the age of revolutions is the historical period from the 1770

Keckler-Alexander 1

K. Keckler-Alexander

HIS 241

Final Paper

Mr. Berry

Impacts and Consequences in the Age of Revolutions

The Age of Revolutions is the historical period from the 1770’s until the mid-1800s

during which several “revolutionary” movements transpired in the world, predominantly in

Western Europe and the Americas. A key identifying characteristic of this time is the global

spread of government transition. Many governments moved from monarchial systems, such as

absolute monarchies, towards republics and constitutional systems including constitutional

monarchies. Notable revolutions of this time were the American Revolution, the French

Revolution, the Greek Revolution, the Haitian Revolution and various revolutions throughout

Latin America and the Caribbean, for example the St John’s Slave Rebellion in 1733. The Age

of Revolutions had a devastating effect upon the earlier imperialist-minded European nations,

though it did lead some nations to turn towards Asia and the Pacific for colonization (Sciolino).

The British in particular pursued this after the loss of the United States, though they would lose

the majority of their colonial holdings during further rebellions over the coming century. Many

historians agree that the “Age of Empires” truly ended with World War I and World War II.

Most consider this point in history, the early 1900s, to be the end of colonialism, and historically

Keckler-Alexander 2

that is accurate. However the beginning of the end for imperialism and colonialism was most

assuredly the Age of Revolutions. This period in history changed how governments interacted

with their people, changed political structures and ultimately would begin to change the face of

the modern world. Historians agree that both the American Revolution and the French

Revolution had major and lasting impacts, though there is dispute over which was more

significant. Upon looking at both revolutions, it is clear that one did in fact have a broader

global effect than the other yet the reasons are perhaps more geographical than ideological.

The American Revolution was about much more than a simple revolt against British

control. The American colonies had been subjected to unjust taxation, unjust legislative rule,

and had little to no voice within the British government. These abuses which spanned a long

history of tension between the American colonies and their British masters grew to a boil in 1763

when the British began tightening their control over the colonies. The British passed several acts

of taxation including the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act in an effort to financially weaken the

colonies in an effort to reassert control over their holdings. The American Revolution was not

just a war, it includes the period in the 1760s forward because of the long diplomatic

negotiations which took place before finally, in February 1775, the colony of Massachusetts

declared itself to be in revolt against the British. The British sent troops to Massachusetts,

specifically Boston, with the intent of putting down the uprising. Yet the patriot Paul Revere

warned the colonists of the impending British invasion, and so in April 1775 when the British

entered Concord, Massachusetts they were greeted by a group of militia men. Shots were fired

but the British were able to withdraw and move on towards Lexington where yet another group

of militia men awaited them. Thus, with the battles of Lexington and Concord cemented into the

history books, the American Revolutionary War began.

Keckler-Alexander 3

Officially all of the American colonies, which later became the United States of America,

were not all in open rebellion against the British at this point. That came later in 1776 when the

Continental Congress met and ratified the Declaration of Independence, declaring that the

American colonies were free from British control and unified in their struggle to become an

independent nation. The American Revolutionary War raged from those early battles in 1775

across the colonies for nearly a decade. Both the British and the American patriots suffered

losses. About 7,200 Americans died in battle during the Revolution. Another 10,000 died from

disease or exposure and about 8,500 died in British prisons (Mintz). Other historians dispute

these American casualty figures. They claim due to the unreliability of record-keeping during

this period the actual figure of Americans killed in battle, lost to disease, killed while imprisoned

by the British, or were severely wounded and/or disabled by the Revolutionary War, places the

total figure of American casualties over 50,000. The most reliable figure for British losses from

battle and disease is approximately 24,000 casualties. However these numbers are likely also too

low as British forces were comprised of not just naval forces but regular army, militia, hired

mercenary troops, and Loyalists within the colonies. There are no reliable statistical reports for

the number of casualties from these groups (White). There were great victories for both sides and

crushing defeats. However the American struggle for independence ended victoriously for the

United States. The British Parliament voted in the House of Commons to officially end the war

in 1782 and preliminary peace accords were signed. In 1783 the British evacuated from

American soil and delegates met in Paris to sign what became known as the Treaty of Paris. This

treaty officially ended the war between the British Empire and the American colonies now

known as the United States of America. The Congress of the Confederation, the precursor to the

Congress of the United States, officially ratified the treaty January 4, 1784.

