Tangible Ideas: The American And French Revolution

From the events of the Revolution, it sparked the drive to classical liberalism. This was one of the first movements towards a individualistic driven system. The motives of the American Revolution revolved around equality and political independence. These thoughts on equality, indivdual rights, and self independence and responsibility inspired the formation of the principles regarding classical liberalism. This revolution was a violent occurance, but also a neccessary period of time to show people that equality and the rights of life, liberty and self happiness was worth fighting for. These rights people once fought for are now the main principles of liberalism we see today. The fight for equality is important to inspire the people and societies

     Since both France and America had the same philosophers to influence them, they were ?enlightened? with the same ideas, which are seen later in both constitutions. England also played a big part in influencing both nations but it was the famous philosophers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, John Lock and Voltaire who lead the revolution to be a fight for human rights. Voltaire, one of the most influential philosophers of his time, having been influenced himself by John Lock emphasized his ideas on reason and the natural rights of human beings and made the people in France and America realize the rights as human beings they should have. Montesquieu was a French jurist and political philosopher who advocated a ?free and balanced aristocratic government? to be established in France. One of his main ideas was his political thought on the separation of powers in where each branch of the government would limit the power of the other two branches as so no branch could become a threat to liberty and therefore no tyranny could occur. Rousseau, a French political philosopher influenced both nations with his preaches

The French Revolution and the American Revolution have many similarities but there are definitely some differences between these two wars as well. Yes, both wars were focused around liberty and equality and both were trying to gain freedom but the main difference between these two wars were the context. (www.quora.com) America wanted to gain freedom from rules and taxes that Great Britain had put upon them, whereas France wanted to abolish the French monarchy and form a better government where people had more freedom of speech.

The French and American Revolution had similar goals, and were caused by the lack of the same things. First came the American Revolution: the movement that formed the United States. Later, the French Revolution came inspired by the Americans. Both of these revolutions were lead by leaders including: George Washington was the commander and chief of the American Revolution. Maximillien Robespierre the leader of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution. Cornwallis The leader of Britian in the American Revolution. John Adams who signed the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson the author of the Declaration of Independence.

It allowed the creation of the Declaration of Independence, in which stated that all men are created equal, and the Constitution, which was “essentially an economic document based upon as recognizing the claim of property to a special and defensive position in the Constitution” (Doc H). The people who weren’t receiving the rights and liberties they deserved were inspired to fight for them by the creation of these two documents. The discernment of inequality became a consequence when wealthy, white men were believed to be superior to other genders and races, especially of lower class. Even though some may reason that the Revolution brought forth little to no change, the ideas Revolution gave the diverse groups justification to fight for their equality among the “superior” higher classes. Poor to middle class, African American slaves, and women were finally given the right ideas to protect their rights adequately. The Revolution became the period of accommodation with regards to

The American and French revolutions both compare and contrast in their origins and outcomes; both revolutions began due to the common peoples need to obtain independence and liberty from an oppressive government. The American Revolution was triggered by the American colonists need for financial independence from the overpowering nation of Great Britain, while the French revolution was a struggle to gain social equality among the masses. Although the American and French Revolutions were fought over the same ideas, the American Revolution is considered more “conservative” than the French. The intent of the American revolutionaries was not to initiate a revolution, but rather to gain their

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 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

The French Revolution began less than two decades after the American Revolution. In many ways, the American experience was an inspiration for the citizens of France. But the people of the two countries had different situations and had different concerns, which influenced the way each revolution began, progressed, and ended. In this assignment you will write an essay that compares and contrasts the two revolutions.

I mentioned earlier how the ideas or motives of the French Revolution began to change over time and became more and more radical. The hopes for the American Revolutionary War, on the other hand, stayed pretty consistent for the most part.

One of the preeminent factors provoking the former Colonists to revolt from the British was concerned with liberty for all; this concept was expanded upon in Constitution, and subverted by the white men who wrote the Constitution. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independance in 1776, one of opening paragraphs decrees the Americans right to liberty: “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, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”(Thomas Jefferson). Jefferson starts the document addressing the repressed liberty of the Americans in order to demonstrate the importance of fundamental rights. However, though Jefferson says “all men are created equal,” he does not specify a distinction of men, implying all Americans are equal. In the Constitution, the Preamble expresses the need for equality by declaring: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the

Equality and justice were both very clear points of the American Revolution (Detrick 19). Americans did not find taxation without representation to be a fair practice. France had similar equality issues, with nobility and clergy being placed in social classes above the common people (Detrick 22). In both cases, the group

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

The American Revolution was between Great Britain and the 13 colonies. The French Revolution was wanted to replace their current political and social structure and the Haitian Revolution

*Like the American Revolution before it, the French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals, particularly the concepts of popular sovereignty and inalienable rights.