Differences Between The French And American Revolutions

The French and American Revolutions both started from one key idea, freedom. Freedom from the British who were overruling Americans and freedom from the French monarchy. The difference in government between the American and French after each of their revolutions is due to what took place before each war. Before the American Revolution, the Americans government, politics and economics were failing to do their job. Going from a monarchy, where a king or queen rules, to a democracy, where all people have say in government, would have easily fixed their problems. Before the French Revolution, France had a absolute monarchy. King Louis XVI was the ruler. However some questioned his authority and so did the Enlightenment. Some revolutions successfully create a democratic republic while …show more content…
As stated in Document C, “here there are no aristocratical families, no courts, no kings, no bishops, no ecclesiastical dominion, no invisible power giving to the few a very visible one; no great manufactures employing thousands, no great refinements of luxury”. The farmer writing this excerpt is explaining how great the new continent is because of the differences from Europe. During this time, France had class systems that separated the population. The population was divided into three groups. The first, second and third estates were all very different and contained a variety of people. It was hard to form a democracy because the people of France were constantly divided and never got the chance to work together. A dictatorship would be able to easily control each estate however democracy would have been the best fit. A democracy would have allowed all the people of different estates to express their opinion in government decisions. In the end, the social classes in France had a huge impact on the government system and is why the French Revolution ended in a dictatorship rather than a successful