Tracey Riordan: The french and american revolutions

The French and American
Revolutions
De Anne Toussaint

Thesis
The topic I chose to write about is the comparison between the French and
American Revolutionary Wars. We will take a look at what caused these
parallel events to take place and who were the key players of these wars. We
will then discuss the way people of this era handled the ruling government
and what they did to overthrow them and how they came together to create
a new government that was for the people. We will discuss the new
documents that was created to assure the equal rights of all citizens of that
time and how their actions affected the people of today.

The Key Players of the Revolutions
France
Napoleon Bonaparte: A general in the French army and leader of the 1799
coup that overthrew the Directory.
Louis XVI: The French king from 1774 to 1792 who was deposed during the
French Revolution and Executed in 1793.
Marie-Antoinette: The wife of King Louis XVI and in thee French commoner’s
eyes, the primary symbol of the French royalty’s extravagance and excess.
Maximilien Robespierre: A brilliant political tactician and leader of the radical
Jacobins in the National Assembly.
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes: A liberal member of the clergy, supporter of the
Third Estate, and author of the fiery 1789 pamphlet “What Is the Third
Estate?”
www.sparknotes.com/french-revolution

The Key Players of the Revolution
America
• George Washington: Leader of the American army during the
Revolutionary War.
• Benjamin Franklin: Helped negotiate the end of the Revolutionary War
• Thomas Paine: Wrote “Common Sense”- helped convince the colonist that
independence made common sense.
• Thomas Jefferson: Principle writer of the Declaration of Independence;
made a deal with France called the Louisiana Purchase.
• John Adams: A member of the Sons of Liberty; helped write the
Declaration of Independence; helped with the treaty to end the war.
• Marquis de Lafayette: A Frenchman who helped the colonists win their
independence from England; served with George Washington
• Paul Revere: Made a famous ride in the night to warn people in
Massachusetts that the British were coming.

• Ethan Allen: An American giant who led a troop of soldiers over a wall at
Fort Ticonderoga.
• Georg William Frederick: King of Great Britain and King of Ireland during
the American Revolution.
• Nathanael Greene: American General during the American Revolution.
• Patrick Henry: Founding father of American Revolutionary War and
governor of Virginia.
www.theamricanrevolution.org
www.sparknotes.com/the-american-revolution

What sparked the Revolutions?
France
King Louis XVI inherited a debt left by his grandfather, King Louis XV, and
added to the crisis himself through heavy spending during France’s
involvement in the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783. Because this
massive debt overwhelmed all of his financial consultants, Louis XVI was
forced to give in to the demands of the Parliament of Paris and convene the
Estates-General- an action that led directly to the outbreak of the Revolution.
www.history.com/topics/frenc-revolution

America
Conflict arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13
North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the
British crown. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in
Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the
following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their
independence.
Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire
on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston
Massacre. After December 1773, when a band of Bostonians dressed as
Mohawk Indians boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into
Boston Harbor, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures (the
Intolerable Act) designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts.
www.history.com/topics/american-revolution-history

Unfair Taxes
France
France’s costly involvement in the American Revolution and extravagant
spending by King Louis XVI and his predecessor had left the country on the
brink of bankruptcy. Not only were the royal coffers depleted, but two
decades of poor cereal harvests, drought, cattle disease and skyrocketing
bread prices had kindled unrest among peasants and the urban poor. Many
expressed their desperation and resentment toward a regime that imposed
heavy taxes yet failed to provide relief by rioting, looting and striking.
www.history.com/toics/french-revolution

America
In 1764 Parliament created the Sugar Act, which was a tax on sugar, coffee,
cloth, molasses, and many other imported goods. In 1765 another Act was
created called the Stamp Act. This was a tax on almost everything that was
printed such as newspapers, playing cards, paper, a college diploma, and
calendars. Colonist were extremely upset by these taxes because they could
not voice their opinion.

The Voice
France
The Estates General stemmed from a meeting that reunited an equal number
of representatives from each Estate to solve the serious political crisis.
Everyone met at the Palace of Versailles to debate some major problems.
The Third Estate, party for the low class, knew that they could be out voted by
the First (aristocrats) and the Second Estate (clergy) so they decided to ask for
double representation.
On May 5th, 1789, Maximilien de Robespierre, a young lawyer from the North
of France, represented the Third Estate to defend the rights of the poor and
vulnerable.
http://bastille-day.com/history/French-Revolution

