American And French Revolutions example essay topic

The American and French Revolutions took place between 1775 and 1789. Though they were closely related chronologically, the two revolutions were interrelated in several other important ways than just time itself. In the late eighteenth century the ideas of liberty and equalities were beginning to flourish throughout the world, especially in Europe and in America (p. 691). Part of this was believed to be due to the Enlightenment, for it changed the ways people thought about life.

People were seeking equality and individual freedoms. They wanted equality, but it was an uncertain thing for the liberals argued that all citizens should have identical rights and civil liberties, and nobility should not have special privileges (However they did not believe that women had these rights or that there should be economical equality). It was these thoughts about individual rights and equalities, which fueled the people to create a revolution in both America and Europe (More specifically France). The American Revolution was the beginning of the revolutionary era, and Americans were seen as rebels for causing such an ordeal, that is until they were successful in defeating the British and establishing themselves as an independent country. Then in 1789 France, the leading and most influential country in Europe became the newest revolutionary nation. Both Revolutions were considered to be radical revolutions at the time, but the American Revolution could be considered a conservative and radical revolution, for it was conservative in the fact that the American people were content people, and they were not torn apart by internal conflicts, but it was radical for it separated the country into patriots and loyalists.

At the beginning of the Revolution, France was aiding the Americans as neutrals, by sending them supplies such as guns and ammunition. The French were very sympathetic to the revolting Americans, for they were deeply humiliated by England in the Seven Years War (1756-1763), and they wanted to help them defeat England in any way. Since France was such a leading and influential country at this time, after the French began to aide America, other countries, such as Spain and Dutch and Russia, followed their lead and came to the Americans side. The French remained officially neutral until 1778, when the French Government offered a formal alliance to the Americans. Even though they were Said to be a neutral alliance, the French were aiding the Americans before they signed the alliance.

At first they were sending over gunpowder and guns to aide the Americans, but by 1777 there were French volunteers arriving in Virginia, and even a French noble named marquis de Lafayette had quickly become one of George Washington's generals. Near the end of the American Revolution, the American negotiators had decided to desert there French allies for they feared the French would want to devise a treaty that would give the British holdings to Spain. By the time the American Revolution was over, America emerged as a vast new powerful country and they inspired many (especially the French soldiers who helped the Americans) to see that a independence and freedom were possible. Although many European countries aided the Americans during their revolution, no country were as great of help as France was, and no country had felt the effects of this revolution as they did: (p. 696). Many of the French soldiers that had aided in the Revolution had returned to their country with a new love of liberty.

Americans now had so many new freedoms and rights, they were all written down, and put into a federal Constitution and a Bill of Rights. Most of these new freedoms had there origins in English law, but some also reflected the new American policies. The French were also interested in theses constitutions for they too eventually devised a new constitution, which had some similarities to ours. The French Revolution was not like the American Revolution, for it was more radical than it was conservative.

Like the American Revolution, the origins of the French Revolution were that of financial difficulties of the government. The main reason for these financial difficulties was that the French had been aiding and supporting the Americans. The government was forced to finance all of its enormous expenditures during the American war with borrowed money. The result of this financing, was that the nations debt and annual budget deficit increased rapidly. By the 1780's half way into the American Revolution, fifty percent of their annual budget went to the interest payments on their debt, while twenty five percent went to maintain the military, and another six percent went to King Louis XV and his court at Versailles, for he was an extravagant and costly king. As a result of these high percentages, this meant that less than twenty percent was left available for the remaining budget.

This tight financial situation that they were in could have been easily solved if King Louis XV had just declared partial bankruptcy, which would have forced its creditors to accept smaller payments on the debt. The problems were that French had no central bank and no way to create credit and the French monarchy was too weak for such a drastic and unpopular action as declaring partial bankruptcy. The only alternative solution to get back some of the money, was to increase the taxes. In July 1789, the people were tired and fed up with the ways of absolute monarchy and hungry (for the price of food such as bread was increasing), and they became defensive as King Louis' XVI armies moved towards Paris. The people appointed the marquis de Lafayette commander of the city's armed forces, for Lafayette was already well know for his strong leadership role in the American Revolution, and the French people looked to him to do the same for them in their time of need.

Lafayette took the knowledge he had learned as a general during the American Revolution and used it to aide his fellow French men and women. Though Paris was lost to the king, the previous uprising of the French people had defeated the power of the royal army. Shortly after this the French abolished their feudal structure system, and ironically looked to American's Constitution for inspiration (During the Enlightenment French philosopher John D. Locke had written many theories about mans 'natural rights', and then while writing / drafting the Constitution, and Bill of Rights, Thomas Jefferson took these ideas and included them into the Constitution and Bill of Rights. ), and they too developed their own form of a constitution in 1789. The National Assembly issued it in 1789 as the Declaration of the Rights of Man, it was two pages long and advertised all throughout France and Europe, as well as the rest of the world. It was difficult for the people of the National Assembly to get beyond the main principles while drafting it, such as how much power the king should be entitled to as well as many other principles that were just as important.

In 1791 they completed the final draft of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which created a limited monarchy. Like in our constitution, the powers were to be separated so that no one person, or group, would have more power than another. The king remained head of the state, but all lawmaking power was given to a legislature, which were elected by the economic upper half of French males. The American Revolution, though not directly responsible for the French Revolution did have a major impact on it. They were interrelated in the fact that France had financed large portions of their annual budget (s) to the Americans (and their supplies) during the American Revolution, which as a result of poor financing left the French in great debt. They were also related by the shared belief that liberty and equality were essential human rights, and they proved so by including these into their constitutions, for if they had not they could have easily lost them in the revolutions and wars that were still to come after the revolutions were over.

Another small-interrelated fact that both revolutions had shared was the commanding by the marquis de Lafayette in both the American Revolution as a general in Washington's Army and as commander of the city of Paris' armed forces. The American and French Revolutions were important Revolutions, for they established new forms of government and the world of politics was essentially born.