Keckler-Alexander 4

Most consider the American Revolution as the first modern revolution. The American

Revolution was unique in some aspects as it was the first time in modern history that a group of

people fought for independence based on unifying principles such as the equal rule of law

popular sovereignty and the constitutional rights of men. The American Revolution showed the

world that genuinely democratic politics were possible in political systems (Wood). As a result

of American Revolutionary ideology the ideals of liberty, individual rights, and equality among

men became core values of “liberal republicanism”. The American Revolution forced the old

guard of Europe to recognize the Democratic ideal that “governments are instituted among men,

deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…" ("The Declaration of

Independence”) The American Revolution provided an example to many other colonial peoples

and empowered them with the knowledge that they too could break away and become self-

sufficient independent nations. However historians are divided upon the true impacts that the

American Revolution had upon the world as a whole. Historian Jack Greene contends that the

American Revolution wasn’t as revolutionary as people seem to feel. He points out that in

reality, the American colonies were not “transformed,” rather the American colonies simply

exchanged a remote government for a resident one. The generally espoused viewpoint by

historians was that the American Revolution was unique because of the democratic ideals that

were based in Enlightenment philosophy, which reshaped the form of government. Historians

insist that these ideologies had a profound and lasting effect on world affairs. Particularly

because of the ideals of the equality of man and the natural rights of man. Though this viewpoint

is ironic considering that the vast majority of the population after the American Revolution was

still heavily restricted in their voting rights. Only free white males who were able to pass the

property qualification test, this translated into approximately one out of every nine persons living

Keckler-Alexander 5

in the American colonies during this period, was entitled to vote. It would take another two

centuries and a great deal of civil rights struggles before the majority of the American population

would gain equal voting rights. This dichotomy calls into question the true ideological impacts

of the American Revolution. The ideals espoused such as the equality of mankind and the natural

rights of man were not in fact practiced and would not be for another 200 years. Regardless of

the validity of the ideological notions behind the American Revolution, it clearly had an impact

on a global scale. However across the Atlantic, another revolution, one which had been brewing

for quite some time, was about to ignite into one of the bloodiest revolutions in history.

No single act was directly responsible for igniting the French Revolution. Years of

oppression, poor leadership and fiscal negligence created an environment ripe for rebellion over

the course of time. The financial hardships of the 1700s had nearly bankrupted France. King

Louis XVI consulted with advisors from across Europe who all concluded that France needed a

radical change in its taxation policies if it was to survive, but the king ignored them. By the

1780s even King Louis realized changes must happen, he tried convincing the nobility to pay

taxes which of course they refused. The clergy was also tax exempt and so when the Estates

General was convened in 1789 to work out a “solution” for the tax issue, the Third Estate,

peasantry and the middle classes, knew that they would be forced to pay the new taxes. Though

the Third Estate comprised nearly 95% of the total French population, French law gave them a

single vote, and the other two estates each held a vote. The populace felt this was grossly unfair

as they were the majority and therefore should have more power in government policy. Realizing

that they wouldn’t be able to work within the Estates’ rules and that their greater numbers gave

them power, the Third Estate declared themselves independent from the Estates General and

formed the National Assembly. They took what is now known as the Tennis Court Oath after

Keckler-Alexander 6

being ordered to disperse by the king. At Versailles, on the Jeu de Paume, an indoor tennis

court, the delegates swore a vow not to disband until a new French constitution had been

adopted. This is broadly considered as the start of the French revolution. Within only a few

days of the formation of the National Assembly, several members from the other two estates had

also joined with the revolutionaries (McPhee, Companion; "Jacobin Club (French Political

History).").

The National Assembly’s revolutionary actions were the catalyst for radical action which

spread through France like fire. Paris citizenry stormed the Bastille, the largest prison in Paris

and home to many political prisoners. They were not actually seeking to free prisoners but to

take control of the Bastille’s massive armory. In rural areas, starving peasants and tenant

farmers attacked the manors and estates of the upper classes and landlords. This time is known as

the “Great Fear.” The August Decrees brought the majority of the rural attacks to a close and

freed peasants from the feudal contracts. Later in August, the National Assembly published the

“Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” which can be compared to the American

Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights together. After this, France entered a period

of brief peace. The National Assembly drafted a constitution and attempted to establish a new

government, however discontent still simmered between the moderate Girondins and the more

radical thinkers, the Jacobins. The Girondins advocated rebuilding the constitutional monarchy,

however the Jacobins wanted the monarchy completely destroyed. The king and the royal family

attempted to escape France in order to raise and army and retake the throne. They were captured

and this fractured the fragile peace. Some of the neighboring countries, Austria and Prussia in

particular, feared that France’s revolutionary ideology would spread to their own lands. These

nations demanded that France restore her king in the Declaration of Pillnitz. The leadership of

Keckler-Alexander 7

the National Assemble took this declaration as a hostile action and declared war on Austria and

Prussia (Hunter-Chang).

After declaring war, the National Assembly became the National Convention and its first

act was to formally abolish the French monarchy and to declare France a republic. In January

1793, the new French government tried the former king, Louis XVI, for treason. He was

convicted and executed by guillotine on January 21, 1793. His wife Marie Antoinette, former

queen of France, was tried for treason eight month later and also executed by guillotine. The

death of Louis combined with the war with Austria and Prussia, which was not going well,

ignited a firestorm which is now known as the “Reign of Terror.” Rage fuelled the populace and

they removed the Girondins from power and replaced them with the Jacobins. The Jacobin

leader was a French revolutionary radical, Maximilien Robespierre. Initially Robespierre

seemed to do well as leader, his conscriptions of soldiers began turning the tide in the war with

Austria and Prussia (Tilley). His internal policies brought initial stability however this was very

short lived. Robespierre was incredibly paranoid and grew more so. After the execution of

Marie Antoinette, Robespierre launched the Reign of Terror, a rash of treason trials and

allegations which ran from late 1793 through the first half of 1794. Historians still cannot agree

on precise figures for those killed by Robespierre’s terror, estimates range from 13,800 to over

19,000 executed with a trial and 25,000 to 40,000 who were executed without a trial. Another

100,000 to 500,000 were imprisoned. Thousands more simply vanished. In all likelihood there

will never be a full accounting (De Gioia-Keane, White). The Reign of Terror finally ended

when the French army was able to drive the Austrian and Prussian armies from France and the

French economy began to recover from the turmoil of the revolution. Robespierre himself found

the guillotine, he was arrested in July of 1794 and summarily executed the following day,

Keckler-Alexander 8

without trial. Historian Hilaire Belloc examined the irony of Robespierre’s execution in his 1923

work, Robespierre, a Study, in which he observes that Robespierre was executed for “trying to

do the opposite of the very thing which he was popularly supposed to be doing, and his death and

removal largely achieved what he was trying to accomplish.” (Belloc; McPhee, Robespierre;

Shulim)

The death of Robespierre led to the Thermidorian Reaction, which was a time of

restructuring and recovery for France. A new constitution was drafted and adopted in 1975, and

to control executive responsibilities, the National Convention created a group called the

Directory. The Directory abused their powers and soon the governmental abuses rivaled

Robespierre’s madness. The one bright spot in yet another tumultuous time was the wildly

successful French Army, led by a young and ambitious general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Once

Napoleon was notified of the political disorder in France, he returned with his army and led a

coup against the Directory. In 1799, Napoleon named himself the “first consul” of France and

thus the French revolution ended under the strong military leadership of Napoleon.

The French Revolution had major impacts on both other European nations and the

Americas. Historian François Aulard writes: “From the social point of view, the Revolution

consisted in the suppression of what was called the feudal system, in the emancipation of the

individual, in greater division of landed property, the abolition of the privileges of noble birth,

the establishment of equality, the simplification of life... The French Revolution differed from

other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity." (Tilley).

R.R. Palmer asserts that the French revolution was in fact the only “revolution” of the period

which truly underwent a revolution in “the fullest and most profound sense of the word.” And he

also notes that France was unique in that they alone revolted under their own power, all other

Keckler-Alexander 9

revolutions of the period involved outside assistance from other nations, such as the French

assisting the Americans in their revolution. Only France revolted alone. “Marxist” historians,

such as Marcel Reinhard and George Rudé, argued for the uniqueness of the French Revolution

due to its radicalism, extraordinary in comparison with the American Revolution. The French

Revolution was the bourgeois revolution, a true revolution of the people in their opinions, and

it’s extremely radical nature foreshadowed the ideals of the proletariat mentality (Amann). Their

opinion is not unique, "It has long been almost a truism of European history that the French

Revolution gave a great stimulus to the growth of modern nationalism." (Dann) Nationalism has

been emphasized by countless historians as the predominant lasting legacy of the French

revolution. Across Europe and the world, radical intellectuals found inspiration from French

Revolutionary philosophy and later from the Napoleonic Code. Other revolutionary armies

carried the French slogan of "liberty, equality and brotherhood" in their own battles. Prussia and

Austria had been right to fear the “French spread” as they saw their own holdings erupt into

rebellions (the Dutch patriots and the Belgian democrats) and various other nations soon found

revolutionary fever had infected their populaces as well (Horstbøll).

This spread is what also distinguished the French Revolution from the American

Revolution, the geographical nature of its impact. 18th century Europe watched in shock and

abject fascination as France consumed itself in its revolution. They were awed by one of the

most “powerful” monarchies in Europe being destroyed by its own people. Thanks to the

printing advances giving birth to journals, newspapers and circulars, the general public of Europe

had “ringside” seats to the actions in France. The “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the

Citizen” was translated and published in circulars, a copy even appeared on the front page of the

Saint Petersburg Gazette. This was the age of the “Grand Tour” which provided eyewitness

Keckler-Alexander 10

accounts, diaries, and letters relating to events in France in all European languages. The French

Revolution was illustrated in paintings, prints, cartoons, and caricatures. It was described in

poetry and depicted on the stage. In the United States, most initially saluted the French

Revolution, though the reign of Terror led to many wavering in their support later. John

Marshall, Virginian statesman and later Supreme Court Justice, was quoted as saying, “I

sincerely believed human liberty to depend … on the success of the French Revolution” (Elkins).

Given the courses of the American Revolution and the French Revolution and their

respective impacts and ideologies it is clear that the French Revolution had a more profound

impact upon the world as a whole than its American counterpart. This is seen for predominately

four reasons, first the fundamental differences in the nature of the two revolutions. The American

Revolution was predominately an external conflict and in terms of violence and casualties was,

for most intents and purposes, an extremely civilized revolution. The French Revolution was an

internal struggle and like almost every internal struggle in history, this led to far more extreme

violence and turmoil. The death tolls of the French Revolution are horrifying. Historians have

argued over the last two centuries in an attempt to quantify a true accounting of lives lost during

this period. In the end it is almost impossible to know just how many were killed during this

time. Low estimates place the total dead and around 500,000 but most agree that the death toll in

reality is much higher the highest estimate including civilian casualties place the total number of

dead somewhere around 2 million persons from 1789 through 1799. In comparison the total

number of dead in the American Revolution at its highest estimate is somewhere around 100,000

persons killed or severely wounded. To give a bit more perspective towards these numbers, the

estimated population of the American colonies in 1776 was somewhere in the range of 2.5

million person. this number did not include slaves or Native American population. In


comparison, at the start of the French Revolution in 1789 the total estimated population of the

country of France was 28 million persons, with Paris, the heart of the French Revolution, having

a population estimated around 700,000 persons.

