Wednesday, September 23, 2015

How are the Glorious Revolution in England, The American and The French Revolution similar?

All three revolutions attempted to change government relatively quickly. Their results led primarily to the triumph of the Rule of Law, which allowed the further development of Individual Rights.  The Glorious Revolution (1688) in England finally solidified the powers of the legislative branch of government (in this case, Parliament) over the executive (King James.)  This process restricting the executive began with the Magna Carta in 1215, which began to weaken the "Divine Right of Kings," and ended at this time, the revolution being "glorious" because Rule of Law through Parliament deposed the king, not bloodletting and warfare as was (is?) usually the case.   The American Revolution (1776) again affirmed the supremacy of legislative government over executive, but in this case the conflict centered around which legislative body would be supreme, the colonial assemblies, or Parliament. Having successfully broken with England, the former American Colonies established government on the English model where the Rule of Law is sacrosanct.  The French, similarly attempted a Rule of Law by the Declaration of the Rights of Man, somewhat modeled on the American Declaration of Independence.  However, the French Revolution devolved into bloodshed, class warfare, regicide, and failure, which created an opportunity for Napoleon to become Emperor. After Napoleon, France finally gained a measure of British-American style democracy many years after its revolution.

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