July 4, 1776 – July 14, 1789: Seven Differences that Mattered

It's the middle of the summer, and once more Americans turn their thoughts to that special place in their consciousness reserved for July 4. We will again celebrate what we have and how we got it. We may even argue over how to keep it, but left or right, rich or otherwise, people of every ilk will come together to rejoice that we are in America – that we are Americans.

But there is another date also in July that stands recognition by Americans – that of July 14 – the French Revolution. And as history tells us, the French were there with America in our fight against the British, certainly for their own reasons, but there nonetheless.

What is interesting is that most citizens today – American or French – do not realize how unique circumstances (in each country) played a role in determining why the two revolutions had such disparate trajectories and outcomes. In fact the entire context in which each country waged their campaigns for liberty gave rise to many of the cultural distinctions which still exist today between France and America.

The American patriots held an advantage in their fight for independence which the French did not enjoy. As a result, the setbacks in their war and its aftermath had little to do with the French people and more with the circumstances over which the French had little control and with which the partisans had to contend.

Pragmatic Americans, influenced early by Puritan settlers in New England, looked towards history – keen to employ the tangible lessons it teaches. They turned towards experience as their compass in gaining their freedoms. The French, in contrast, primarily ensconced in a feudal system of repression, but because of Enlightenment principles, exalted reason as opposed to experience, while deprecating religion because of their troubled history with it.

Colony vs. Country

Venue was a key factor differentiating the two wars. America's War for independence occurred 3,000 miles from the monarchy ruling it in Great Britain. The French Revolution took place amidst the feudal system within France itself, a factor which threatened the ancien régime – the French monarchy – directly.

Freedom vs. Overthrow

Location also affected the intent of each revolution. American revolutionaries' aim was to be free from a monarch's objectionable rule, to establish a new form of government within their own country.

The French revolution involved French partisans demanding change, They intended to either overturn or significantly alter the existing French system of government.

Tangible vs. Abstract Goals

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence to separate America from Britain and to express their belief that every individual has the equal right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was founded with the noble aim to create social equality and end political inequalities of King Louis XVI – tangible goals vs abstractions

Representation vs. Repression

Taxation played a role in both wars, however, the people’s objections to the taxes in each country were dissimilar. Americans objected to the fact that colonists had no say in how the collected taxes were spent – “taxation without representation.” In contrast, the revolting French peasants were starving and destitute partially as a result of over-taxation, and thus their fight was in part instinctual – for survival.

Class Divisions vs. Ideology

France sought equality through Rousseau's philosophy – the combatants were largely separated by economic classes – the rich from the poor, the lower class or the third estate vs. the upper class. For Americans John Locke’s emphasis on freedom prevailed – the separations were ideological, in that the warring parties were divided over loyalty to the crown and absolute monarchy versus the desire for freedom for American colonists.

Victory vs. Continued Instability

The Treaty of Paris (1783) outlined cessation conditions to end the American War for Independence marking the conflict’s end. Unrest and conflict, however, continued within France. This political instability and persistent violence make the conclusion of the French Revolution of 1789 rather indeterminate. Although the “Reign of Terror” ended in 1794, Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup d’état on Nov. 9, 1799, is most often considered to be the final end of the French Revolution.

Establishing Government

Forrest McDonald notes in his work Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution that it was American John Dickinson who cautioned those gathered at the Philadelphia Convention, “Reason may mislead us. Experience must guide our reason.”

The French, however, exalted Reason above experience and religion. Indeed, they transformed Notre Dame Cathedral into a “Temple of Reason.” Unfortunately, reason unrestrained and untempered by history and experience proved unable to establish a stable government or to secure liberty in France. The Reign of Terror, the Empire of Napoleon, and, ultimately, restoration of the monarchy followed the Revolution.

American patriot Patrick Henry once remarked that the American war is over but not the Revolution.

If we look today at that incredible country and its people across the channel from Britain, can we not say the same for France? Yes, she is experiencing difficulties for the moment, and they are serious (economically and politically), but the courage and strength of the French people will prevail in keeping France – France. They always have. And Americans will always be there for her, as she was for us in 1776.