Enlightenment Ideas Inspired the American and French Revolutions
The American and French Revolutions were both fundamentally based on the Enlightenment ideas. The main ideas that they followed were by John Locke. His ideas inspired the Americans and the French to have a revolution. In these revolutions, the Americans had success and the French failed. The success that the Americans experienced wad due to the protection of rights they had. These rights are "Life, Liberty and Property." In America a constitution was put together that provided for a stable government and also a representative government. In France failure was caused by chaos, terror, fear and war. The French were unsuccessful because they failed to create a democratic government. In the end they were left with a dictator. During the Enlightenment, many thinkers were writing about how a government should be run. John Locke was one of those thinkers. His ideas included the consent of the governed, or the "social contract." This social compact is what the Americans and the French both based their revolutions on (Ziegler 126 - 135). These Revolutions started because the American and French citizens were unhappy. These people were unhappy because there was inequality throughout the entire country. They did not have any representation, in any from of government. John Locke said that property is a right. In America's constitution it protects property. The 4th, 5th, and 6th amendments guarantee the protection of property in America, In France they
did not guarantee property. In America it was set up so that people have to earn property. The Americans wanted to expand but the Proclamation of 1763 said that they were not able to pass the Appellation Mountains (Ziegler 126 - 135). In France property was not equal. It was divided up into different classes. Class determined how much property citizens would have. Peasants would have the least because they were at the bottom of the class structure. During the revolution the French thought that
did not guarantee property. In America it was set up so that people have to earn property. The Americans wanted to expand but the Proclamation of 1763 said that they were not able to pass the Appellation Mountains (Ziegler 126 - 135). In France property was not equal. It was divided up into different classes. Class determined how much property citizens would have. Peasants would have the least because they were at the bottom of the class structure. During the revolution the French thought that
Cited: Ziegler, Paul. History of Modern Europe and the U.S., Volume 1, Third edition. Copley Custom Publishing Group, 1997.