The American and French Revolutions
Of the two revolutions, I think the American Revolution captured the essence of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in more ways than the French Revolution. It is tough to actually define what freedom, liberty and happiness truly are. As time has told, all three terms have had different implications throughout the course of history. That set aside, when they are taken for their simplest definition, America proudly supports them all. The French looked to the Americans for the freedom, liberty, and happiness they successfully fought for from 1775 to 1789. Not only was the creation of the Declaration of Independence an exciting and fascinating political document, it was an initial step for Americans in their pursuit for happiness. "The American Revolution was conservative and defensive in that its demands were for the traditional liberties of English citizens; Americans were united against the British, but otherwise they were a satisfied people, not torn by internal conflict" (John P. McKay, et. al. page 693). Furthermore, the people of the colonies never really developed a social class hierarchy. With that being said, happiness was weaved into the colonists' lives merely because they were a united people fighting
The nobility had to pay taxes, but they were minimal. They nationalized the Catholic Church's property and abolished monasteries as useless relics of a distant past" (John P. "The Declaration of Independence in effect universalized the traditional rights of English people and made them the rights of all mankind" (John P. The clergy held the most privileges as they did not have to pay taxes; they gave a 'voluntary gift' (John P. The Constitution also spelled out citizen's basic freedoms, a system of checks and balances, and a representative government. Neither the French Revolution nor the American Revolution experienced the maximum in freedom, liberty, and happiness. Americans used their freedom to rebel against an overly controlling country and to create a better life for themselves. I do not think the French Revolution achieved such a level of happiness for a few main reasons.
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