A Brief Summary of the American Revolution Essay example

Submitted By cubs15
Words: 1318
Pages: 6
Open Document
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1. Locke held that government arose in the remote past when people decided to work together, form civil society, and appoint rulers to protect and promote their common interests. Individuals granted political rights to their rulers but retained personal rights to life, liberty, and property. Any ruler who violated these rights was subject to deposition.
2. The colonists wanted to gain independence from Britain.
3. Britain enjoyed many advantages over the rebels: a strong government with clear lines of authority, the most powerful navy in the world, a competent army, and a sizable population of loyalists in the colonies.
4. Britain had to ship supplies and reinforcements across a stormy ocean. Meanwhile, the rebels benefited from the military and economic support of European states that were eager to chip away at British hegemony in the Atlantic Ocean basin. Moreover, George Washington provided strong and imaginative military leadership for the colonial army while local militias employed guerrilla tactics effectively against British forces.
5. They accorded full rights only to men of property, withholding them from landless men, women, slaves, and indigenous peoples.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
1. Because King Louis XVI sought to increase taxes on the French nobility, which had long exempt from many levies.
2. Louis never controlled the assembly because representatives of the third estate arrived at Versailles demanding political and social reform.
3. Members of the new Assembly swore not to disband until they had provided France with a new constitution.
4. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen proclaimed the equality of all men, declared that sovereignty resided in the people, and asserted individual rights to liberty, property, and security.
5. The Assembly abolished the old social order along with the many fees and labor services that peasants owed to their landlords. It dramatically altered the role of the church in French society by seizing church lands, abolishing the first estate, defining clergy as civilians, and requiting clergy to take an oath of loyalty to the state. It also promulgated a constitution that made the king the chief executive official but deprived him of legislative authority.
NAPOLEON’S EMPIRE
1. The pact, known as the Concordat, provided that the French state would retain church lands seized during the revolution, but the state agreed to pay clerics’ salaries, recognize Roman Catholic Christianity as the preferred faith of France, and extend freedom of religion to Protestant Christians and Jews.
2. The Civil Code affirmed the political and legal equality of all adult men and established a merit-based society in which individuals qualified for education and employment because of their talent rather than birth or social standing. The code protected private property, and Napoleon allowed aristocratic opponents of the revolution to return to France and reclaim some of their lost property. The Civil Code confirmed many of the moderate revolutionary policies of the National Assembly but retracted measures passed by the more radical Convention. The code restored patriarchal authority in the family, for example, by making women and children subservient to male heads of households.
3. He limited free speech and routinely censored newspapers and other publications. He established a secret police force that relied heavily on spies and detained suspected political opponents by the thousands. He made systematic use of propaganda to manipulate public opinion. He ignored elective bodies and surrounded himself with loyal military officers who ensured that representative assemblies did not restrict his authority.
4. Napoleon sought to extend his authority throughout Europe. Napoleon’s armies conquered the Iberian and Italian peninsulas, occupied the Netherlands, and inflicted humiliating defeats on Austrian and Prussian forces. Napoleon sent his brothers and other
Show More

Related Documents: A Brief Summary of the American Revolution Essay example

John Dickinson The Underrated Summary

John Dickinson the Underrated Anthony R. Fellow in the book American Media History initially seemed to have done a decent job attempting to communicate the importance of John Dickinson as pertaining to the American Revolution. However, after some more research -- his brief paragraphs on John Dickinson fall criminally short to how valuable John Dickinson truly was. The late Forrest McDonald, an American historian strongly considered one of the leading historians of the early nation period had this…

Words 598 - Pages 3

Essay about Literacy: Age of Enlightenment and Primary Source

account of Antin’s experiences as a young girl in the Russian Pale. Speaks to antiSemitism and reasons behind the Russian Revolution. Bosin, Y.V. (2009). Pugachev’s rebellion, 1773-1775. In I. Ness (Ed.). International encyclopedia of revolution and protest. (pp. 2775-2776). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.unm.edu/~ybosin/documents/pugachev.pdf Short summary of Pugachev’s peasant uprising in Russia. Bradford, W. (c. 1650). History of the Plymouth Plantation. Retrieved from http://www…

Words 1161 - Pages 5

Essays: American Revolution

Chapter Summary Between 1763 and 1783, Americans increasingly rebelled against English rule, declared independence, and finally won the military struggle against the British, establishing the United States of America. Structure of Colonial Society At the end of the Seven Years' War, American society, on the whole, was young, optimistic and prosperous, and Americans looked to the future with considerable political and economic expectation. They did not expect revolution or look forward to national…

Words 1152 - Pages 5

Essay on American & Iranian Cultural Differences

American & Iranian Cultural Differences Student Name ANT 101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Instructor Name Date Introductory Why do some cultures treat women with the up most respect and others as if they were lower than life itself? Growing up in earlier years the only examples we as American’s had was just by what we were told. In today’s world we are able to communicate better and see more of how the cultures are in other countries. In America all are treated with equal…

Words 992 - Pages 4

Fish that ate the whale paper

classic case of the Ugly American….” (xi). Argue the accuracy of this statement using specific examples from the book to illustrate the “best and the worst” of Samuel Zemurray’s character. 3 The book is divided into four sections—Green, Yellow, Ripe and Brown. Analyze why Cohen used this structure in his book. What happens in each section that gives its title significance? 4 Several incidents in Zemurray’s life were intertwined with historical events, such as the Honduran revolution of 1913, the Banana…

Words 731 - Pages 3

What Impact Have Digital Technologies Had on the Graphic Design Industry? Essay

The following essay is a summary of the impacts that digital technologies have made on the graphic design process. This essay includes the history of technological changes and the tools that technology has created. The essay will also consist of the contributions that have been made by computers in the process of graphic design. The last part will consist of the negative impacts of technology on graphic design as well as the changes that have been achieved in graphic design as a result of technology…

Words 1447 - Pages 6

Annotated Bibliography Essay

of Arabic people are provided in this article. Cacho, L. M. (2001). Asian Americans. University of Hawaii Press The article discusses the relationships between Asian Americans and their families. The author explains how they have to deal with certain stereotypes in order to succeed in a place where they are Americans, but still considered to be foreigners. The article is a good resource for understanding how Asian Americans feel in a country where so many barriers are placed upon them. Caroll, S…

Words 2466 - Pages 10

Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster Essay

Nicole Dixon 08/25/09 Consumer Behavior Mon 1-5pm Book Report Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster Deluxe: How luxury lost its luster, by Dana Thomas, brings a hard hitting, raw look at the world of luxury and the mass demand of luxury that has occurred. The book was published by the Penguin Group in 2007. Luxury is defined by Thomas as truly special, and was only available to the aristocratic world of wealth and old money in western culture. Luxury signified an experience and lifestyle…

Words 2172 - Pages 9

Essay on Entrepreneur: International Trade and United States

Module 5 Project: Research Chart Research Notes | 5.02 | | US | China | France | Name, location, geographyLesson 05.02https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ Tip: When using the CIA World Factbook site, look under the sections for Government andTransnational Issues | Tip: When using the CIA World Factbook site, make sure to start in the upper right corner where you can select the countries you are researching. | http://www.heritage.org/index/ | 1. Include a topographical…

Words 2094 - Pages 9

Essay on Black Boy by Richard Wright

Black Boy by Richard Wright Summary November 25, 2012 Black Boy is an autobiography of Richard Wright who grew up in the backwoods of Mississippi. He lived in poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and had rage towards those around him; at six he was a "drunkard," hanging about in taverns. He was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on the other by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common people who were slaves…

Words 1817 - Pages 8