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¶ … American Revolution and the French Revolution
The American Revolution was important in more than one way, and it served as inspiration for the rest of the world. The most important thing that happened as a result of the American Revolution is that a brand new country was created, and secondly, the rest of the world found that they could also achieve what they set out to do, because of the American Revolution. It was on the Fourth of July that the Declaration of Independence was signed, and this was the day that America became a free independent democracy. The American Revolution was, in fact, inspired by the very same ideals of equality, democracy, brotherhood, liberty, and freedom, that served to deliver inspiration to the French Revolution too, and what both Revolutions had in common was that they both served to inspire the people of their country that there was indeed a better world out there waiting for them. However, the different classes of people within the same country shared different ideals and dreams, like for example, whereas artisans and farmers and the like believed in the fact that an infinitely better life would begin for them, the other class of people, like the merchants and traders and the like came to the conclusion that they would rule themselves by forming their own government comprising their own class of people, by overthrowing an oppressive power that had been ruling them for a great many years. (Gowland, 2003, p. 6)
The result was that, in both the American as well as in the French revolutions the gains for the working class comprised of artisans and...
In other words, when the Declaration of Independence was signed in America, the 'rights of man' did not include all the rights of all the men; it meant the rights of a select few people. The French revolution in fact took its inspiration form this very document, and the result was that their Declaration was also modeled along the same lines as the former. However, worldwide opinion is that the Declaration of Independence of America granted rights and privileges only to an exclusive group of white, and also male, property owners. Therefore, the newly independent America, was a far cry from the original 'beacon of freedom' that it was intended to actually be, and one of the very major drawbacks of the newly written Constitution of America, that most patriots of America at the time believed to be the virtual envy of the entire world, did nothing to disallow slave trade, and slave trading was not abolished until the year 1808. (Gowland, 2003, p. 7)
In fact, the First President of America, George Washington, raised revenue for his newly formed country through a tax that was levied on the import of slaves. The discrimination against Africans continues unabated in America, to this day, and therefore, it can be safely and forcefully stated that the American Revolution still has a long way to go, and it is only if and when all the citizens of the country are given an equal status will America be a truly free and democratic country, that would supposedly serve as an inspiration for the…
References
Censer, Jack. R. The Night the Old Regime Ended: August 4, 1789, and the French Revolution. Journal of Social History. Summer, 2004. Vol: 15; No: 1; pp: 37-42
Gowland, Rob. The Glorious Fourth. The Guardian. July 30, 2003. pp: 5-7
Harsanyi, Doina Pasca. Review of Revolutionary Currents: Nation Building in the Transatlantic World. Michael Morrison and Melinda Zook, Eds. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2004. H France Review. March 2005. Vol. 5; No. 33; pp: 21-27
Morris, Marilyn. The British Monarchy and the French Revolution. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997.
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