The majority of the deaths occurred during the American Revolution were military either

regular army or militia very few civilian casualties occurred during the American Revolution,

though there were some civilians killed during the battles. The French Revolution however saw

men, women, and children killed without prejudice. This is in part why it is so difficult to

calculate the full number of dead during this ten-year period, accurate records of the indigent,

women, and children who were killed in the streets of Paris do not exist. When all was said and

done at the end of the French Revolution historians estimate that approximately four out of every

one hundred people in France had died. In comparison, the highest estimate of those severely

wounded or killed in the American Revolution being 50,000 means that only two out of every

one hundred persons in the American colonies were killed or seriously wounded. Also the

American Revolution claimed very few civilian lives, around 6,000 is the closest estimate and

that number includes those who died from disease and/or starvation. The French revolution was

an internal “civil” war that claimed mostly “civilian” rebels. This is major difference between

the two revolutions. While the American Revolution was primarily an external war between two

opposing military forces, the French Revolution was an internal struggle where the population

rose up against its own government. Fighting in the French Revolution was primarily peasants in

the lower classes revolting against the monarchy and parts of the nobility. There were no

traditional standing armies and therefore the majority of the casualties were common people.

The second key reason for the superiority of the French Revolution are the actual changes

which took place within each nation. After the American Revolution the United States


established itself as a republic. They espoused liberalist ideology and Enlightenment ideals such

as natural rights of men and the rules of law however within the United States as previously

covered the general population was in fact not entitled to vote only free white males who were

property owners and met certain qualifications were entitled to have a legislative vote in the

United States. Initially, this translated to 10% of the total population within the United States

being eligible for voting rights, if you include the slave population and Native American

populations. Conversely, in France the revolutionary Constitutions all held the ideas of universal

male suffrage. This was incredibly unique and perplexing for most of Europe. While Britain did

have some form of male suffrage, but it was by no means universal. The restoration of the

Bourbon monarchy after the fall of Napoleon saw universal male suffrage overturned, still for a

period, The French Revolution granted widespread voting rights on a scale unlike anything the

modern world had seen before. The United States saw some type of universal male suffrage in

the early 1800s however it would be over a century before universal suffrage (the term universal

male suffrage was replaced by universal suffrage after women gained the right to vote in the 19th

and 20th centuries) became common practice in the United States.

Many historians have argued that the United States didn’t truly change overmuch as a

result of the American Revolution. This is potentially true in some aspects for two primary

reasons. First is the assertion made by Jack Green that the American Revolution was simply an

exchanging of governments. The second is that the American colonies had been largely

independently ruling themselves for quite some time before the actual American Revolution.

While they were still technically British colonial possessions, their geographical location, and

relative self-sufficiency in relation to Great Britain all combined to make them far more

autonomous than other colonial possessions. This is perhaps in part why the American


Revolution was so civilized. Unlike their counterparts in France, American colonists were not

starving and dying in the streets from lack of food. While Great Britain was exerting certain

economic pressures on them, the general population of the United States by no means suffered

the way that the French population was suffering (Hazen). The American Revolution could

afford to be civilized the French on the other hand were desperate starving people. When human

beings are on the edge of survival, civility is rarely a consideration.

The third reason for the French Revolution having a greater global impact is

geographical. As previously covered the French Revolution took place in the heart of Europe the

American Revolution took place in a geographically isolated location. In the 18th century the

only method of travel across the Atlantic was by sail. The average time for an Atlantic crossing

in that period was anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks, possibly longer depending upon the season and

the weather patterns. News did not travel quickly from the American colonies. While the

American Revolution was known and discussed, envoys from the colonies traveled to Europe

and Great Britain, gave speeches and solicited political and financial support, pamphlets were

printed and sent to Europe explaining American revolutionary ideals, copies of the Declaration

of Independence and the Bill of Rights circulated in Europe, yet news was still delayed. In

France’s case there was no time delay, or at least not a large time delay, as events unfolded

during their revolution. Quite literally, the majority of Europe would know within days of major

events occurring. Some nations, neighboring ones, knew within hours, as was the case during

the execution of Louis XVI. The majority of Europe had front row seats to the French

Revolution and the ideology spread like wildfire from France. American ideology spread as

well, but the immediacy and availability of French ideology meant that their revolutionary

thoughts spread faster than American ones had. They were also continuously reinforced.


Another contributing factor to this spread was the radical nature of the French Revolution. The

brutality and the violence caused greater attention to be paid to the events in France. Just like

with any great tragedy or natural disaster, human interest will always be drawn by violence and

tragedy, and the French Revolution provided both in spades making it a central topic in Europe

for the duration. The rapid spread of the French Revolution and it being a continual topic of

discussion and debate fueled rampant counterrevolutionary movement in nations who feared the

French spread. Not only did France’s Revolution inspire similar revolutionary mentalities in

countries such as Belgium Greece and Ireland, it also sparked an entirely new set of movements

which were the counterrevolutionary ideologies particularly popular in Prussia Germany and

Austria (Klaits, McPhee).

Perhaps the single greatest legacy that the French Revolution gave the world, the major

development which sets the French Revolution above the American Revolution, is the rise of

nationalism from revolutionary thought. Nationalism in some form had existed as a philosophical

school of thought prior to the French Revolution. Many Enlightenment era ideals are central to

nationalistic thought, but the French Revolution brought nationalism into the modern world full

force. While nationalism gave birth to some very positive aspects of modern political thought

and philosophy, nationalism and various other French revolutionary ideology also can be

considered as the parent ideologies and philosophies behind socialism and communism

(Keitner). Both of which existed in some form during the 18th century as well. However those

early forms of socialism and communism were deeply impacted by nationalism and French

radical ideology. Most historians can agree that Marxist thought was deeply influenced by

French radical revolutionary ideals. Marx himself spoke admiringly of several Jacobin writers

and philosophers and quoted them in some of his works (Kołakowski). Nationalism was


radicalized by certain groups in the 19th and 20th centuries. These radical forms of nationalism

gave rise to the German militaristic complex and in part, the Nazi party. Communism and

Socialism both developed into more radical forms under leaders such as Stalin, Lenin, and

Chairman Mao of China. These political systems are not “evil” so to speak, but many agree that

the more radical forms of these political ideologies have led to extreme human suffering for the

better part of the last two centuries. While these negative consequences cannot be laid entirely at

the feet of the French Revolution, the ideologies which fueled their initial creation are French

Revolution ideologies. So in part, the French Revolution is responsible for these global effects.

While this is not a positive or uplifting legacy of the French Revolution, it cannot be discounted

nor its far-reaching impacts ignored (Acemoglu, Dann).

The task of assigning importance of one revolution over another is complex. This is

primarily because, in general, no two revolutions are truly the same. this is clearly demonstrated

by the French and American revolutions. The two shared many ideologies and even expressed a

kinship with one another in their shared goals and supposed common ideals. Yet history and

evidence shows that there were significant differences between the two. Some are obvious and

some are interpretive based on historical evidence. There is plenty of evidence that would

support the idea of the American Revolution being superior to the French and as I have outlined

there is plenty of evidence which supports the idea that the French Revolution was in fact a more

significant to world events. This is the very crux of historical analysis, the interpretation of

evidence and ideology is rarely absolute. To this day historians still debate both of these

revolutions. They debate their merits, their ideologies, their impacts, and their effects. They

argue that one should be considered superior based on contemporary effects or that one should


be superior based on far-reaching effects. They argue whether either Revolution is in fact

significant in the modern world. There are no simple answers to those questions.