America
Patrick Henry, one of the members of the House of Burgesses made a speech
on how Britain was using its power unfairly. He claimed that Britain should
not be taxing the colonists when they did not have any say in if they should
be taxed or not! Many colonists agreed with Henry. Groups formed to protest
against British government. Two groups were the Sons and Daughters of
Liberty.
https://sites.google.com/a/apps.edina.k12.mn.us/the-revolutionary-war/british-taxes?tmpl

Creating Their Own Government
France
The Third Estate was fed up with the King’s decisions and decided to
constitute themselves as the National Assembly. It was aimed at representing
the three Estates but without the supervision of the King. They called for the
two other orders to join them.
The Tennis Court Oath
The newly created assembly led by Robespierre, Mirabeau and Sieves decided
to meet in another part of the castle. During the Tennis Court Oath (June 20,
1789), they decided to write France a constitution. This was the second stage
of the revolution.
http://bastille-day.com/history/estates-general-1789

America
A group of colonial delegates (George Washington, John and Samuel Adams,
Patrick Henry and John Jay) met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to give
voice to their grievances against the British crown. The First Continental
Congress did not go so far as to demand independence from Britain, but it
denounced taxation without representation, as well as the maintenance of
the British army in the colonies without their consent, and issued a
declaration of rights due every citizen, including life, liberty, property,
assembly an trial by jury.
The Second Continental Congress
When the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, delegates-
including new additions Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson-voted to
form a Continental Army, with Washington as its commander in chief.
www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history

Let the Battles Begin
France
On the morning of July 14th, 1789, a group formed of craftsmen and
salesmen decided to fight back and ran to the Invalides to steal some
weapons. The mob stole 28,000 riffles there, however no powder was to be
found. The crowd knew that a pile of powder was stocked in the Bastille, a
prison that was a symbol of the King's absolute and arbitrary power. So they
decided to attack it.
The path of the revolt completely changed when the rescue team showed up
and decided not to fight against but with the mob. With their canons and
their professional soldier skills, they brought victory to the people of France
against Louis XVI’s guards in a few hours.
http://bastille-day.com/history/Storming-Of-The-Bastille-July-14-1789

America
On April 19, local militiamen clashed with British soldiers in Lexington and
Concord, Massachusetts, marking the first shots fired in the Revolution
(www.history.com).
Lexington and Concord
Britain's General Gage had a secret plan.
During the wee hours of April 19, 1775, he would send out regiments of
British soldiers quartered in Boston. Their destinations were Lexington, where
they would capture Colonial leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock, then
Concord, where they would seize gunpowder.
But spies and friends of the Americans leaked word of Gage's plan.
Two lanterns hanging from Boston's North Church informed the countryside
that the British were going to attack by sea. A series of horseback riders —
men such as Paul Revere, William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott — galloped
off to warn the countryside that the Regulars (British troops) were coming.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/11c.asp

Claiming Our Independence
France
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
On August 26, 1789 the National Assembly voted the Declaration of the
Rights of Man and Citizen, defining a set of individual and collective rights for
all the people, regardless of their estate.
Many revolutionaries participated in the writing of this text, among them
Robespierre, Mirabeau, Lafayette and Sieyes.
The King had to sign this declaration which led to many further political and
economic reforms that heavily diminished his own powers.

America
Declaration of Independence
On July 4, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of
Independence, drafted by a five-man committee including Franklin and John
Adams but written mainly by Jefferson.

Tensions Rising
France
The tension was rising between the protectors of the king and the
revolutionaries. In August 1792, Robespierre joined the “Commune de Paris”,
a strong revolutionary government formed after the storming of the Bastille.
He presented a petition where he demanded that La Fayette should be
dismissed and declared a traitor. The “accuse” started an exile in Eastern
Europe.
On August 10, 1792 the “Sans-Culotte”, a group formed of Parisian rioters
who wanted to protest against the aristocracy, helped by the newly formed
“Commune insurrectionnelle de Paris”, stormed the Tuileries. After 800 years
of reign, and in a bath of blood, the Capetian Monarchy was defeated.
Three days later, Louis XVI was officially arrested and sent to prison. The King
had a trial in front of the Convention which decided to send him to the
Guillotine in January 1793. He was accused of High Treason and Crimes
against the State.

America
Saratoga
British strategy in 1777 involved two main prongs of attach, aimed at
separating New England from the other colonies. To that end, General John
Burgoyne’s army aimed to march south from Canada toward a planned
meeting with Howe’s forces on the Hudson River. Burgoyne’s men dealt a
devastating loss to the Americans in July by retaking Fort Ticonderoga, while
Howe decided to move his troops southward from New York to confront
Washington’s army near the Chesapeake Bay. The British defeated the
Americans at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, on September 11 and entered
Philadelphia on September 25. Washington rebounded to strike Germantown
in early October before withdrawing to winter quarters near Valley Forge.
At the Second Battle of Saratoga, Burgoyne surrendered his remaining forces
on October 17. The American victory Saratoga would prove to be a turning
point of the American Revolution.

