What Was The Difference Between American And French Revolutions

I. Intro a. American and French Revolutions b. Spurred on by the Enlightenment c. Both sought to overthrow old government II. Similarities d. Both American and French revolutions drew on theories from the Enlightenment to justify their cry for Independence e. Both sought first to air their grievances by political means i. French attended the Estates General, an assembly to represent entire French population ii. Americans used local colonial legislatures to try and come to terms with the English monarchy about representation of the colonies f. Both revolutions were preceded by the ruling power wanting to or actually levying taxes to help pay off military campaigns g. Both broke out of talks and into resistance to the ruling power
The storming of the Bastille and murdering of defending troops there sparked insurrection throughout France. III. Differences i. Political Order vii. The Americans formed a Continental Congress who oversaw the progress of the revolution and set up a government to rule the United States when Independence was achieved 1. They wrote the Declaration of Independence and wrote the Constitution at the war’s end viii. The French were very chaotic about their revolution. It went from one party to another 2. First the National Assembly put forth the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, making France a constitutional monarchy 3. Then took radical turn when Assembly declared war on multiple countries, but fearing defeat revolutionaries established the Convention which abolished the monarch and set up republic. a. Used the guillotine and executed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette 4. Chaos peaked in 1793 and 1794 when Robespierre and the Jacobins dominated the Convention. Sought to eliminate control of the Church. Executed some 40,000 enemies of the