After the war broke out in 1775, the Continental Congress formed of 55 American politicians from 12 of the 13 colonies, nominated Thomas Jefferson to write the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDANCE in 1776.
On July 4th 1776, the American colonists declared themselves independant from Britain.
They fought courageously with the help of several europeen countries such as France against the British army. There was a huge number of casualties due to this revolution.
About 50000 Americans died and about 1240 British sailors died in battle, and 18500 sailors died of a disease known as scurvy. Also 7554 Germans died, and no reliable statistics exist for the number of casualties among other groups, including Loyalists, British regulars, Native Americans, French and Spanish troops, and civilians.
However, the results of this revolution were very satisfactory.
The Americans acheived their objective, they are now free from Britain. No British taxes or restrictions they can now trade with whoever they wanted to and British Parliament won’t affect their decisions anymore. In addition to that, the situation and place of black people in the society got better. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness simply did not seem compatible with the practice of slavery. Somehow slavery would manage to survive the revolutionary era, but great changes were brought. The world's first ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY was founded in 1775 by Quakers in Philadelphia, the year the Revolution began. By 1788, at least thirteen of these clubs were known to exist in the American colonies. Some Northern states banned slavery outright, and some provided for the gradual end of slavery.
Before any meaningful reform could happen, people needed to recognize that the economic benefit was overshadowed by the immorality, and inhumanity of slavery.
Women's role in society was also altered by the American Revolution. Women who ran households in the absence of men became more respected. Abigail adams, became an early advocate of women's rights when she prompted her husband to "REMEMBER THE LADIES" when drawing up a new government. Some ministers, particularly in Puritan Massachusetts, stressed the superiority of men. Enlightened thinkers rejected this idea and knew that a republic could only be successful if its citizens were virtuous and educated. Who were the primary caretakers of American children? American women. If the republic were to succeed, women must be educated so they could teach their children. The first American female academies were founded in the 1790s. This idea of an educated woman became known as "REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD."
As in the case of the abolition of slavery, changes for women would not come overnight. But the American Revolution ignited these changes. Education and respect would lead to the emergence of a powerful middle class of women. By the mid nineteenth century, the SENECA FALLS DECLARATION on the rights of women slightly alters Thomas Jefferson's words by saying: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal..."
The most important change is the political one. Inspired from the French philosopher Montesquieu, the american constitution separated the executive (power hold by the president’s cabinet), legislative(power hold by house of representatives and by the senate) and judicial powers(hold by the suprem court).
Rousseau’s idea of equality(all men are created equal) was also very popular.
These are just some consequences among others that the american revolution have brought.
The French Revolution (1789-1799) actually started in 1789.
Before the revolution, the French society was very unequal. This is because the society was under the “MONARCHIE ABSOLUE” that dates from the Middle Ages, and consequently, wasn’t suitable for the 18th century. Like the American Revolution, the French Revolution had a series of events that happened before something triggered the revolution.
Why the French Revolution occured ?
Basically, except the nobility, nobody was happy. The nobility was satisfied because they were the people who had the most pleasant life. They had privileges they didn’t have to pay any taxes, their work were most of the times easy to do.
However, the middle class people and the merchants weren’t that lucky. They work a lot, they are educated, and they deserved the money they earnt. They are often richer than the nobles because they worked much harder. They wanted the privileges the nobility had. They thought they deserve the same thing as the nobility.
But in reality, the peasants are the poorest and the most miserable people in the society. They are paying too much taxes for what they earnt. They had no privileges at all, they did the hardest work, and are the poorest people.
They wanted the privileges to be abolished and less taxes. They thought that the ministers had too much power and are no longer respecting the laws.
The French government didn’t have anymore money (spent more than what they earnt and because of the military support provided to the Americans during the American Revolution) and the tax systems were not very effective.
At his point, the french (except the nobles) are very unhappy and the government is having a lot of trouble getting money. The majority of french people wanteda constitutionnal monarchy and the privileges abolition. They never wanted all the violence that happened afterwards for example the
Hundreds of people killed at la Bastille or during the TERROR period when 18000 people get killed.
I think the American revolution was the best one because it provided the americans a enjoyable future once everything was over. More people are killed, but the victory brought soo many social and political improvements like the separated powers, the blak people’s situations…
Some improvements may be felt later like the women status in the society.
As a conclusion, even if the American Revolution resulted in more casualties, (which seems normal to me because after all, there were several big armies that were fighting)it had provided Americans a lot of positive changes whereas in France, after the revolution, the life of most of the Citizen didn’t change and moreover, there were terrifying and unstable periods such as the REIGN OF TERROR.
