American Revolution Vs French Revolutions Essay

Perhaps two of the most pivotal rebellions in western history are the ones fought in France and the The United States. At their cores the revolutions involved the fundaments of Enlightenment culture, equality, natural rights, and Montesquieu’s concept of checks and balances between the government and the governed. There are, however, key differences in the handling and outcomes of the revolutions. Both regimes were oppressive, both populaces were repressed and felt the time for a noble struggle was impending. In short both nations sought to be free from the near, or perceived, absolute rule of an unelected leader. Their are unmistakeable similarities in the roots of both revolutions of the US and France as evidenced in both respective

Where the American Revolution was met with eagerness by Louis XVI and indifference by other European monarchs, the French Revolution of 1789 was met with great animosity by almost all of the monarchs of Europe. The French sent aid to the Colonists where the french suddenly found themselves at war with almost all of the major powers in Europe upon the formation of the First French Republic. The then newly formed United States was a much safer place to live than France after the Revolution, due to the difference mad man Robespierre who slaughtered his own countrymen by the tens of thousands to keep power, and the American President Washington willingly relinquished power in favor of the democratic system provided for by the Constitution. This brings the next and most measurable different between the French and American revolutionaries- their most important leaders; for the french it tended to be strong men and leaders , where for the Americans it was the Constitution and her provisions (Holder 2016.) The French also practiced much more violent victory proceedings in order to strike fear into the hearts and minds of their oppressors. Where as the Americans were much less concerned with being feared than respected. For the french the war was against a class of oppressors, but for the americans were fighting for freedom from a distant ruler who had little