Download Unit 4 - Connections - Revolutions for Independence, American

Connections
Revolutions for Independence
v.
American Revolution
1775–1783
French Revolution
1789–1799
The American Revolution was the war in which the thirteen
colonies fought for their independence from England. For years, the
British imposed a series of taxes on the colonies, such as the Stamp
and Tea Acts, which were putting a financial hardship on the colonists.
While they were paying these forms of taxation, the Americans
realized that they did not have representation in the British Parliament.
They began to demand a representative from each of the colonies who
would speak for their best interests. The colonists began staging
protests in Boston, and the British army was sent to stop these protests.
Fighting ensued as Americans began to train their local militias to
ward off the British threat. In 1775 violent opposition to Britain
erupted in Massachusetts. In 1776 representatives from the thirteen
colonies signed the Declaration of Independence and declared their
split from England. America, with France as an ally, engaged in war
with England and won its independence.
The American Revolution was conducted through diplomacy
and conventional warfare. There were relatively few acts of violence
against civilians by either side, though there was some seizure and
destruction of private property.
The French Revolution was a ten-year conflict in which the
people of France opposed to absolute monarchy that gave control only
to the aristocracy. The citizens of France had demanded equal rights
and wanted to be influential in the French government. King Louis
XVI had caused economic distress in France by bringing the country
almost to the point of bankruptcy. The French had decided to aid the
United States in its struggle for independence against Britain, France’s
chief rival. The expense of the war made France’s financial situation
worse. Another cause for unrest was that the upper classes, which
included the nobility and the clergy, were exempt from taxes, while
the poorest segment of the population, the commoners, paid all the
taxes. The level of unemployment had reached significant heights, and
men were not able to provide food for their families. This caused a
countrywide famine, leading to many cases of malnutrition. Many
people contracted disease, and some deaths occurred. With and
ineffective government, the citizens of France wanted a change. Like
the United States, they had formed a National Assembly to air their
grievances against the government. In addition, they formed
documents that would proclaim their independence from the
monarchy.
Class warfare and military combat marked the French
Revolution. Purges of the upper class, their sympathizers and then of
members of rival factions among the revolutionaries resulted in
approximately sixty thousand public executions. Fearing similar
uprisings in their own countries, a coalition of other European
countries invaded France to try to end the Revolution and reestablish
royal authority.
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Connections
Similarities
The citizens of France had looked to what the people of the United States had done in the American Revolution as a model for what they
should do in France. The people controlling their land had oppressed the citizens of the United States and France. Monarchs headed the English and
French governments and there was little room for the common citizens to influence the government, though the British colonists did have
considerably more self-government than the common people of France. Leaders in France and Britain had let their economies fall into serious debt.
Both the colonists of the United States and the citizens of France met on their own to formulate reasons for their independence. The United States
composed the Declaration of Independence, while France created the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. Both documents stated there
should be equal rights within the government, and a single monarchy controlling a region without giving representation to the people easily becomes
tyrannical. The philosophy of Rationalism and the Enlightenment, which were popular in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
influenced the beliefs of revolutionary leaders in France and the United States. There was even participation in both revolutions by some people, such
as Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson supported the French Revolution. Both the United States and the citizens of France were able to achieve
similar results. Americans earned their independence by defeating the British army and having the world recognize their prowess as an independent
country. French citizens won more representation for themselves, as a French Constitution called for the creation of the Directoire, an elected
bicameral representation of the people.
American Revolution
French Revolution
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Connections
Name: _________________________
Revolutions for Independence
Discussion Questions:
1. How had monarchical governments oppressed the people of the United States
and France?
2. What was similar about the way both countries declared their independence?
3. How did France and the United States achieve similar results by the time the
wars concluded?
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