French/American Revolution
...How were they different?
In what ways was the French Revolution more radical, as well as more threatening to Europe than the American Revolution?
Do you think a French style revolution would have worked in the United States? Why or why not?
The French and American Revolutions were similar in that both revolutions were waged due to dissatisfaction of the existing government. Both the American colonists and the French drew from Enlightenment political thought of equality, individual rights to life, liberty, happiness, and security, and that sovereignty resided with the people.
The North American Colonists were unhappy about the taxation placed on them by the British Parliament. They felt they should govern their own affairs rather than follow instructions from London. They organized the Continental Congress in 1774 to organize the colonies’ resistance to British; war started when the British troops and colonial militia fought at the village of Lexington. In 1776 the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence focused on Enlightenment political thought. It declared, among other things, that all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights, being Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The declaration adopted John Locke’s theory of government that individuals establish government to secure these rights and government gets their power and authority from “the consent of the governed.” It said when government infringes on individual rights, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and institute a new Government. The Declaration of Independence also included a long list of grievances and specific abuses charged to the Bristish government and proclaimed the colonies “free and independent states” with full power to declare war, pursue peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other things that...
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