The main push given towards a new perspective of government and society was by another product of the Enlightenment, the American Revolution. Enlightenment thinking was already affecting France when the American Revolution broke out, but as historian Lord Acton suggested the state of French society was consistently awful and it was only by exposure to the American’s success at revolt that the French Revolution took off. In summary, the French Revolution was only a reality because the American Revolution inspired radicals and proved that the people had the ability to change their…
This revolutionary event in history is most noted for the execution of thousands of citizens under the influence of other rebellious acts that grew popularity at the time. Famously, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were included under the list as these were important figures that were deeply involved in French revolutions. Despite this tragedy, this event is often times considered a momentous occasion in French history as it exemplifies the claim that this became the turning point for the outspoken France citizens. In order to acknowledge components of the French Revolution, it is essential to recognize the involvements of previous revolutionary acts, main causes, significant outcomes, recovery or possible solutions, and impacts on modern society.…
France’s approach to political power changed many times throughout history. In the beginning of the 18th century, France’s government was a hereditary monarchy: a form of rule prevalent throughout Europe at that time. Ruling France’s hereditary monarchy were the Bourbons. Prior to 1789, there were clear indications that “the government was economically, politically, and militarily bankrupt.” These were some of the events that foreshadowed the imminent collapse of the Bourbons. Whether Bourbon or Constitutional, monarchies were ultimately not an effective form of government in France. Because of this, France strayed from a new form of monarchy and became a democracy. Additionally, through the abandonment of monarchies came the creation of the…
This signified a major change because, in the Middle Ages, the economy was based on manorialism, a system where peasants did farm labor for the nobles. There was also no social mobility during this time, showing the lack of freedom that existed. However, in the Enlightenment, because people were now free to “pursue their own economic self-interest,” peasants would not have to perform labor for the nobles anymore and would be free to pursue another job or start something on their own ― therefore causing the change of systems while giving everyone a sense of freedom. People are no longer stuck to the jobs that hierarchy had forced them to do, therefore helping the society to…
After the Assembly had been created, the lower class did not have representation. Although the lower class made up most of the population, the upper classes still won the vote because they were well represented. The lower class wanted equal representation. Soon after, the lower class called themselves the National Assembly. That’s when a lot of the radical revolting began. There were extremely dangerous and life threatening attacks against the upper classes. The lower classes started looking at enlightenment ideas especially ones that dealt with “ equal opportunity, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty and representative government,” (history.com). After France went to war with Austria, the king was arrested by a group of extremists. He and his wife, the infamous Marie Antoinette, were eventually beheaded for treason. The French Revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte led the military which was extremely powerful at that time. The revolution happened because the lower class wanted to get rid of aristocracy and have equal rights instead. They also wanted to get rid of Christianity so the church would have less…
The Enlightenment known by many as the Age of Reason was a turning point in history. Man people believe that without the Enlightenment, many of the laws, and rules would exist. For example the United States Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were greatly influenced by the Enlightenment. For example, John Locke, an Enlightenment thinker highly influenced the Declaration of Independence by stating that the natural rights of people include life, liberty and property except the founding fathers changed it by stating life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The American Revolution itself has been called the embodiment of Enlightenment ideas. If the founding fathers were not influenced by some of these ideas, maybe the United Sates would not be a democracy; it could have been an absolute monarchy, aristocracy, etc. Some of our human rights would not exist if it were for the Enlightenment. Philosophers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau, Locke, and others lead to many great changes. These ideas were used by some to challenge absolute monarchies. An absolute monarchy is a government ruled by one ruler. These ideas also impacted both government and society.…
The social class situations of Haiti and France were the main causes of both revolutions. The Haitian social class system was particularly flaky because it was based on race. The French system was also very stratified and consisted on the lower class. A meager of the people had privileges, comfort, and luxury while the majority if people suffered. The lowest class of each society realized that their strength in numbers of their cause. The third estate broke Free from France and created the Declaration of the Rights of Man. This document outlined a set of rights that pertained to every man from any social class. From there, the third estate moved forward in taking the country.…
