American Vs French Revolution Dbq Analysis

The main difference between the American and French Revoultion was that one successfully converted to a democratic government and one did not. The French Revolution was not successful in forming a democratic government due to France’s history of a monarchy, economic issues and divison among its’ people. Unlike America, France had a long history of sole rulers and dictatorship which made the change to a democratic government much more difficult and ultimately impossible. America’s motto of “all men are created equal” (Doc A) was the complete opposite of France’s dividing estate class system. The third estate consisted of peasents, common people and the bourgeoisie, the second estate belonged to the Nobles, and the first was the home to the Clergy. The history of France

However, Americans were able to succeed because of their quick increase in population and economy. One of France’s financial problems came from the money they loaned America during the war. Arthur Young traveled throughout France and saw that “lands held by the nobility are taxed very little [and] lands held by commoners are taxed heavily” (Doc B). This comes back to the idea of inequality and how the government supported a class system in France that negativly affects the third estate. Because commoners’ land was taxed so much, they were unable to feed themselves. Young says “the lack of bread is terrible. The price for bread has risen above people’s ability to pay” (Doc B). Most of the French belonged to the third estate and were unable to provide food for their families causing great misery and anger. This inequality of pay was a huge issue in France, but yet King Louis and the rest of the monarchy did not provide a solution. Not having a solution kept France in economic crisis which resulted to another reason why the French Revoultion were never fully