American and French Revolution - 2

The American and French Revolution The American and French Revolutions are two of the greatest revolutions that occurred in the mid 1700’s through the late 1700’s. The American Revolution was a huge turning point in American history, and the French Revolution was one of the most important events in the history of the world. The American Revolution started in 1775 and ended in 1783. The French revolution started 1789 and ended 1799. The American Revolution and the French Revolution were both caused by unfair taxation and by the Enlightenment ideas, but the American Revolution only wanted a small change in society and unlike the French revolution they wanted their whole society to change. The American and French Revolution were both caused by unfair taxation. The American Revolution began when Britain’s king sent colonists over to the new world to colonize in the first 13 original colonies (“American Revolution” Int). By Britain putting taxes on stamps, tea, sugar, and newspapers began the rebellion of Americans against the British people (“American Revolution” Int). In 1765, the British Parliament made the Stamp Act, which imposed taxes on a wide variety of printed materials (“American Revolution” Int). The American colonists were outraged over the new tax law, and their protests led to the Stamp Act riots. This was one of the things that the American and French Revolution both had in common. Colonials thought the English could not control colonies far away. People like John Hancock didn’t want to pay taxes on his goods being brought into the docks or sent to England (“American Revolution” Int). The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was the first significant event, but there were also other important and devastating events such as the Townshend Act in 1768 and Boston Massacre in 1770 (“American Revolution” Int). The American and French Revolution were both caused by Enlightenment ideas. Enlightenment ideas applied reason to the human world, not just the natural world.