The Enlightenment was a significant movement that attempted to reorder political differences. This era “reinforces traditional aristocratic constitutionalism” (Schwartz, 2014, p. 1). During the 17th century, high society and middle classes in England joined forces and were considered the most influential ones in Britain. This would mean that the gentry became conscious of the situation and afraid of workers starting a rebellion. Besides, the menace of a revolt was seen not only where the enclosures took place but also in the boroughs.
France got affected economically which made the people of France lose hope on monarch. The enlightenment was a more important cause because without that the people would have not thought the American Revolution as a big turning point. The critical thinking that the enlightenment bought about caused the people to look at it from another
Gordon Wood’s The Radicalism of the American Revolution provided an interesting and insightful view into the changes that were wrought by the struggle to create a republic on North American soil. Wood’s central thesis was that the political reform movement ushered in by the Revolution caused a deep social revolution, which changed the nature of American society and had a powerful impact on everything that the United States has undertaken throughout its entire existence. According to Wood, the Revolution caused America to run through several different phases of development, moving from the social organization of a monarchical society to that of a republican society and finally ending up as a democratic society that ultimately distressed many of the Revolution’s leaders. Wood claimed that the political reorganization in America changed how citizens viewed one another and had a subtle, but deep and profound change on their social relationships. Further, the American Revolution was a radical movement that changed the world in a way that shook it to its foundations by challenging the concept of aristocracy in the Western World that had existed for two thousand years and completely changed the political and social landscape in the United States and the world forever.
For centuries, historians have described the French Revolution, filled with aggression, terror and human injustice, as a radical revolution. The oppression and disparity of France’s social classes caused the French Revolution to turn violent and remain mired in a monarchy ruled by despots. In contrast, the American Revolution fostered the transformation of thirteen independent colonies and their different socio-economic classes into a single unified nation. As the different people of the thirteen colonies rallied around a common goal of liberty and freedom from tyranny, the American Revolution became more and more radical. The American Revolution was more radical and had much more significance than the French Revolution because the American Revolution was a catalyst for real, historic and permanent change.
The methods used by the Americans and the French and the outcome of both revolutions are vast and for more significant. The American Revolution was fought against Britain for independence and liberty of the American colonist. The French revolution was also fought for liberty. However, it was not for liberty from another country it was for equal treatment of the estate. The revolution forced by the Bourgeoisie was for the third estate as well the first two estates to be treated equally.
As a great leader himself, came a great country. France became a super world power during these times and during the reign of Louis XIV. After the Thirty Years War, France had already been benefited and militaristically. When Louis XIV became the ruler of France, he continued these benefits and expanded upon them. He faced war when he knew he had too and gained power from each war he did face.
Origins of the American and French Revolutions- Ap World History The American and French Revolutions reformed their countries extremely in both social and economic aspects. Both revolutions affected both countries in good and bad ways. Overall the Americans and French achieved what they wanted. As British power dominated American colonies, the British government needed a new way to gain money. The British were able to collect money from American colonists by imposing many new taxes and fees.
Professor Staples 9/21/11 Essay 1 The “French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen” was approved by the National assembly of France in August 1789. Through this document one can clearly see the significance of the immense social and intellectual forces, which influenced the French Revolution because they destroyed the old older and brought a set of new ideas upon the world that, were dangerously powerful. These dynamic forces were crafted through the works of the enlightenment and the new ways of thinking which profoundly changed the nature of politics itself. The enlightenment caused the old rigid political and social system to face the wrath of new political ideas and economic realities which in turn caused the French Revolution by giving birth to a new world view. The enlightenment unleashed upon the people a set of complex ideas of rationalism, secularism, a Newtonian world view and many other leading European intellectuals idea’s which can all be portrayed right in the document itself.
Napoleon Bonaparte was an important French political and military leader in the early 1800s and was one of the most important leaders in history. Napoleon became the first French consul after conducting a successful coup d’etat in 1799. Napoleon was very important during the French Revolution, and also went on to rule France and most of Europe from 1799-1805 due to his obsession of power and control. Even though Napoleon had some accomplishments, Napoleon treated his people like a tyrant would and thought of only himself. Because of Napoleon’s selfishness when conquering other countries he is considered a tyrant.
As the revolution proceeded and as power devolved from the monarchy to legislative bodies, the conflicting interests of these initially allied groups would become the source of conflict and bloodshed. Certainly, all of the following must be counted among the causes of the revolution: Resentment of royal absolutism. Resentment of the seigneurial system by peasants, wage-earners, and a rising bourgeoisie. The rise of enlightenment ideals. An unmanageable national debt, both caused by and exacerbating the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation.