Informative Essay: How Revolutionary Was The French Revolution

Unit 2: Absolutism and Revolution Portfolio In this unit, you examined the American and French Revolutions. The American Revolution, sparked by conflict over British rule and influenced by Enlightenment ideas, broke colonial ties with a monarchy and yielded a new nation. The French Revolution, inspired by the American Revolution as well as the Enlightenment, freed French citizens from an absolute monarchy and secured equality before the law for all male citizens. In your unit study, you explored the causes and effects, characteristics, as well as the consequences, of each of these revolutions. What did they have in common?

The French revolution and human nature A review of the literature Name School  Abstract The French revolution was a time of great change in France. It was sparked by rebellion and necessity for change. It was dominated by social antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy. The paper aims at providing an insight into the factors that caused the French revolution and the themes that emerged during the revolution. It further explores the significance of the revolution and its significance to date towards our system of thinking and interaction.

The first source given is a painting showcasing the storming of Bastille by the national assembly. Before the French Revolution, France was run under the Ancien Régime(old regime), a medieval political and social system, which encompassed the idea that everyone belonged to one of three estates. The first and second estates represented the clergy and aristocracy, in that respective order, while the third estate housed over 50% of the population holding the middle class, peasants, and anything in between. The third estate essentially held up the other two estates as they were the only ones expected to pay taxes, and issue that would only fuel the inevitable revolution. Ideas from the enlightenment period combined

From the monarchy being overthrown and the royal family’s execution to Maximilien Robespierre and Napoleon taking over. France went from being a country severely in debt to being one of the most powerful empires in Europe. But for every rise there must be a fall. A rebellion is an act of violence or open resistance to an established government or ruler. But what causes a rebellion and eventually revolution?

French Revolution was political and social movement that occurred in France between 1787 and 1799. It was the most violent revolution in the 18th century. The revolution had three slogans “Liberty, equality, and fraternity.” Liberty represented freedom from cruelty of government. Equality meant social equality and fraternity brotherhood as the citizens are tied with solidarity. The wars exhausted monarchy and the years of bed harvest led up to the revolution that started in 1789.

Chapter 17 Margin Notes- Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes 1) In what ways did the ideas of the Enlightenment contribute to the Atlantic Revolution? The Enlightenment ideas contributed to the Atlantic Revolution because people believed that the ideas were telling them to fight for liberty, natural rights, equality, and free trade, provided which provided the intellectual underpinnings of the Atlantic Revolutions. The Enlightenment also promoted the idea that human political, and social, arrangements could be engineered and improved, by human action. The Enlightenment was one of the causes of the French Revolution which in turn led to many of the Latin American Revolutions of the 1820’s. 2) What was revolutionary about the American Revolution, and what was not?

The French Revolution was one of the most significant wars that changed France’s history. The Revolution started in 1789 and ended in 1799 and was mainly initiated by the conditions affecting the Third Estate. Louis XVI was predominately the king during this time period but little did he know that an uprising among the peasants was happening. The French Revolution was caused by the Enlightenment ideas because of the American Revolution, the knowledge of rights, and the questioning of France’s government. The American Revolution was basically the “fire” that ignited the change the Third Estate wanted to see in their country.

The main ideas of the Enlightenment were reason, individualism, Fraternity, and skepticism. These main Enlightenment ideas triggered many goals for the French Revolution throughout the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens. These goals were equality in all men, religious toleration, freedom of speech, and promotion Democracy. Throughout all the Enlightenment ideas and goals of the French Revolution, Napoleon did uphold Enlightenment ideas through the Napoleonic Code, but he mostly betrayed Enlightenment ideas because of when he declared himself an Emperor and when he disposed his fellow monarchs and appointed members of his family/friends to those posts. The Enlightenment sparked and altered many future events because of its significant ideas.

The French Revolution was an extended period of change inspired by the popular mentalities of social and political dissatisfaction. By analysing Robert Darnton’s “Workers Revolt” from The Great Cat Massacre, Timothy Tackett’s “When the King took Flight,” and Madame Roland’s “Memoirs of Madame Roland,” one can better understand the evolution of these popular mentalities leading up to and during the Revolution. Together these three texts provide a holistic perspective of the French Revolution by showing how the ideas of human rights and legitimate political sovereignty influenced the popular mentalities during the Revolution. The methods of popular action chosen to express these feelings of dissatisfaction would lead to the progression from moderate constitutional reform to the radical overthrow of the monarchy. In “Workers Revolt,” in The Great Cat Massacre, Robert Danton attempts to explain the hilarity of an orchestrated cat massacre by several printing apprentices in the 17th Century.

During the revolution, French citizens restored, then ultimately rebuilt their country 's "political landscape" by eradicating absolute monarchy and the feudal system (history.com). This revolution played a large role in shaping modern nations like Haiti by showing people the power that citizens really have over their countries and governments (history.com). Though the French Revolution was not able to "achieve all of its goals and at times degenerated into a chaotic bloodbath", it was successful in influencing revolutions around the world (history.com). The Haitian Revolution was not only influenced by the French Revolution as a whole, but also certain aspects of the revolution such as the ideals of the French Revolution, the change in government that occurred after the French Revolution had ended, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen that came about as a result of the France

He collected taxes without the consent of the estates general in order establish many things, fund a series of wars, build a bigger and stronger military and to build his palace, the Palace of Versailles, when it was built he insisted that the nobles spend more time there (Doc 2). This eventually led the nobles into debt because they spent most of their time and money at the Palace of Versailles. The nobles being in debt meant that they lost status and power, which ultimately fed the basis for the French Revolution. Document 3 states; “The aftermath of the revocation was disastrous for France. Many of those who abjured [gave up] their Protestant religion repented of their weakness.”(Doc 3) This demonstrates that the removal of the Edict of Nantes drove people insane because it granted the people France substantial rights, however when the rights were removed by Louis XIV people became infuriated, which is another reason to why the French Revolution occurred.

When the Third Estate declared themselves the National Assembly and formulated a constitution they sought to eliminate the immediate bodies and privileges of the current French government. The National Assembly declared the end of feudalism and decreed “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” which portrayed the strong nationalist leanings of the National Assembly. Under the new nationalist feeling the National Assembly sought to eliminate the divisions amongst the French people. In order to create greater unity, the National Assembly nationalized the church, abolished corporations like trade guilds, and reorganized provinces. A new political culture occurred in France, a culture that combined both rural and urban

Another reason that led to the decline of the Roman Empire was their water source coming in through lead pipes. Many people believed this poisoned the Romans which also led to low population. The upper class of Rome gradually became more selfish and turned away from their jobs that once originally characterized their empire. Cultural decline caused by new commitments of the upper classes and lack of political authority also lead to the downfall of Rome. All these conflicts resulted in a spiral that steadily worsened.

These taxes affected the rich and poor alike and when tensions escalated and after Jefferson wrote the Declaration Of Independence, the colonists rebelled. In France, the situation was a little different. The government there was going broke From King Louis’s extravagant living. While the nobility looked

Prior to the Revolution, French citizens lived under the rule of oppressive regimes and rulers. France was controlled by an absolute monarchy in the years leading up to the Revolution, which vested power in the central government, giving rights and freedom to an elite few while depriving the masses of those same rights. Anger and resentment grew among French citizens: they had little land, high taxes and suffered from high rates of poverty, food scarcity and lack of basic supplies under the regime. Europeans wanted the same type of change the Americans revolutionized for themselves. Although the Europeans had the same ideas as the Americans, their Revolution had bumps along the way.