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Edward Burke Response To The French Revolution Summary

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Edward Burke’s response to the French Revolution was a collection of thoughts that were written without any formal formatting. It is an influential writing that is in many ways still applicable to today’s society. There are many things that influenced Burke’s response to the French Revolution including his time as a Whig politician in which he was very involved in England’s political system. His views on American independence, religious tolerance for the people of Ireland, and theories on the social order, economic theory, and political principles are all factors that led to Burke’s response to Charles-Jean-François Depont with his second letter. Burke had three major trains of thought that made up his response to the Revolution. They were …show more content…

As a nation you have to comply with the traditions and interests that will better the nation, you have to adhere to the laws with respect to the people, you have to balance political interests between both the commoners and the nobility, and you have to have a mixed government where all castes of people have a say in political affairs. He also states in the letter that ,“by the principles of the Revolution, the people of England have acquired three fundamental rights, all which, with him, compose one system and lie together in one short sentence, namely, that we have acquired a right: to choose our own governors, to cashier them for misconduct and to frame a government for ourselves.” This is different that the basis of government that was established in France at the time. In England people had three main rights that could not be taken away, unlike the French. These three major principles led to his theoretical framework with which the whole structure of the letter was based on. There are many historical events other than the French Revolution that play a role in Burke’s response, including America’s independence and becoming a nation, the trade restrictions and conflicts of people’s civil rights in both America and Ireland. In 1782, the issues in India with the East India Company undermining the Parliament’s instructions and then leaving India without

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