be seen in the American Declaration of Independence and the United States Bill of Rights. They are also reflected in the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. In France, Enlightenment ideas found eager allies among the impoverished masses who were all too aware that with each passing year they were paying higher and higher taxes to support a few thousand idle aristocrats. Sedition and

Consequently, the Enlightenment ideals of reason, coupled with the value of a popular government and a set of unchallenged rights were the leading factors in the beginnings of the French Revolution. The French, whose lower-class citizens had been living in stark oppression from those in power, knew only too well how unjust an unchecked political system could become. This time period had become yet another prime illustration of the rich living a lush, comfortable life on the deprivation

During the 18th century, the Enlightenment ideas were flourishing in both the American and French Revolutions. The Enlightenment perspective consisted of people searching for their social prestige, questioning authorities and believing they could create a new republic. The Americans aimed for independence and the French desired to overthrow their monarchy. The objective in both revolutions were relatively the same, to overthrow and recreate in efforts to achieve national sovereignty. However, the outcomes of the two socials worlds were radically different. The French citizens emerged more enlightenment thinkers demanding their equal rights despite regressing back to a monarch. In contrast, the Americans formed a successful democratic republic but continued inequality within their society. Furthermore, the French were significantly more revolutionary, as opposed to reactionary, than the Americans.

The Enlightenment was also the reason for the American Revolution, which is the reason for French’s financial shortage. French very generously lent the American’s money to help the American’s with their revolution, not knowing it would be a major cause of theirs. France fought along the United States, against Britain for America’s independence. (French Revolution Overview 7) French’s money, soldiers and naval forces provided the win, but France gained little except large debts. 4 million livers in debt, and they couldn’t afford to pay to even get credit. The social unrest and mounting financial problems led King Louis XVI to call a meeting of the estates generals for the first time since 1614. A long cycle of industrial depression had been in effect since 1770. Fifty percent of the people in urban areas were unemployed (The Enlightenment Overview 2).