French vs American Revolution: What

Lead to Success and Failures?

Nathan Wright

Section I. Background

The Enlightenment is widely regarded as one of the biggest influential movements in

modern political history. The ideas of liberty, freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness

were all brought mainstream. These ideas became the basic guiding principles for many nations

as time wore on. The Enlightenment helped sparked numerous revolutions that led the people

to overthrow/declare independence over tyrannical governments. Two of the biggest and well

known revolutions were the French and American Revolution.

To better understand why the Revolutions started in the first place, you have to look into

where each country was at. In the 13 Colonies, anger was mainstream of the colonists, who

were being taxed ridiculous amounts of money by Great Britain. The UK was extremely broke

and in debt due to fighting over several continents during the 7 Years War. Even though the UK

emerged victorious from the war, they owed a ton of money. Their solution was to tax the 13

colonies, an entire ocean away. A very little known fact about the 13 colonies was that there

were a lot of wealthy people living in the colonies (just like any country, there was a share of

poor people, which tended to be farmers in this case).

After The Stamp Act of 1765 (taxed numerous goods), The Townshend Act of 1767

(taxed goods that were imported into America from the UK), The Boston Massacre of 1770

(British soldiers firing into a crowd of Colonists), and much more, led the Americans to become
much more angry that they received no representation. Instead of trying to overthrow the British

monarchy, which was an entire ocean away, the colonists decided to Declare Independence and

form a new country.

On the other hand, the French Revolution started out in a much drastically different

scenario. After seeing the success the people had in America, the French people decided to rise

up against the Monarchy. After supporting America during the Revolution, France became very

broke. Even while it was broke, the King was spending huge amounts of money on partying and

things that would not benefit the country. About 98% of French people were poor farmers who

had very little that they owned. When they realized what the King was spending the money on,

causing inflation, the insane cost for bread, and brutal punishments that were happening at the

Bastille, the people had enough.

In this Revolution, the Revolutionaries were not just content on forming a new nation or

anything, they demanded full reforms of the government, and the people running the

government. The Revolution was not taking place an entire ocean away, but right in the

backyard of Paris. These people were not only starving and poor, but they were extremely

angry. This rage will set the stage for the French Revolution.

Section II. Philosophical Documents

At surface level, the two philosophical documents, or guiding principles, for the 2

revolutions seem pretty similar. They both talk about the right of liberty, property, etc. In the

Preamble of the Declaration of Independence, the following statement is widely regarded as the

defining principle of America:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are

endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and

the pursuit of Happiness.”

 This statement has had such a profound impact on not only the American Revolution,

but also on the future of America. It is the guiding principle that guides the nation towards a

more perfect union. The Declaration of Independence also focuses heavily on the rights of the

individual. On the other hand, in the “Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen”, the widely

regarded guiding principle is this statement:

“Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” (The main rights been listed are

liberty, private property, inviolability of the person, and resistance to oppression)

What makes this document flawed, in my opinion, is that it talks more about a collective

of people. Instead of focusing on the freedoms and rights an individual should have, it was more

about a group of people, or a collective. In Article 3, it talks about how sovereignty, or the power,

resides in the people. It also says that no body or individual may exercise any authority that

does not reside in the nation. The problem with this is when the radical Jacobins took over the

National Assembly, all the power was given to them with no checks and balances. The Jacobins

and Maxmillian Robespirre had all the power, eventually suspended the constitution, and started

the Reign of Terror. One of the biggest differences in the revolutions was that the Americans

came up with a checks and balances system, while the French mainly allowed the group in

charge to have full power.

Also, in Article 5, it talks about how laws can be made if it is harmful for society. The

problem is they never defined what was “harmful” and was vague with it. When the Jacobins

took over, they used that to execute anyone who would dare question the revolution. It got to a

point where even if you were not enthusiastic enough about the revolution, it would be deemed

as hurtful and you would be executed. This really was the biggest problem of the Declaration

and was a huge reason why the two revolutions went on such different paths.

Another key difference between the two documents was that the Declaration of

Independence was fighting for freedom and equality, while the Declaration of Man was trying to

enforce freedom and equality. This is the biggest difference between the documents. The
Americans believed in the individual having rights and freedoms At the beginning, it may not

have seemed like it was a big difference, but this difference helped shape why both revolutions

went down 2 very different paths.

Section III. Results of the Revolutions

The result of the American Revolution is widely regarded as one of success and

precision. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3rd, 1783. The UK would recognize the

US as an independent sovereign country, while also giving them considerable land in North

America. The Americans would go on to draft the Articles of Confederation, which became very

weak and garbage. In 1788, the Constitution finally became ratified and proved a contract

between the people and the government. The people would give the government power, and in

return, the government would protect the natural rights of the citizens, which were outlined in the

Declaration of Independence as the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

On the other hand, the French Revolution went down a much darker path. There really

was never a clear end to the revolution, until maybe 1899 when Napoleon performed a coup

d'etat and made a dictatorship, with himself at the helm. The main problem that happened with

the French Revolution was the document and philosophy they had, as described in Section II.

Groups of people, or “parties” would frequently change, which led to high instability. It could

even be argued that the effects of both revolutions can be felt to this day. While the French were

cutting opponents heads off, the Americans began to expand many more ideas as people were

free to do so.

America, when it allowed capitalism, began to have many new ideas and innovations.

The reason for that was there were incentives for people to come up with new ideas and

products and they would be compensated in large amounts of money. Capitalism is not perfect,

but the free idea allowed America to create a huge amount of wealth and eventually led them
into a superpower. France, after Napoleon, never really became a superpower like they used to

be, and honestly they became a mediocre country for most of modern times post-Napoleon. The

key takeaway from both revolutions is when you are vague and do not define your terms, people

will take advantage of that vagueness when they take power, and people will die.