Voltaire's Impact On The French Revolution And The Haitian Revolution

911 Words4 Pages

During the time period of c.1750 and c.1900, the spread of enlightenment ideas gradually sparked many revolts and revolution in different parts of Europe. The American Revolution against the British and the French Enlightenment writer, Voltaire, inspired the French Revolution. The French Revolution and the spread of enlightenment ideas also inspired the Haitian revolution. Both Revolutions that occurred in France and Haiti was inspired by the growing sense of unity, pride, and comrade between the people of the nation, most commonly between the same classes. This sense of unity was known as nationalism. By adopting and creating the sense of nationalism among their own nations, both nations achieved political reforms, due to the movements influenced …show more content…

The common people who were already under harsh conditions, suffered from starvation, bad harvests, and high taxes, which the upper class was exempted from. Thus, with the harsh conditions, and the inspiration by writings and ideas of the French Enlightenment writer, Voltaire, derived a sense of pride, and shared a identity through the belief in greatness of their country. The nationalism made people want to change the government not for their own good, but for the good as a nation. The Third Estate, made up mostly by the lower class, decided to hold a national assembly in the indoor tennis court. The people in the assembly, filled with nationalism, believed that they should rule their nation. Thus, they drafted a new constitution for the French government, which called for liberty, equality, and fraternity. People were increasingly loyal and stressed the idea of solidarity towards France. Thus, nationalism blossomed during the French Revolution, and eventually the French achieved their goal to establish a republic constitution though the Revolution and other movements, and drafts such as the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen that declared people’s natural rights and individual liberties, and the equality of all