Crane Brinton's Anatomy Of The American Revolution

In Crane Brinton’s Anatomy of a Revolution Brinton clearly specifies the stages that a society and government go through during a Revolution. Both the British colonies and France went through drastic revolutions that influenced not only their respective countries, but countries all over the world. The American revolution did not follow Brinton’s model exactly because it wasn’t a group of people initially trying to change the way the colonies were governed or how the colonies’ society worked, but to create a new country altogether. The American Revolution was also different by the way that the Old Regime, England, had a very successful government politically although they did have to tax the colonists because of the French and Indian War. The

The French Revolution differs from the model in the way that the King made a minimal effort to appease the third estate when they appeared to begin to revolt when the model doesn’t mention a compromise on either parts, and in the way that violence was a major aspect of the revolution and mass murders occurred. The Crane Brinton model states that the first stage of a revolution, called “The Old Regime”, is when reformers begin to rise up against a economically and politically weak government and tension arises between classes; the second stage involves symbolic actions, planning of the revolution, and a significant increase in the power of the revolutionaries, even more than the government; the third stage is rule of the moderates where there is a better and more organized government, and moderates take over, write a new constitution, and fight a war. The French Revolution follows the model pretty closely excluding for when the King made a small effort to prevent the revolution, and during the violent stages. When King Louis XVI saw the economic crisis that France

The French Revolution is a great example of where the model applies because there were no unusual circumstances. The French Revolution was made of the third estate, a group of unappreciated people who although made up the majority of France had little rights or respect, rebelling against a corrupt government and taking power. The American Revolution, had some unusual circumstances because the group rebelling weren’t a part of a country, they were colonists who felt they were treated unfairly by the country who controlled them. The colonists didn’t feel like full British citizens because their laws were being decided across the sea in England, and although England claimed they were represented in proxy, the colonists felt they should have a direct say in their taxes; England had repeatedly imposed many taxes such as the Intolerable Acts that felt unfair to many colonists. Brinton’s model showed what a lot of revolutions are like, but it is impossible to create a set of guidelines that all revolutions have followed. Revolutions are all individual to the group rebelling and whom they are rebelling against. I think this relates to the situation we read about in Pakistan in I am Malala where many citizens are protesting the unfair