Purpose Of The American And French Revolution

← Doyle, William. The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. 2001

A revolution is not an event that comes around every few years. In fact, for an event to be considered a revolution that event must bring about significant political, social, ideological, religious or even technological change. Throughout history there have been some very noteworthy revolutions such as the Agricultural Revolution, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution. Of all the revolutions in history, it is perhaps the French Revolution that remains the most romanticized in the minds of the people. The French Revolution was, at its core, a revolution of the masses, for the masses. It was a long, violent affair, lasting from 1787 to 1799. Like most periods of historical importance, the French Revolution was not caused by a single, specific event in history. It was rather the result of the accumulation of many events spread all through the 18th century. Some of the most important causes of the French Revolution were the economic crisis, the rising tensions between the social classes, the shortcoming of the rule of Louis XVI, and the Age of Enlightenment.

The American Revolution started for numerous motives, some of them were; political changes, declaration of freedom and equal rights. In the British colonies, prior to 1750 provided the basis for a course to America becoming an independent nation under its own control with its own government. Eventually, the relationship between the colonists and the British brought in consequences the Revolutionary War. America political thought came from the Enlightenment, American Revolution, and American Industrialism.

Beginning in 1789, the French Revolution was a time of rebellion, passion, betrayal, death, violence, and perseverance. Before 1789, King Louis XVI was taxing his poorest people heavily, whilst the rich were hardly taxed at all. The socioeconomic system in place at the time, known as the ancien regime, ruthlessly upheld the status quo. When the tension in France rose to a boiling point, fiery, young rebels to rose up against the Monarchy, the Ancien Regime, and the Clergy. These revolutionaries desperately wanted change, and they had three main principles around which their movement centered: Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité. Liberty is the freedom to do as one pleases so long as one’s actions do not unjustifiably harm others. Equality is being considered the same. Fraternity is a sense of brotherhood and companionship. The goals of the French Revolution were initially achieved with alacrity, however they were abandoned with relative quickness as malcontented leaders quested for, and abused, power and authority.

At the center of both the American and French revolution were equality and liberty. The French and Americans both wanted freedom from the monarchy. America wanted freedom from the excessive taxes and laws that Great Britain had forced on them. The French wanted to overthrow the monarchy and create a government where the people had more say in what happened.

The French Revolution leaves a noble mark in history where peasants of a lower class claimed their rights from a corrupt system of monarchs and social hierarchy. Looking deeper into the events surrounding the French Revolution shows that there are striking similarities with it’s American counterpart; both America and France were becoming dissatisfied with their absolute monarchy, poverty and taxation bringing citizens to a boiling point. These indignities coupled with the spread of Enlightenment ideas lead two nations to break away from old ties to monarchies that were a virtually universal standard of government for centuries within mere years of each other. When America held their revolution for freedom, France was quick to follow suite, indicating that the events of the French Revolution mirrored and were inspired by the American Revolution in the way that poverty and taxes played a role in fueling revolution, they were both influenced by enlightenment ideas, and that specific actions and people recurred throughout both revolutions.

The American revolution and the French Revolution are the two important events that changed the history of the human. Because of the similar backgrounds and the same time period, these two revolutions were both influenced by the Enlightenment, so many similarities can be found comparing the two revolutions. For,example, one of the reasons is that the old social systems or societies blocked the development of the economy and the capitalism However, different social structure and different conflicts had created many differences, one major difference is that the America revolution ended up with a stable republican nation while the French revolution ended up with a dictatorship, several dynasties, and chaos for nearly 80 years.

The American Revolution began with armed conflict in April of 1775 when battles between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord started. The conflict started from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. The American Revolution lasted until 1783 and resulted in victory and independence for the colonies. The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in 1799 with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. The conflict started because of rising social and economic inequality, new political ideas emerging from the Enlightenment, economic mismanagement, environmental factors leading to agricultural failure, unmanageable national debt, and political mismanagement on the part of King Louis XVI have all been cited as laying the groundwork for the Revolution. The American and French Revolution were fundamentally similar because they both were about freedom from oppression, removing economic turmoil and new ideality.

The American Revolution and the French Revolution had some of the same similarities, however, there are a lot differences between the two wars. The main difference is the context of the war. Both the American and French Revolutions were focused around liberty and equality. Both countries were trying to gain freedom. The location of the American Revolution and French Revolution are different. The American Revolution took place in a colony an ocean away from the ruling Monarchy by Britain. The French Revolution took place within France itself, which threatened the French Monarchy. The difference in location also affected the intent of each revolution. The American Revolution was mainly focused on gaining independence. After the British victory

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The American Revolution and the French Revolution have some similarities and some differences.  The first similarity between these two legendary revolutions was that both of them were apart of the Enlightenment ideals.

The American and French Revolutions were both major events in the history of the world. Both of these revolutions have left a huge impact on the world that will never be forgotten. They were both results of Enlightenment ideas that expressed equality and the natural rights of man. Although the American and French Revolutions were similar in cause, each had a different significance and impact on the subjects of the country.

In the book the Old Regime and the French Revolution, Tocqueville makes a very close analysis of the causes and antecedents of the revolution. At the first stage of the French revolution, Frenchmen's strong pursuit of liberty constitutes one distinguishing feature. However, the pursuit turned out in vain at last, as they sacrificed liberty for the sake of equality. People from different classes had shown their desire for liberty and tried to declare it through this revolution, but all failed and had to give in to the ever-growing pursuit of equality. The aristocratic liberty failed because they tried to maintain their privileges all the time; the middle class's pursuit of liberty was based on limited equality, which still could not satisfy

During the late 18th century, two great revolutions occurred, the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Between the years of 1775-1783, The American Revolution was fought between the thirteen British colonies in North America and Great Britain, their mother country. Thomas Hutchinson, the royal governor of Massachusetts at the time, sums the reason for war best, saying "‘No middle ground exists between the supreme authority of Parliament and the total dependence of the colonies: it is impossible there should be two independent legislatures in one and the same state'" (Van Tyne 135). The American Revolution was effectively a "conservative" advancement, and was fought

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.