Question

Please help 100 POINTS!

1. The French Revolution began less than two decades after the American Revolution. In many ways, the American experience was an inspiration for the citizens of France. But the people of the two countries had different situations and had different concerns, which influenced the way each revolution began, progressed, and ended. In this assignment you will write an essay that compares and contrasts the two revolutions.
In your essay, include information on the economic, political, or social conditions that were present; events that took place as each revolution progressed; and the final outcome of each. Did the people achieve their original goals? Did their goals change? Were they satisfied with the outcome or did conditions worsen?
To begin, consider the characteristics of each country, such as the following:
• The status of ordinary citizens before the revolution
• The type of government in place
• The ability of the citizens to participate in their governance
• The people who stepped forward as leaders
• The taxes, laws, or social structure in place at the time
• The outcome of the revolution compared to its original goals

Answer 1

The American Revolution (1775-1783) and French revolutions (1789-1799) are both very significant in the history of the world. They were similar in several ways considering that both revolutions were caused by economic struggles. The two revolutions began as a result of increased economic issues where their Monarchial governments imposed high taxes due to previous debts of war. The taxed people felt unrepresented which resulted to the revolts, protests, and secession of the third estate to oppose the government. Both Revolutions followed the enlightenment practice thus adopted constitutions. The revolutions differed in their goals as the French Revolution aimed at abolishing its government while the British aimed at achieving their independence following British traditions. The French Revolution led to the evolution of several wars outside France, unlike the American Revolution that remained to be against the British.

Similarities of the Revolutions are that both American and French Revolutions were deeply inspired by Enlightenment political thought revolving around human rights and freedom. The thought of revolutions caused the surge of a new belief in social order and recognised the need to run the government in a way that came from the consent of the people.

The difference of the revolution is seen considering the American Revolution never evolved into greater wars with other monarchies compared to the French Revolution which evolved into a series of wars with many countries throughout Europe. This was as a result of the French nobility that was unable to find foreign supporters for the king.

It can be noted that the French completely detached themselves from their original political, social, and cultural structure seeking to establish their own while the Americans, on the other hand, focused on independence from the British imperial rule but accepted to continue British social and cultural heritage.