The American And French Revolutions

1. At the end of eighteenth and start of nineteenth centuries, the Atlantic World was transformed by a series of revolutions on both sides of the Atlantic. What were they? How were they related? How were they the same? How were they different?

The Revolutions in America and France had many correlating factors and causes. Both countries began their revolts to escape the ruling powers of their King. Both countries had people inspired to begin a revolution because of unjust taxations imposed by the monarchies rule over them. Circumstances were different in America and France, their specific reasons for revolution were distinct and purposeful. Peasant workers in France were upset about not being represented in the French Parliament, as it was traditionally controlled by middle and upper-class citizens. In America, revolutionary ideas began when the colonists from Great Britain were not given representation in British Parliament, and were forced to pay taxes to the British Kingdom

Revolution- A fundamental change that requires a goal that wants to be achieved, a leader or leaders follower and supporters of the cause. There are many different types of revolutions.

America and France are two of the most famous countries on earth. They are first-world nations sitting at the forefront of this century. In order to achieve this, both had to endure periods of revolution and social restructuring. The American and French revolutions took place within forty years of each other, giving rise to these changes. A major catalyst for both revolutions lay in the philosophy of the Enlightenment. People of all social classes were beginning to protest the weight of absolute monarchy. From these two country’s revolutions came three documents that attested to these ideas. America’s Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, and France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen cried that all of Mankind was equal. No man should rule with unconditional authority. These two revolutions had much in common, including the eventual outcome of the revolutions. The differences between the two lay in geography, social changes, and the actions the revolutionists committed.

The American Revolution and French Revolution were unique in world history because they used the ideas of freedom and equality from the Enlightenment, but understood them differently at the same time. Both revolutions occurred around the same time- the 18th Century, the American Revolution began on the 4th of July when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence (Dr. Taylor). The French Revolution then follows in 1789, provoked by “...a greater demand for food and consumer goods” and “ the social structure of the West” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Although they ended with different results, France later reverted from a republic back to a dictatorship when Napoleon rose to power (Acemoglu, Cantoni, Johnson, Robinson 13 ; Godechot). This merely one example of how France differed from the patriotic colonists of America.

An important similarity between the revolutions in France and America was their stressing of the Enlightenment understanding. The Enlightenment, started in France and is joined with the writers Rousseau and Voltaire, caused those under the monarchies to begin to realize the discrimination rooted in these systems. People of all social classes (specifically the lower classes) began to use these ideas to develop a culture of defiance and insist on the application of new lengths that would assure the rights of all people. These big ideas molded the American Revolution and the benefit of it went on to also affect/cause the French revolution as well. In France the war was an subjective war anyone who tried to see it as battle between Revolution

The Enlightenment was one of the biggest factors in shaping the United States government and one of the main causes of the French Revolution. In 1685, intellectuals, also known as philosophes, began expanding knowledge

The Enlightenment was a period of intellectual and social growth around the Atlantic world, in places like Europe, Africa, and North and South America from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. The way people viewed their world changed. They no longer thought just for themselves, but how they could make things better. During the Enlightenment, people started to believe that men were equal and free people. People were beginning to believe that all actions should try to help the common good and advance society. The people of the time were able to explore their new world and try to benefit it in many different ways, but these benefits came at a cost. Wars were fought, and many lives were lost. However, the

The Enlightenment was an era of major social and political change in 18th century Europe. The Enlightenment was centered in France, which at the time was a dominant force in Europe ruled by an oppressive government. During this era, many intellectuals began to question some of the norms and customs of European society, such as monarchy and religious discrimination. These intellectuals helped spread new ideas about human rights and democracy, which helped inspire the revolutions that followed.

