The French and American Revolutions Compared
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modern world. To understand the American Revolution is to understand
why the American Constitution has survived and so many others, much
influenced by the ideas and events of Jacobin France, have failed.
The American revolutionaries suffered none of the delusions of their
unfortunate counterparts in France. There were a few Americans and
British, notably Thomas Paine and the English Unitarian minister Dr.
Richard Price, who championed the French Revolution, but they were
part of a small and shrinking minority. Seeking to refute Burke, Paine
published The Rights of Man in 1791, insisting that Burke’s view of rights
was contrary to reason and that his misgivings were unfounded. ‘‘Notwithstanding Mr. Burke’s horrid paintings,’’ said Paine, ‘‘when the French
Revolution is compared with that of other countries, the astonishment will
be that it is marked by so few sacrifices.’’ Traveling to Paris to join the Revolution, Paine was at first honored by the revolutionists as ‘‘Citizen
Tom Paine,’’ only to be thrown into prison, barely escaping France with
his life.
The French Revolution left the nation bitter and divided for more than
a century. The American people, however, emerged from their struggle
united and free. Thus from the beginning American Constitution-makers
had the general support of their countrymen. The principles of government they espoused during the Revolution and implemented after the
British surrender at Yorktown were widely shared in every town and village. It was on the basis of this remarkable consensus, this serene moment of creation, this fertile ground of American political experience,
that the new Constitution was established. Had the Americans fought
their revolution a decade later and followed the French rather than the
English example, it may be doubted whether the American Constitution,
or any other, would have long endured. But history smiled upon the
American people. Time and circumstance and the political wisdom of
the Founders combined fortuitously to rescue them from the fate of the
French republic. No tree of liberty has ever enjoyed a greater chance of
survival than the Constitution that germinated in Philadelphia in the
summer of 1787. This is because it was deeply rooted in a constitutional
tradition favorable to liberty, order, and justice more than five hundred
years in the making.