Backgrounds of the French Revolution-2
We are now at the year 1789. The Americas were discovered almost 300 years before. Spain and Portugal had become powerful, but their power decreased as their colonies produced less. Other nations in Europe began to become more powerful. The kingdoms of England and France had become large empires. All over Europe, monarchies were in control. There were no nations led by a democratic government. But that all began to change.
How the American Revolution helped to spark the French Revolution
Setting the stage
Before we study more about France and its revolution, we need to go back 12 years in time, across the sea to North America. In the state of New York, a crucial battle had just taken place. The name of the battle was Saratoga.
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= SARATOGA (get it?)
Here's an image of a famous lady wearing a toga.
Want some irony? Who gave this statue to the United States? Yep. France!
What does this have to do with the French Revolution?
Read on.
Saratoga, the turning point
The Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution proved something important: That the colonists could win!!
Yep. They used special tactics like hiding in the trees, and shooting British officers. This was 'not fair' according to the British, but the colonists didn't care. British General John Burgoyne surrendered, and it was the FIRST major victory for the American colonists against the mighty British Army.
The French took notice. Britain was their enemy, but they had been beaten badly in two recent wars against the British. Perhaps, with their help, the American colonists could deal a humiliating loss to the British. France decided to join the war.
Four years later, the Marquis de Lafayette led 8,000 French soldiers alongside a similar number of American colonists in the final land battle of the American Revolution. The British surrendered at Yorktown, and the Americans had won their independence.
During the American Revolutionary war, many American leaders made their way to France to ask for help. While in France, they shared their ideas of liberty and equality with the French. The French saw that liberty was worth fighting for. It was this key interaction with the Americans that gave the French people the idea that they too deserved a chance at liberty. In 1789, just six years after America signed a treaty with the British guaranteeing their independence, the French decided to revolt against their king to demand "liberty, equality and brotherhood." In the French language, this phrase was "liberte, egalite, fraternite". It become the battle cry for the French Revolution.
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