One could argue that both revolutions were significant, they were simply significant in

different ways. The American Revolution was the first modern revolution and it was truly an

ideological revolution. The French Revolution was ideological as well however far more radical

in thought and practice than any revolution had been previously. The French Revolution took

place in the heart of Europe, rocking the very core of the political thought process. Not only did

the French break with the monarchy, they literally executed their sovereign ruler for treason. an

action which showed the general population of Europe that a new world was dawning, one in

which the general population held a great deal more power than anyone had previously

acknowledged. Beyond its ideology, its radical actions and shocking levels of violence, beyond

even its immediacy and geographical location, the various political changes which resulted from

the French Revolution, the ripple effects so to speak, are what makes this revolution so

significant in world history. The French Revolution and its subsequent wars were a driving and

accelerating force which reshaped the political scene of Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and

gave birth to a new 19th century world landscape.


Works Cited

Acemoglu, Daron, Davide Cantoni, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. "The Consequences of

Radical Reform: The French Revolution." NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH.

Harvard University, 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Amann, Peter H. The Eighteenth-century Revolution: French or Western? Boston: Heath, 1963.

Internet Archive Library. Internet Archive. Web. 06 May 2014.

Belloc, Hilaire. Robespierre, a Study. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1927. Google Books. Google.

Web. 3 May 2014.

Dann, Otto, and J. R. Dinwiddy. Nationalism in the Age of the French Revolution. London:

Hambledon, 1988. PDF.

De Gioia-Keane, Nicole R. "Robespierre: Rehabilitating a "Terrorist"" Anamesa. New York

University, Spring 2004. Web. 05 May 2014.

"The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription." National Archives and Records Administration.

National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.

Elkins, Stanley M., and Eric L. McKitrick. The Age of Federalism. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. Web.

4 May 2014.

Greene, Jack Philip., and Jack Richon. Pole. A Companion to the American Revolution. Malden, MA:

Blackwell, 2004. PDF.

Hazen, Charles Downer. Contemporary American Opinion of the French Revolution. Vol. 16.

Baltimore: n.p., 1899. Google Books. Google. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Horstbøll, Henrik, and Uffe Østergård. "Reform and Revolution: The French Revolution and the Case

of Denmark." Scandinavian Journal of History 15.1-2 (1990): 155-79. Taylor and Francis

Online. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Hunter-Chang, Gabriel. "Marie Antoinette and the American Revolution." PBS. PBS, 13 Sept. 2006.

Web. 24 Apr. 2014.


"Jacobin Club (French Political History)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica,

2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Keitner, Chimene Ilona Robbins. The Paradoxes of Nationalism: The French Revolution and Its

Meaning for Contemporary Nation Building. Albany, NY: State U of New York, 2007. Print.

Klaits, Joseph, and Michael H. Haltzel. The Global Ramifications of the French Revolution.

Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.

Kołakowski, Leszek, and P. S. Falla. Main Currents of Marxism: The Founders, the Golden Age, the

Breakdown. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. Print.

McPhee, Peter. A Companion to the French Revolution. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley &

Sons, 2013. PDF.

McPhee, Peter. Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life. New Haven: Yale UP, 2012. PDF.

Mintz, S., and S. McNeil. "Overview of the American Revolution." Digital History, 2013. Web. 05

May 2014.

Palmer, R.R. The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760-

1800. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1964. Print.

Palmer, R.R. "French, Western, or Atlantic Revolution?" The Eighteenth Century Revolution French

Or Western. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2014.

Sciolino, Anthony J. The Holocaust, the Church, and the Law of Unintended Consequences: How

Christian Anti-Judaism Spawned Nazi Anti-semitism: A Judge's Verdict. Bloomington, IN:

IUniverse, 2012. Google Books. Google. Web. 4 May 2014.

Shulim, Joseph I. "Robespierre and the French Revolution." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.

Tilley, Arthur Augustus. Modern France; a Companion to French Studies. Cambridge: CUP Archive,

1967. Google Books. Google. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

White, Matthew. "Statistics of Wars, Oppressions and Atrocities of the Eighteenth

Century." Eighteenth Century Death Tolls. N.p., Nov. 2010. Web. 04 May 2014.


Wood, Gordon S. The Radicalism of the American Revolution. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1992. Print.

the age of revolutions is the historical period from the 1770

Documents