Revolutions are usually associated with change. Although change is monumental and significant, the way change happens and why it happens are more important things to consider. Looking at two specific revolutions in history, the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution, there are two major leaders who greatly stand out. In these two primary sources they share their goals, characterization of democracy, and opinions of violence in their movements that greatly influenced change. The French Revolution lasted from 1789 to 1799 and had a main goal of decreasing powerful monarchs and increasing democracies and nationalism. The Russian revolution in this primary source took place in 1917 and had a goal to get rid of Bourgeoisie power and

Throughout the 18th century, France had a plethora of problems, all of which stemmed from the formation of the estates. The Third Estate was populated with middle class and the lesser. These citizens were heavily taxed, alienated of food supply, and dealt directly with fixed controlled prices. All of this coupled with economic depression from ongoing wars and lavishness by the Royal Family resulted in several movements that lead to the enlightenment, which ultimately spurred the revolution.

The setting alternates between various locations in France and England, taking place primarily in the cities of Paris and London respectively. Within each geographic location are specific recurring locations. In France, these include places such as the Defarge’s wine shop, the estate of the Marquis, and the Bastille. In England, these include places such as the courthouse, the Manette home, and Tellson’s Bank. The story spans several decades, from 1775 to 1793. This time period covers critical points in European history, encompassing the American Revolution as well as the beginning of the French Revolution.

The French Revolution first began in 1789 when ideas from the age of Enlightenment crept into France. The American Revolution had just occurred and come to a close, so the people of France picked up on the ideals of freedom and balanced power. The amount of assistance France had given to the Americans and also put towards their own Seven Years’ War left the country in shambles, with famine spreading and economical problems being rampant. Nobility and royalty, who held the majority of the money left in France, paid no taxes and lived lavishly while peasants starved to death and suffered in the economical crisis. The king, Louis XVI, and his wife, Marie Antoinette, lived an incredibly luxurious life in Versailles and used excessive funds for their lifestyle, while the citizens of France lived in deplorable conditions. Ideas of Enlightenment spread among the peasants. They could be free from kings, priests, and people in absolute power. The people could rule themselves.

Whilst the exhibition enjoyed support from many French people, opposition to empire began to increase not only in the colonies, but also in France itself from certain groups of society, namely the French Communist Party and the Surrealists (Morton, 2000). These groups of individuals, who opposed French colonial control, conducted the ‘Exposition Anticoloniale’, also known as ‘La Vérité sur les colonies’, which opened on 19th September 1931 (Palermo, 2009). As a reaction to the arrest of a student protesting France’s plans to execute forty Vietnamese prisoners, a tract was drawn up by group of surrealists in protest of the exposition coloniale internationale. The tract condemned the ethics of French colonial rule, “citing the abuse of indigenous labourers and the hypocrisy of ideas of racial superiority”. It was made clear to those who signed the tract that anyone who was in favour of the rights of common workers and wished to see the end of bourgeois domination would not attend the colonial exhibition in Paris (Hale, 2008: 178). It is important to note here that the principal aim of the anti-colonial exhibition was to quickly recruit as many new members as possible to the American Anti-Imperialist League, in addition to collecting sufficient receipts to enable the League to function independently (Palermo, 2009). This suggests that the exhibition served less as a way of persuading people of the negative sides of colonialism, and more of a recruitment process for the

Enlightenment is a period from the mid 17th century to 18th century. Enlightenment is also considered as the “Age of Enlightenment” and the “Age of Reason”. It is an era from the 1650s to the 1780s. It was a time period in which the people changed their views for government or it was a change the people view government. People also saw the emergence of the new ideas, new thoughts, and new cultures. These new thoughts were the outcome of the revolutions in the society, science, politics, and as well as in the philosophy. The roots of these thoughts, ideas, and cultures can be traced in the politics of the French Revolution as well as the Scientific Revolutions in the mid 17th century to 18th century. There were dramatic changes in the politics of French Revolution and in the world of science. There was a transformation in the barriers of the physical and the people broke down the limitations that had been imposed on them. Enlightenment is not only about a particular social theory, rather it is a time period in which many historians developed critical consciousness about the phenomenon and they begun to propound the scientific reasons for everything. Enlightenment thoughts of universal equality and freedom for all the individuals brought the new political and social order and then the new political and social order came into existence by replacing the