By: Sam Jens Period: 1

Revolutionary Leaders- Starting in January 26, 2011, Hasan Ali Akleh poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire to protest against the government. Soon after on February 3rd, FaceBook and Twitter were used to organize protests the following two days. These protests were small and had no significant impact. The turning point was March 6th when TIME magazine announced that all protests needed to explode into a full-fledged rebellion. Later in March, the city of Daraa became the focal point of the revolution. It was estimated that 100,000 people marched on the city. In April, the uprising became more violent. Protesters were shot at on April 1, 2011 and ten were killed. This led to more oppression by the Syrian government in the weeks and months to come.

Leaders being overthrown- The protesters are trying overthrow the current president, Bashar al-Assad, and to overthrow the current ruling Baath Party. They want equal rights for speech, press, and assembly. Another main focus of the protest was equal rights for the Kurds.

The revolution in Syria has many different age groups represented. Most of the protesters are Sunni Muslim (80%). One of the focuses for the revolution was more rights for the Kurds, which are a minority.

The revolution in Syria is similar to the American Revolution because each wanted political change in their own country. The main goal of each was to gain more equality for people that the current government had restricted. Each protested the right for freedom of speech, assembly, and press. Each revolution was centered around the people who all wanted change for their fellow countrymen. Each revolution had brutal crackdowns with police in Syria and British troops in America. Overall each of the revolutions were similar, but had more differences.

The American revolution was about a colony against their mother country. The main distinguishing feature is that Syrians are rebelling against their own government, whereas the Americans were rebelling against Britain. One of the major starting points of the American revolution was the Declaration of Independence. The Syrian protesters have not written a declaration of independence, this is because they do not wish to completely separate from their government, just push for civil advancements. The role of technology has also played an enormous role in all of the Arab spring revolutions. Social media has been the key to spread the word. In the third quarter of the 18th century, word traveled much slower which meant many crucial ideas and events remained hidden from much of the American people. Overall, the two revolutions remained largely different even though they pushed for similar ideas.

Personally, I believe that Syrians have the ability to bring great change to their country, but the current president is using physical violence to intimidate the protesters. Thousands have already died in the streets and many more do not want to follow. Just recently the US ambassador to Syria was pulled out of the country for fear that he may be in danger. I think that the only way for Syrians to get what they want is to keep the energy alive for as long as they can. I understand their concern about the political crackdown, because the streets are no longer as safe as they used to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0BIXPpZiU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajn50aPlwhM

http://u4ya.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/syria-revolution-hand-flag.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sb-su8H6tzg/Ta1_6AzBiYI/AAAAAAAAAVg/CJ3RU6Joj04/s1600/Syria-revolution1.jpg

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2088366,00.html

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/09/201195123037726408.html

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ymkgHME4g4U/TZC5aM7911I/AAAAAAAAAD0/dmiLMIExraw/s1600/Syria+Revolution+video.jpg

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/world/meast/syria-unrest/

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-10-24/middleeast/world_meast_syria-us-ambassador_1_ambassador-robert-ford-hama-imad-moustapha?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST