Revolutions were a common occurrence in many parts of the world. The 17th century was miserable. Between 1790 and 1848 many different people in Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, and other areas of the world struggled to gain freedom and independence from oppressive and dictatorial regimes. While the the French and Haitian Revolutions, inspired by the American Revolution, were alike in many areas such as social class struggles, economic inequities, and personal freedoms. In spite of their similarities the revolutions in France and Haiti were more different than similar because pitted While France struggled with it’s
The French Revolution was a drastic time for the people of France. In 1789, the majority of people were living in poverty and dealing with terrible conditions. People were split into three estates: the first, second, and third, the first being the wealthiest. Political, economic, and social situations were what contributed to people’s desire for change. The three main, or biggest causes of the French Revolution, were taxes, inequality, and lack of reform.
The French people’s knowledge of their rights led them to believe that it is possible to achieve fairness and be respected in their own province. And lastly, the idea of questioning France’s government had peasants discover that their king barely even cared about their well-being and restricted them of representation.
These include the transition of an absolute monarchy to a constitution one (and ultimately, in the mid-19th century, to no monarch at all), a migration of belief from the asserted divine right of kings to one of popular sovereignty, the jettisoning of corporate privileges of the nobility and church, and with it, a civil equality in taxes and rule of law and in religious belief, and the establishment of merit and talent in lieu of birth hierarchy as the basis of societal structure. The French Revolution had major effects on different groups of people including the monarch, the nobility, the clergy, peasants, urban workers, slaves, and women. The tumult of the last decade of 18th century France had profound effects on these different groups, some gaining political equality, others political freedom, and others pronounced suffering, loss, and even public execution. There were winners and losers as a result of the French Revolution.
The main difference between the American and French Revoultion was that one successfully converted to a democratic government and one did not. The French Revolution was not successful in forming a democratic government due to France’s history of a monarchy, economic issues and divison among its’ people. Unlike America, France had a long history of sole rulers and dictatorship which made the change to a democratic government much more difficult and ultimately impossible. America’s motto of “all men are created equal” (Doc A) was the complete opposite of France’s dividing estate class system. The third estate consisted of peasents, common people and the bourgeoisie, the second estate belonged to the Nobles, and the first was the home to the Clergy.
The authors topic is about the French revolution, the roots of revolution, how the revolution begins, how the new voting is, making a new nation and how they are going to make a new nation, reforming the church, the reign of terror, and the final end. Yes I agree with the argument in the French revolution that if we did not have the French revolution that we would still be under a king and a queen and we would not be Americans. The important conclusions in this book is The French Revolution concluded in 1799 with the fall and abolition of the French monarchy and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte's dictatorship. In place of the monarchy, France established a democratic republic devoted to the ideas of liberalism, secularism and other philosophies that became popular during the Enlightenment. Despite the national devotion to republicanism, the empire grew increasingly authoritarian and militaristic under the leadership of
France had been ruled by many kings at this time that took absolute power to themselves and pretty much ruined the country easily. An example of this is when Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, put France into bankruptcy. The corruption of these two rulers caused an economic crisis that led the price of bread to increase drastically and many other economic disasters. This all occurred because of the monarchy that the government went by, which finally changed because of the French Revolution. Now that they have a Republic, all the people are given fair rights, along with a voice towards ways to improve the country.
The Jacobin Club was formed in 1789. The Jacobins were notorious for putting pressure on the legislative assembly through their many journals. This club’s main purpose was to limit the powers of the king. Throughout the Jacobin club’s life span, they grew more radical, adopted republican ideas, and advocated universal manhood suffrage, popular education, and separation of church and state.
Currently, the France, that people know today, is the aftermath of the French Revolution. The government of France “is a unique hybrid of presidential and parliamentary systems that reflect rich political traditions and culture” (Guardian). In the current France, there is no absolute monarchy. There is no divine ruler like King Louis XVI. France is now a democratic country with the President as the leader along with his hers subsidiaries.
In 1789, France was precariously balanced on the edge of chaos. King Louis XVI was ruling monarch of France. King Louis’ youth depicted him as reckless, thoughtless, and unwise. A series of bad financial and political decisions, lead to his unpopularity among the people of France. King Louis was young, distracted and misguided.
King Louis XVI, who was the ruler at the time, was a main contributor to these problems that led France to its downfall. The country had a massive lack of resources and food, which led King Louis XVI to borrow more money than he could afford, thus putting the country in immense debt. Despite the very visible crisis overthrowing the country, the king was incapable of accepting his mistakes and refused to change his ways. He maintained the unjust voting system, known as the Estates-General, and worsened the taxing system in order to pay off his debts. The people, especially those of the Third Estate, were clearly angry and dissatisfied with the state of the country, which led them seek out a movement for what was right.
They demonstrated pure democracy by abolishing the 3 estates and assuming power for the people. These two points are miniscule compared to death, destruction, and economic failures that the Revolution brought. The French Revolution was mostly a failure because of the ineffective execution of reforms and unnecessary massacre of lives. However it was a minor success because of the socialistic ideologies that were given birth to during the Revolution, which helped reform France into what it is today.
The American and French revolutions were two major events of Western civilization. While the timing and end results of the French and American Revolutions were different, the two were much more similar in many ways. They both broke free from oppressive government systems. Both were influenced by Enlightenment ideals when recreating their governments. They both inspired other countries to start their own revolutions to rid of monarchy and to create a republic government.
There was no more clergy or monarchy and this completely changed the way of life in France, especially for the common people. This event also inspired other people in Europe to rise up against their monarchies and fight for equality. This revolution changed France forever. Knowing the factors that caused it to happen at that specific time, may help me understand the revolution on a much deeper level and understand how those same factors could possibly influence a similar revolution in modern day society. Aims To prove that due to the poverty rate at this time, the King’s inexperience with leading the
The French Revolution and the Russian Revolution have an astronomical amount of similarities. Such as in their government, the poverty/class structure and the radical uprisings. For example, both countries had strict rule, France having absolute monarchy and Russia having autocracy, prior to the revolutions. Poverty and bread shortages were very common amongst the peasantry during both revolutions. Another example is they both had a high populations of peasants and workers in their time.
