Monday, October 12, 2015

Who had more reason to rebel, the colonists controled by Great Britain or the people of France?

This is a difficult question to answer because whether one reason was more valid than another is entirely subjective. The French people, for example, might have said that their reason was better than the colonists' and vice-versa. Moreover, their reasons for rebellion were in many ways similar, but their circumstances were quite different. Given that, it might be more useful to look at each situation individually and see where they overlap.


Over the course of...

This is a difficult question to answer because whether one reason was more valid than another is entirely subjective. The French people, for example, might have said that their reason was better than the colonists' and vice-versa. Moreover, their reasons for rebellion were in many ways similar, but their circumstances were quite different. Given that, it might be more useful to look at each situation individually and see where they overlap.


Over the course of the 18th century, many colonists had grown frustrated with the British government for a number of reasons. In simple terms, they were being ruled by a government that was very far away and almost completely detached from what was actually going on in the colonies. Most importantly, they had no voice when it came to political decisions that were being made thousands of miles away. For that reason, they came to resent "taxation without representation," meaning that they were being forced to pay taxes to a government that didn't represent them in the decision-making process.


While the colonists were angry about their ruling party's inaction within the colonies, by the end of the 18th century many French people were angry about their government's actions in their country. At this point in time, France had accrued considerable debt and tried to fix the problem by imposing high taxes and tightly controlling the people. Additionally, there were many French people who had grown tired of the rigid cultural boundaries imposed upon them and wanted major social and political reform.


In both cases, the people were angry with their government, who they believed no longer represented their wants and needs. As a result, both groups mounted a rebellion to form a society that was controlled by and for the people. For the colonists, that meant gaining sovereignty and having absolute control over their lives, whereas the French pushed for a more secular government that had their best interest in mind.  


As for which was more valid, both rebellions were about personal freedoms and gaining the right to control their own lives, which makes their reasons very similar. 

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