...Similarities of the American and French Revolutions Occurring during the latter half of the 18th Century, the American and French Revolution were linked through similar circumstances and ideals. Born out of dire economic conditions and a desire for liberty, they both brought about constitutionalism in their respective nations. Just prior to the Revolutions, the citizens in both France and America were suffering under the weight of tax burdens. Along with the immense influence of the Enlightenment ideals of the time, out of both revolutions formal documents were written addressing the natural rights of citizens. The first similarity that can be seen in the American and French Revolutions was the presence of social unrest due to the imposition of taxes levied by their respective monarchies. America, as a colony under British rule was subject to taxes levied on them, without representation. The British Parliament was passing taxes to be levied against the colonists without them having constituents present in Parliament. This was particularly concerning to the American colonists, as this new pattern of collecting “unprecedented amounts of revenue” went against the precedent of prior “colonial-imperial relations.” (The Seven Years War to the American Revolution) Likewise, the French suffered under the “burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation.” (French Revolution) As a result of the Seven Years War, both the British and the French monarchy enacted taxes to...
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...the French Revolution The French Revolution of 1789 was major turning point in European history because it redefined the image of nation in a way never seen before as the people gained political control over their own nation. Therefore the aspects of this revolution have been debated as the beginning concept of “modern history.” This concept is derived from how the French Revolution demonstrated the will of the citizens as a political entity that could dictate governmental change by showing how the people, not the monarchy, could reform a nation. Through the establishment of a new government by the people, new institutions and policies were developed that the world we live as modern; such innovations included a system of power based on wealth and status instead of birth, and a new state bureaucracy. The ideas that drove the revolution came from the innovative thinkers of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, and inspired the people of France to question those who reigned over them. While the events of the French Revolution transformed France, the reign of Napoleon turned the revolution into a European event by sparking revolution in countries that had not already. Napoleon’s conquests helped spread the mind set created in the French Revolution around Europe. The French Revolution marked the beginning of “modern history,” because the revolutionary ideas that it created sparked the creation of citizen-governed nations across Europe. One of the aspects of the French Revolution...
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...Influenced Events in the French Revolution De'Anna Andrew HIS/114 April 1, 2014 Julie Thomas Influenced Events in the French Revolution What is a revolution? According to Merriam-Webster (2014), revolution is a fundamental change in political organization; especially: the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed. Various social, political, and economic conditions led to the revolution. These conditions included dissatisfaction among the lower and middle classes, interest in new ideas about government, and financial problems caused by the costs of wars. Due to fiscal irresponsibility and the hubris attitude of King Louis XVI and other rulers after him, the French were put in crucial circumstances. These circumstances led to what is known as the French Revolution. The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in 1799 with the rise of Napoleon di Bonaparte. During this given time period, French residents wrecked and rearranged their country’s political scenery, relocating centuries-old régimes such as total monarchy and the medieval system. Similar to the American Revolution before it, the French Revolution was influenced by ideals, mostly the concepts of popular control and undeniable rights. Though it failed to complete all of its goals and at times relapsed into a messy bloodbath, the effort played an uncertain role in influencing recent populations, by showing the world the will-power of the people. Many...
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...The American and French Revolutions occurred roughly 14 years apart. On the surface, they presented many similarities, such as the guarantee of liberty, but important distinctions also appeared. The primary documents written from each revolution will demonstrate how the papers produced during this period show that the American Revolution fought a system of government while the French Revolution struggled against a hierarchical society. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress of what would become the United States of America approved its first major document: the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration outlined the grievances against the British while also providing details on the universal political values that they believed in, which supported the grievances of the writers, including issues such as taxation without representation, absolute rule, and for destroying the American colonists’ ability to trade. A key phrase of the Declaration noted that the government was legitimate if it had “consent of the governed,” which highlighted the failure of the British colonial government to fairly represent the people they governed in the 13 colonies and the divine right that the king claimed as the legitimacy of his reign. Indeed, Jefferson argued that a government that did not have the consent was not a legitimate government, and...
