As Americans, we are constantly heralded with
the success and heroism of the American Revolution: its
ability to establish a long-lasting stable Democracy. On the other side, there
is the French Revolution; long and bloody with little final governmental
result. The French government went from the monarch Louis XVI to Emperor Napoleon,
two autocratic individual rulers. Although the French revolution was not a
very successful in the end it had lasting less concrete effects: the
French revolution was important in spreading and cementing enlightenment
ideals.
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| Source: Wikipedia French Revolution |
While the American Revolution may have inspired
other later revolutions and many ideas of the French revolution, the American
Revolution did not disestablish a monarchal system that had been in place for
over a millennia and the American Revolution did not spark an outrage with the
king of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the pope. Maybe some of the impact of
the French revolution lies in the ambiguity of texts of the French revolution.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen notably gleams over the
rights of minorities, women, and slaves while the original American Constitution
inconspicuously but tactfully denies the rights of these groups. In many ways,
the issues brought forth by the French Revolution are many issues still dealt
with today and the French revolution is instrumental to the formation of our
modern world.
Yes, I agree with your questioning about the French Revolution. And I think you are right on track in inviting an examination of what this implies about our modern world. It is easy to point fingers at the 18th century, but have we in the 21st century really confronted prejudice against minorities, equality for women, and "freedom for all"?
ReplyDeleteOn a tech note, try to remove the double spacing in your posts - it makes it look funny and inconsistent with the other posts. I think if you paste it in with "paste and match style" from the edit menue it should correct that.
Interesting Post. I agree that the French Revolution's impact was certainly felt around the world, and is underrated by many, but I think that one shouldn't necessarily discount 'murica. We may not have screwed over particular systems, making us somewhat less of a "revolution", perhaps, but we did create a long-lasting and successful nation. That's got to count for something, right?
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