Re: LePen & Macron in run off after 1st round of elections in France
Goodness, sometimes it seems that half the people who post here read everything in absolute terms. SMH
There were important similarities (both revolutions overturned existing governmental arrangements, both reinforced the power of the people to have a say in how their government is ordered), but there are some really significant differences.
The French Revolution established, in turn:
The National Assembly (1789-1791)
The Legislative Assembly (October 1791-August 1792)
The National Convention (Sept. 1792-1795)
The Directory (1795-1799)
The Consulate (1799-1804)
The Empire (1804)
But these were always centralized unified states.
The American revolution was basically a political secession, which established thirteen independent sovereignties, then the Confederation (1781-1789) and the Union (1789-), but left the British government generally intact, (if slightly humbled).
The American Declaration of Independence listed the sixty-five grievances which justified the colonies in their secession. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man was used to justify the political killing of tens of thousands of Frenchmen between 1789 and 1804 and has been used to justify the killing of untold numbers elsewhere since.