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...THE LIBERAL REVOLUTION -UNDER THE IDEA OF ENLIGHTENMENT "Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!"-Kant Contents ENLIGHTENMENT AS AN IDEA: 3 FRENCH SOCIETY: 3 THE LIBERAL REVOLUTION: 3 CRITICISM ON THE IDEA OF LIBERALISM: 4 CONCLUSION 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY 6 ENLIGHTENMENT AS AN IDEA: “Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage… Sapere Aude! Dare to Know! Have the courage to use your own understanding is therefore the motto of the Enlightenment.” Immanuel Kant (Columbia.edu) The eighteenth century Enlightenment proved to be a movement of the intellectuals who dared to prove all the aspects in life scientifically. These individuals were greatly affected by the scientific revolution. They were, in addition, advocating the appliance of the scientific methodology to the understanding of life. Throughout the age of enlightenment, science became popular and there were many philosophers like John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, Montesquieu, etc who applied the natural laws to the social life. These people and their writings had a huge impact on the French Revolution. FRENCH SOCIETY: Prior to the revolution, the French society was buried under the burden of taxes-levied by the State, rents paid to the lord, contributions collected by the clergy, as well as under the forced labor exacted by all three. People were reduced to foraging for food because of the recurring famines. The famines were caused by both manmade...
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...The French revolution began in 1789 in response to a food shortage, an unfair taxing system, the exhausted tension of living in an absolutist monarchy, and as a result of having called a meeting of the estates general to vote new taxes for the king but not allowing the voice of the third and the largest estate to be heard. In this essay, I will provide evidence from a four-part documentary and the French declaration of the rights of man and citizen that shows that Napoleon both subverted and extended the principle ideas of the French revolution during his reign. Napoleon subverted and extended the ideals of the French revolution in many ways. One subversion of the ideals of the French revolution is natural rights. During the French revolution, many philosophes came to the conclusion that not only did natural rights exist, they apply to individuals and the monarchy. One such right listed in the declaration of the right of man and citizen written by the national assembly is article 11. This article states that “the free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law” which is essentially the freedom of speech the press and...
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...The French Revolution started in 1789 and ended in the late 1790’s. It represented a time in history where Napoleon Bonaparte ascended to power and all his escapades occurred. There were many ideas and ideals that influenced the French Revolution that affected the way European power changed and the changed the European nation. Of these ideals and ideal, there was a group of them that all related to each other. Liberty, equity, and fraternity (brotherhood) were statements that were said a lot and usually together during the French Revolution, yet they each had their own meaning and ideals in the overall Revolution. Liberty in the French Revolution was the idea of the citizens not being oppressed, especially from government (“The ideas,” n.d.). During the French Revolution, the King was signing orders that would put citizens in prison without a trial or due process. In order for the French people find liberty from the King and his tyranny and oppression, the French people drew up a new constitution in order to have more freedoms within the country, along with making Napoleon their ruler to remove the king from power. Equity was another ideal that was powerful during the French Revolution. Equity was about having all members of France being represented in all facets of government. During the revolution, the members of the Third Estate wanted to be equal of those in the Second Estate when it came to government representation. By pushing for the equality in government, the Third...
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...Revolutionaries are people who engage in political revolutions. The French third estate would be greatly satisfied with modern day France because France modern day is now a Republic for about 66 million citizens and a republic system offers the citizen the basic rights that the Third estate always wanted. Most of the original revolutionaries goals have been achieved by France now. In the 18th and 19th centuries, France was under three Estates; First, Second and Third. The Third Estate despised the First and Second Estate because the Third Estate were treated unjustly. This injustice spread like wildfire in the Third-Estate. France was led under a monarchy ruled by Louis XVI. The monarchy was very much corrupt because the King and Queen would...
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...their nations with an idea that all men are created equal, that they are given the right not from authority, but by birth. From the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” in France which was their laws to give men freedom, to a wealthy man in Venezuela named Simon Bolivar who helped free his country from Spanish rule only to struggle with making his country a federation after the destruction, you see that freedom is hard to concur. Independence cannot only be observed individually. When trying to build a successful nation there are rights of groups of people that need to be examined as well. Freedom comes as a nation, not as a man. The idea of human rights began with the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” in France. This declaration mapped out the individual rights of men, very similar to the Declaration of Independence in the United States. Most importantly, this document expressed that all men are born free and equal, and that their rights are not dependent on their social status. This controversial idea was the start of a revolution, not only in France, but reaching out to colonial empires all over the Atlantic. Many questioned the legitimacy of these rights and whether they truly applied fairly to all people. One group to question the “rights of man” was the women of France. Most men in France agreed upon the thought that women could not have political rights because their life plan was to be married and have children, and this plan withheld...
