The French Revolution was influenced by some of the Enlightenment Ideas like removing the church from the government, adding a social contract, and balancing the government's power; resulting in the people having more say in the government; similar to
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how the United States has allowed for its people to vote for what they want. -
John Locke
“According to Locke, all people are born free and equal, with three natural rights—life, liberty, and property” (Black and Beck). Locke’s idea was that all people are born free and equal. This idea or theory originated from the fact that many governments would allow for slavery and if they didn’t allow slavery some governemnts would still in a way enslaved their people by making laws or doing things that the people didn’t agree with. This is why Locke came up with three natural rights -
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for the people: the fact that they all get a life, liberty, and property life for the life they want to live, liberty for their freedom, and property because property was something back then that established a well life of farming and a place for family. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains” (gktoday). This statement ties back to what Rousseau thought about how we are free and not slaves but it feels as though we are in a place where we are being controlled because we can’t just leave our government. So he came up with the idea that the people and government should be able to make a social contract containing what both parties believe is relevant and if the people feel as though the government is not following this they can leave. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Part 2
“The Social Contract helped inspire political reforms or revolutions in Europe, especially in France”(gktoday). Rousseau’s idea was this thing called a social contract where he thought that the government and people should come up with these ideas and if they feel as though the government is not abiding by the contract they can leave and make their own government. The idea behind this idea was the fact that the government would basically take control of the people in a -
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way and make decisions that not all of them agreed with. -
Voltaire
“Voltaire's ideas encouraged people to fight against the privileges and finance of the Church without guilt" (topperl). Voltaire’s idea was that the government should be separate from the church and governmental ideas should not be influenced by religious beliefs. With this idea that Voltaire had he wanted the people to realize that they should be able to leave the church without guilt because the government has nothing to do with the church but it has to do with the people. -
Baron de Montesquieu
“Montesquieu's views and studies of governments led to him to believe that government corruption was probable if a system of government didn't include balance of powers” (Seattlepi). Montesquieu’s idea was that the government should have balance between multiple groups in government like the government the US has today with the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. Montesquieu’s idea came from the fact that many governments like the french would have one sole power and they could -
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basically, do whatever they wanted without having to have approval from other groups like branches -
Frances Dry Crops
“but two decades of poor harvests, drought, cattle disease and skyrocketing bread prices had kindled unrest among peasants and the urban poor” (History). Due to these things like droughts and cattle diseases it caused France to fall more so into bankruptcy resulting in the people's want to leave. The problem with this was that they didn’t know that much about other governments and if they were worse or better. -
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This is where the people learned about Rousseau's idea of being able to leave your current government and create your own if the government was not abiding by what was stated in a social contract. -
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did as he wanted and they just followed along with it. Until the people found Locke’s Enlightenment idea and the people of France realized that they could stand up to their government and using examples from John Locke’s ideas they realized that they all were born free and should be given the liberty to be a part of governmental decisions. Due to these realizations, the people started to fight back against the King and eventually started the French Revolution to bring equality to the people. -
The Blind Following of King Louis
“For hundreds of years the people of France had blindly followed the king and accepted their place in life. However, in the 1700s, the culture began to change. The "Era of Enlightenment" presented new ideas such as "liberty" and "equality." Also, the American Revolution represented a new type of government where the people ruled rather than a king” (Ducksters). The people from France felt as though they couldn’t stand up to their King because all their lives the King -
Frances Bankruptcy
“As the 18th century drew to a close, France’s costly involvement in the American Revolution, extravagant spending by King Louis XVI and his predecessor, had left the country on the brink of bankruptcy.” (History). King Louis XVI was one of the main reasons as to why the french revolution began because he would spend all of the tax dollars on things like parties resulting in the rise of bankruptcy. Because of this bankruptcy and spending from the king, the taxes had to be raised which -
Frances Bankruptcy 2
upset the people even more. This ties back into the idea that Montesquieu had where the power in the government should be balanced so the King would not be able to spend all that money for his benefit. -
The Bourgeoisie Want for more Power
“the bourgeoisie resented its exclusion from political power and positions of honour;“ (Britannica). The bourgeoisie (the middle class) thought as though they were being excluded from political power and were not being treated equally to other social classes. Due to this the middle class took to Locke’s Idea that everyone should have equality in life and everyone should be justified to the same things as everyone else. -
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These ideas that they had invested them in the fact that the government should be giving everyone their natural rights and not excluding a social class out of the political ideas and changes to come. -
King Louis Raises Taxes
“With such great debt, the king had no other option than to try and raise taxes. The commoners of France (the Third Estate) had to pay the majority of the taxes. The nobles and the clergy were largely exempt from paying taxes. Higher taxes angered the common people, especially since the nobles didn't have to pay their share.” (Ducksters). The people in France were already upset with the fact that their taxes were being raised because the King couldn’t handle money well -
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but the fact that people who were more well off than others didn’t have to pay as much in taxes upset the people even more. Due to this rage that the people had they wanted to fight for equality between every social party. This idea ties into the idea that Locke had that everyone should have equality and three natural rights including liberty and equality where everyone is treated the same including in tax rates. -
Works Cited
“Explain the Contribution of the Philosophers in the French Revolution - Social Studies - TopperLearning.com: te9763jj.” TopperLearning.com, www.topperlearning.com/answer/explain-the-contribution-of-the-philosophers-in-the-french-revolution/te9763jj. -
Works Cited 2
“French Revolution.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution. -
Works Cited 3
GKToday. “Role of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in French Revolution.” GKToday, GKToday, 28 Aug. 2016, www.gktoday.in/gk/role-of-jean-jacques-rousseau-in-french-revolution/#:~:text=His%20opening%20line%20is%20still,were%20divinely%20empowered%20to%20legislate. -
Works Cited 4
History.com Editors. “French Revolution.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/france/french-revolution#section_1. -
Works Cited 5
“French Revolution.” Ducksters, www.ducksters.com/history/french_revolution/causes_of_the_french_revolution.php. -
Works Cited 6
Kokemuller, Neil. “In What Ways Did Baron De Montesquieu Influence the Constitution of the United States?” Education, 21 Nov. 2017, education.seattlepi.com/ways-did-baron-de-montesquieu-influence-constitution-united-states-5497.html.