The Enlightenment was a movement that swept Europe with new ideas and philosophy, which brought about change and social reform. The Enlightenment also spread ideas that guided the founding fathers as they established democracy in America. The key ideas from the Enlightenment that influenced democracy were Baron de Montesquieu’s views on the separation of power within the government, the Magna Carta’s ideas of checks and balances on the power of any leader, and the promise that everyone deserves basic rights. The Baron de Montesquieu felt that government’s three basic powers should be divided up and always remain separate. He believed that Judicial, Legislative, and Executive responsibilities should not rely on one person nor one group.…
Political, economic, and social conditions have led to changes to a nation and its people, which are called a revolution. A revolution is an overthrow and replacement of a government of the political system. The French Revolution happened was caused by the king, who did give his people equal rights. The revolution have many causes, events, and…
With the Enlightenment came revolution. In the 17th and 18th century, one would end up questioning nature, society, philosophy and government. Within the curiosity of reason would eventually come freedom. Freedom of speech, religion, and other different liberties would all in hope be granted by a revolution. Throughout the Enlightenment, some people believed and argued that the people themselves could control government.…
The French Revolution was caused because the Third Estate’s desire to have liberty and also be equal. The way France’s social class was made it was just a matter of time before the revolution would start. The economic classes of France were made up of three estates. The first estate was the church, or clergy, the second estate was the nobles, and the third estate was made up of the peasants, the uneducated, and lawyers. France’s economic system made the third estate pay the most taxes and the clergy members didn’t have to pay taxes, and for the nobles they paid little or no taxes at all. People who are starving and can barely afford to survive can only pay so much taxes before they stop paying their taxes.…
The enlightenment was an intellectual movement that brought an age of reason to the world that occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries. First, this revolution changed the way the European society thinked. The thinkers from the enlightenment wrote about rights and tried to apply reason to humans actions so everyone started to call for this rights.The enlightenment thinkers wanted a better society in which the people will become more equal for example John Locke wrote that all humans have natural rights that are life, liberty and property. Second, the enlightenment changed the way the countries were rule. The people started to call for those rights that the thinkers were writing about and this created other revolutions like the French revolution. The new countries in South America also gave more rights to the people and followed the ideas from the enlightenment such as separation of powers from Voltaire and the freedom of expression from Voltaire. Finally, this changed the position of people in their society. The women also got more rights thanks to Mary Wollstonecraft who stated the “If all men are born free. How is it that all women are born slaves?” this thinking slowly gave more rights to the women. The way criminals were treated also changed thanks to Beccaria who wrote against the abuses of justice that helped to outlawed certain kinds of torture in many European nations.…
The Enlightenment was a time period of demystification and the birth of many new ideas. Thinkers of the Enlightenment such as John Locke, Voltaire and Rousseau believed in governments that were based on the interests of the people, and not obtaining too much power. Global politics in the 17th and 18th century, including France, Venezuela and Mexico were impacted greatly by the ideas of the enlightenment.…
Before the Revolution, France was divided socially in a structure known as the Old Regime. It consisted of three estates. The First Estate was the clergy, who owned ten percent of the land but comprised of only one percent of the population. The Second Estate, with nobility, included two percent of the population but owned thirty-five percent of the land. The largest was the Third Estate, which was made up of the middle class, peasants, and city workers, owned only fifty-five percent of the land but made up ninety-seven percent of the population (Doc. 2). The Third Estate was taxed in extreme proportions so much so that bread, which was a necessity and the base of all meals, became very difficult to pay and obtain. It was becoming increasingly difficult to survive on so little (Doc 1). However, the first two Estates lived easily with no taxes. Even the bourgeoisie, the middle class, became as wealthy as the preceding Estate, but because of where they were born, they were still burdened by taxes. This led to restlessness in the Third Estate. Since they comprised most of France, they joined together and planned a revolt.…
On November 21, 1964 a brave and risk taking writer was born. François-Marie Arouet, more commonly known as voltaire, took many chances in his writings. He wrote about his beliefs and opinions even though they were different than those of his culture and the world around him. Voltaire wrote different styles of writings as well. Many of them got banned and torched, but throughout all of this he continued writing and never gave up.…