French Revolution Dbq

Within the 25 years between 1775 and 1800 there were two revolutions that changed the world and the way the world looked at governmental structures. The American Revolution started in 1775 and lasted until 1783 and was a battle for the 13 colonies in the Americas to gain their independence from Britain (Sheidley). The second revolution was the French Revolution which took place between 1789 and 1799. The French Revolution was primarily between the third and the second estates of France but that is not to say that the first estate escaped unscathed (Blaufarb). This Revolution was an upheaval of the political and social structures in France. The causes of the American and French Revolutions have several parallels as well as a few differences.

Some of these laws include but are not limited to not allowing the colonists to move west into the newly gained territory through the Proclamation of 1763, the banning of the colonists creating their own money through the Currency Act, and the forced housing of British soldiers through the Quartering Act (Bragdon).
On top of all the discontent many pamphlets, and essays were released that promoted the Revolution that made the matter worse for Britain. One example of the propaganda that was being used in the colonies is from Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis when he states that “Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but ‘to bind us in all cases whatsoever’ and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God” (“American Crisis”).
The Americans also wanted a representation in the government that was ruling them and therefore did not like being ruled by an absolute monarch from across the Atlantic Ocean which caused further support for the American Revolution. In short the American Revolution was caused by discontent with British laws and taxes, propaganda, and a discontent with the British

Marie and Louis both thought that the clergy was vital in maintaining order so the clergy received support from the government (Durant 82). The clergy also received exemptions from taxes that the Third Estate was forced to pay and while they were not paying those taxes they were collecting tithes and income from the population (Durant 82). Furthermore, the clergy also collected feudal dues from the Third Estate for all the land that the Church owned which made up about a fifth of the soil in France (Durant 82). All of this inequality between the Third Estate and the clergy fostered an extreme discontent with the social hierarchy that existed in France in