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...The French Revolution: The French Revolution was a time for spreading out and finding freedom for the French. It was a way for the French to recreate their government to give some kind of equality for their people. Though for woman in that time period it was still a struggle for equal rights during the rest of country’s upheaval. The French Revolution was caused by a downfall in the royal family, having to do with serious financial issues. King Louis XVI call in the French Estates General in 1788, to help with the financial crisis the country was going through (Doyle). The Estate General was divided into three estates: First Estate representing the upper class, the Second Estate representing middle class, and the Third Estate representing the lower class. There was one vote for each estate, and in the past the Second Estate and the First Estate had joined together to defeat any proposals for reform from the Third Estate. The Third Estate was determined that would not be so in the current assembly and pushed for the vote of each representative to be counted as a separate vote. They were not able to agree on a voting method. Leading the Third Estate and the lower half Second Estate to break away from the Estates General, forming the National Assembly on June 17, 1789 (Doyle). King Louis XVI admitted defeat on June 27, first appeasing then confrontational ordered his nobles, and the upper half Second Estate to join the National Assembly effectively ending the Estates General...
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...Comparing and Contrasting the Declaration of Independence vs. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen World of History after 1500 July 5, 2015 Comparing and Contrasting the Declaration of Independence vs. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen Throughout the course of the week we were asked to compare and contrast the two given documents titled, The Declaration of Independence & Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Before we begin to discuss the difference and similarities, we must first understand what each Declaration stands for. The Declaration of Independence is defined as, “The formal statement written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain.” (LoveToKnow, 2015). The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen is defined as, “One of the basic charters of human liberties, containing the principles that inspired the French Revolution. Its 17 articles, adopted between August 20 and August 26, 1789, by France’s National Assembly, served as the preamble to the Constitution of 1791.” (Britannica Inc., 2015). Now that we have a better understanding of both Declarations, we can begin to compare and contrast. After reading both Declarations I found various differences and similarities. These Declarations were both pushing the rights of freedom & equality within almost the same decade of the 1700’s. This is supported strongly through the Declaration of Independence; stating that the...
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...The French Revolution was a period of time in France when the people overthrew the monarchy and took control of the government. It began on July 14, 1789. Before the French Revolution, the people of France were divided into social groups called "Estates." The First Estate included the clergy (church leaders), the Second Estate included the nobles, and the Third Estate included the commoners. Most of the people were members of the Third Estate. The Third Estate paid most of the taxes, while the nobility lived lives of luxury and got all the high-ranking jobs. Extravagant spending by King Louis XVI (1754-1793) and his predecessor had left the country on the brink of bankruptcy. In 1789, the French government was in a major financial crisis. The...
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...The French Revolution The book that was reviewed is titled “The French Revolution: William Doyle”. It addresses some of the causes of the French revolution and the effects it had. The French Revolution is known as one of the most significant events in the world’s history. Its impact hardly can be overvalued due to globally caused implications. Therefore, it is considered as generally valid birth of civilized principles. Appropriate analyzing requires plenty of items considering. However, there is the try to outline the most significant causes and effects of great historical event. Let’s start with the causes of the French Revolution. A major cause was social injustice and class inequalities. 18th century in French history was the time of feudal abutment. Naturally that is accompanied by different rights and duties for its members. The division of French society members was provided by Estates. In fact, prerevolutionary France experienced three of them: first, second and third estate respectively. The contrast between them was too significant and frustrated the lowest class. The first most privileged Estate was for about 2 percent of the entire population. At the end of scholastic influence era, the power of the Church was unrestricted. As for corresponding benefits, the Estate was out of tax duty. Moreover, the Church was authorized for income tithe claiming. Curiously enough, this minority owned more than 15% percent of France’s lands. The second Estate was nobility. As well...
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...The French Revolution was a very important event in the history of the world. France was under a feudal-like system called “The Old Regime”, and it consisted of 3 estates. The 1st and 2nd estates were the richest while the 3rd estate consisted of the middle class and the poor. The 3rd estate is the one that started the French Revolution. The most important causes of the French Revolution were the lack of power for the third estate, the over taxation, and the ideas of the American Revolution. One of the most important causes of the French Revolution was the lack of political power for the 3rd estate. Before the French Revolution, the 3rd estate had almost no political power. It can be speculated that the lack of political influence was the...
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...national anthem to protest the unnecessary police brutality on people of color. The protest have brought up two significant beliefs of the Unites States, nationalism and freedom of speech. People point out that kneeling when citizens are supposed to show respect to the flag, which represents the nation, is qute disrespectful and unpatriotic. In addition, they believe disrespecting the United States also displays unappreciation to the soldiers who risk their lives everyday. However, the protesters justify their actions by stating that they should be able to do this because the flag represents the beliefs of the country portrayed in the United States...
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