Essay On The Causes Of The French Revolution Dbq

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.

The French Revolution was from 1789 to 1799. Many governmental changes were made in that short time period. 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.

The French Revolution all began after people in France decided it was time to fight for their rights and freedom and escape the tyranny that took place and give the people more power. At the time King Louis XVI was the French king and had power from 1774 to 1792 and was later executed in 1793. In France, the people were divided into three separate social estates, clergy, nobility, and the commoner as the lowest and the highest above all of course would be the king. The Enlightenment was a movement by intellectuals who promoted reason and science, and they began to question the system in place at the time in France and they began to spread revolutionary ideas that got people thinking about change. The “French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals” and when the ideas began to spread people were newly educated about something they never thought about, and after

The French Revolution was a drastic time for the people of France. In 1789, the majority of people were living in poverty and dealing with terrible conditions. People were split into three estates: the first, second, and third, the first being the wealthiest. Political, economic, and social situations were what contributed to people’s desire for change. The three main, or biggest causes of the French Revolution, were taxes, inequality, and lack of reform.

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 French people’s knowledge of their rights led them to believe that it is possible to achieve fairness and be respected in their own province. And lastly, the idea of questioning France’s government had peasants discover that their king barely even cared about their well-being and restricted them of representation.

The main long term causes were based on the inequality between the British colonies of America and Britain, such as the rights, declaratory acts, sugar act, the intolerable acts, the proclamation and taxation. The British were interfering too much in the affairs of the American colonist as they were limited economically and socially. The short term causes was the Boston tea party and the Boston massacre. For the French revolution, the long term causes was class division and injustice, political ineptitude of the last two monarchs of France (Louis XV and Louis XVI), the long standing financial crisis in France, frustrations of the growing middle class to receive social advancements, and war debts. The short term cause was the attack on the Bastille Prison in Paris. That's why the French still celebrate Bastille Day, like we celebrate the 4th of July. Long term causes of both revolutions was influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment (fair government, equality, civil

The American revolution and the French Revolution are two major incidents happened in the 1700s, which had intense social impacts on both French and American societies. In general, the American Revolution was more successful than the French revolution. The similarity between them is that the citizens in both countries, both faced the block of common economical development of the government. However, there is a difference that makes the American revolution succeeded while the French revolution doesn’t. The American Revolution turned the American society into a republic, as the French Revolution eventually led the French society into dictatorship and more chaos in the

Revolutions were a common occurrence in many parts of the world. The 17th century was miserable. Between 1790 and 1848 many different people in Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, and other areas of the world struggled to gain freedom and independence from oppressive and dictatorial regimes. While the the French and Haitian Revolutions, inspired by the American Revolution, were alike in many areas such as social class struggles, economic inequities, and personal freedoms. In spite of their similarities the revolutions in France and Haiti were  more different than similar because pitted While France struggled with it’s Aristocracy, Haiti struggled with slavery. France was dealing with unequal distribution of wealth while Haiti had little wealth at all. Finally, While France is attempting to change it’s form of

May 5, 1789, the beginning of the infamous French Revolution. Historians around the world studied the causes of the French Revolution, arguably regarded as one of the most important events in human history. Many important ideologies were developed during this time period. The current western political philosophies in France is the result of the French Revolution which introduced the principles of civic equality and popular sovereignty that challenged the historical Three Estates.

The Revolution abolished monarchy and replaced it with a republic. It was a period of social and political chaos. The cost from the American Revolution and the expensive spending from King King Louis XVI left France close to bankruptcy. The spending left many peasants and urban poor with little to nothing to eat. The purpose of the French Revolution was to help solve the financial problems of the government. Afraid that they would overthrow the revolution, many royal families, upper class, and lower class men were killed.

Due to their education, the working class understood how vastly dissimilar their standard of life was to the nobility and the clergy. The bourgeoisie were educated and had the means to obtain literature from around the world. They, thus, knew what the standard of life should be, how the upper estates were living, and what their life was actually like. This caused an immense amount of resentment (Document 4). The American Revolution also greatly influenced the French rebels. In 1783, only six years before the French Revolution broke out, the Americans successfully rebelled against the English king. This proved that a revolution could actually happen and that rebelling against Louis XVI could have positive effects. The success of the American Revolution inspired them (Document 5). During the Enlightenment, major philosophers like John Locke emerged and questioned the role or power of the government. Born after the English Civil War, John Locke discussed how people had natural rights like life, liberty, and property, which needed to be protected by the government. If this was not being done, he proclaimed that the people had the right to rebel. Other philosophers also convinced the French people about the corruption and misdeeds of the French monarchy. For example, Baron de Montesquieu frequently spoke that there should be a separation of power in

The French Revolution was a major failure and a minor success. After all of the blood shed, the laws, civil rights, and codes did not get instituted effectively and did not represent the values that the citizens had fought for. Examples of this were the Napoleonic Code and Declaration of Rights of Man. Another reason it was a failure was because during the revolts and reforms more than 40,000 men and women died. This enormous massacre of people went against Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, all of which the national assembly declared were every man 's right. Much of the killing can be blamed on Robespierre and King Louis XVI. Although it was mostly a failure, some achievements can be seen through the Revolution. The French Revolution helped the French people become a more equal and socialist state. This showed Europe that the French were capable of revolting and they were not afraid to stand up for what they believed. They demonstrated pure democracy by abolishing the 3 estates and assuming power for the people. These two points are miniscule compared to death, destruction, and economic failures that the Revolution brought. The French Revolution was mostly a failure because of the ineffective execution of reforms and unnecessary massacre of lives. However it was a minor success because of the socialistic ideologies that were given birth to during the Revolution, which helped reform France into what it is today.

The people wanted a change from their tyrannical lives. Every revolution ends at different paths or states of government that will control for a while before a new revolution occurs. With the end of one revolution comes a brand new one, inspired by the previous as everyone wants to have change for the better or so they think. No country wants to leave behind and falls short of greatness and so a revolution begins. The American revolution was one of the few that held their changes and escaped their oppressionist or their captors; the French were left struggling under one rule and the weight of the last

The Revolution was caused primarily by the political and economic issues. The colonist classes were tired of interference of British Empire in the policies of economic and trading through acts created by Parliament. Also, the Revolution took place because of geography, mercantilism, colonist’s rights being denied, and the French-Indian war.

There were three estates of the Ancien Regime that made up the French society. The three estates that made up the French society was the Clergy, the Nobles, and the commoners or everyone else. Each estate had an important role in the French society, but one estate was treated very unfairly. The estate that was treated the most unfair was the third estate of the commoners. They weren’t given privileges like the other estates and this caused many problems for the French society.