In the End
France
On August 22, 1795, the National Convention, composed largely of Girondins
who had survived the Reign of Terror, approved a new constitution that
created France’s first bicameral legislature. Executive power would lie in the
hands of a five-member Directory appointed by parliament.
The Directory’s four years in power were riddled with financial crises, popular
discontent, inefficiency and, above all, political corruption. By the late 1790’s,
the directors relied almost entirely on the military to maintain their authority
and had ceded much of their power to the generals in the field. On November
9, 1799, as frustration with their leadership reached a fever pitch, Bonaparte
staged a coup d’etat, abolishing the Directory and appointing himself France’s
“first consul.” The event marked the end of the French Revolution and the
beginning of the Napoleonic era, in which France would come to dominate
much of continental Europe.
www.history.com/topics/french-revolution

America
By the fall of 1781, Greene’s American forces had managed to force
Cornwallis and his men to withdraw to Virginia’s Yorktown peninsula, near
where the York River empties into Chesapeake Bay. Supported by a French
army commanded by General Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, Washington
moved against Yorktown with a total of around 14,000 soldiers, while a fleet
of 36 French warships offshore prevented British reinforcement or
evacuation. Trapped and overpowered, Cornwallis was forced to surrender his
entire army on October 19.
Though neither side would take decisive action over the better part of the
next two years, the British removal of their troops from Charleston and
Savannah in late 1782 finally pointed to the end of the conflict. British and
American negotiators in Paris signed preliminary peace terms in Paris late
that November, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized
the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris. At the same
time, Britain signed separate peace treaties with France and Spain bringing
the American Revolution a close after eight long years.
www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history

Conclusion
The French and American Revolutions were two wars that were so parallel to
one another that it was almost like one war. Monarchial rule was of the past
and people left the era of the Medieval times and stood up and fought for the
“little people”. Two Kings tried to rule countries that were tired of scraping
the bottom of the barrel just to survive. High taxes and no representation of
the government in which they support had come to an end. In France, King
Louie XVI lost his head because he was too immature to truly understand the
people who served him; either that or he was just a prick. In America, King
George III, found out the hard way that ruling people of the new world was
not an easy task. He lost his precious colony and the United States was
formed and doubled in size at the same time. This era was the pre-industrial
time of change. Reform was a must and a new era in world history had begun.

How did your topic fit into the daily life of world inhabitants or the
inhabitants of the specific countries that you examined from the era that
you are covering?
My topic fit quite well for the era I chose. The nineteenth century was a time
of change. The industrial revolution had not really picked up yet and
monarchical control was the norm. People of this era had decided to take
back their lives and take control of there government. The days of church
ruling state was coming to an end.

What was it about your topic that was unique to our study of world history
from 1500 on?
What was unique about my topic was the weapons that was created during
war time. In Europe, the longbow was used to conquer their enemies. New
tactics on the battlefield was created to destroy the enemies of the new
country, the United States.

How would you have felt about your topic if you had been living during the
era you are covering?
If I were living during the era that I chose to cover, I would not feel loyal to the
newly formed United States because I would have been a slave. Like other
slaves, I would have desired my freedom for my family and myself. If given the
opportunity of freedom to help fight against a country that kept me in
bondage, honestly, I would have chosen Britain. Any black placed in that
position would have chosen the same.

How has your topic changed over the years (describe its’ role in society
today); or, how has the world viewed it differently since its’ occurrence?
Over the years, countries around the world has had some type of Civil war
against its government. Even today people are still developing coups to over-
throw an unjust government. New countries are still being formed because of
that society.

What new information did you learn about your topic that you didn’t
already know?
Wow, I have learned so much about the French and American Revolutions. I
never new how close in similarities the two wars were. I learned about new
people of the American Revolution that I never know were so involved in the
fight for the freedom of America from the British rule. I definitely didn’t know
that King George III was legally insane. And finally, I really didn’t know how
deeply religion played in all activities of that time. Now I understand why
people of today still hold a grudge from the past.

Sources
www.theamricanrevolution.org
www.sparknotes.com/the-american-revolution
www.history.com/topics/frenc-revolution
www.sparknotes.com/french-revolution
https://sites.google.com/a/apps.edina.k12.mn.us/the-revolutionary-war/british-taxes?tmpl
http://www.ushistory.org/us/11c.asp

Tracey Riordan: The french and american revolutions

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