Wednesday, November 3, 2010

French Revolution = American Revolution?


During the period of time between 1789-1791, there were many political and economic reforms made. Before this time, France's social system was in shambles, as it made the lowest class, the peasant and urban poor, pay the highest amount of taxes, giving them a scarce amount of money for necessities like food. Food prices were rising as well, which did not help the peasants, as they could barely make only a half of what the bread was sold for. The commoners, both men and women, were both frustrated with their lifestyle and their social status. They started to make multiple attacks on political figures and start many revolts. This was the beginning of a revolution. However, to keep the commoners at bay, the monarchy, under the king, had passed multiple laws that are very familiar to those which were passed after the American Revolution under the Constitution. An example is the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen." Just from the title, it can be said that it is similar to the Declaration of Independence. Not only that, but the philosophy of both documents were strikingly similar. The French version states, "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights," while the Declaration of Independence states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Both these lines sound the same and convey the same message.
However, both documents had different opinions about them. The Declaration of Independence had much favor from the Colonies, the exception being the Loyalists. However, the French document, instead of bringing peace, brought more revolt and havoc. The king had passed this bill, and the poor women of France had rebelled against him almost immediately. It also didn't bring peace as the Declaration of Independence did. Why did it turn out the way it did in France? Are the French just naturally chaotic? Were the people of the Colonies just more government-fearing? Why were they different?
The Frech did not respond as positively as the Colonists did, for the French had other aspects of their lives that remained unchanged, that kept them angry. It kept them against the government. They still had to pay their taxes and the vast majority still had them at a fairly high level. The Colonies, on the other hand, solved their issues on the battleground. It ended after the Declaration of Independence because the Colonies did not have any other issues besides equality and equal representation. The French, on the other hand, had many more reasons for the continuation of protest. The prices of bread were still rising, and the women were getting frustrated. Also, Marie Antoinette was simply despised by the people of France.
What do the similarities mean? They were similar because most people during this time period were slowly reforming their idea of certain types of people being above the rest, and developing a sense of equality and things being fair and just. The Colonists reformed their idea of the British being on top, and made their new country all equal, with the exception of slaves, of course, but that was abolished soon after. The French were also reorganizing their social system and made the people equal in terms of rights and liberty, however the financial classes still remained. These similarities opened up the new age of civilizations and empires having equal treatment, and the word "equal" to be applied to such aspects as slavery and women's rights.

4 comments:

  1. "Why did it turn out the way it did in France? Are the French just naturally chaotic? Were the people of the Colonies just more government-fearing? Why were they different?"
    Personally, I believe in two reasons that can explain these questions.
    1) France has always been known for its notoriously outlandish culture. The people were inherently more dramatic and violent as opposed to the English who were not.
    2) The geographical divide between the colonies and England delayed certain actions. The people of England were also not very involved in the war, unlike in France were the entire population played some sort of role in the revolution.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anant, this was a very good comparison! I would say, in response to your question, that the AMericans differed from the French because they went about their revolution in a more humane way with less violence in comparison to the French, who often exhibited ruthless violence. Danielle, I agree with your point of view that the geography also played a role.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with all of the above, the French Revolution bore many similarities to the American Revolution, even the Declaration of the Rights of Man as you mentioned in your blog post, Anant. I do believe that the reason the French were more violent was because of the Geography and close proximity they had to each other which made every uprising that much easier to execute. This was very different from the American Revolution where Britain was separate from America and a battle between both factions on a scale as large as that of the French would have been very hart o pull off. I also attribute it to their flare for the dramatic so overall, I agree with all reasons presented.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice comparison. From when we started working on the French revolution the similarities between the French and American Revolutions were striking. Especially the bit about he Declarations, as this truly shows how similar the two where to one another. It is impossible not to think that without the American Revolution, the French would never have revolted in the first place. But I agree with Anant in that after the Declaration was signed in France, there was still far more to fight for than just liberty. However without this bit, you would have a difficult time distinguishing between the two.

    ReplyDelete