The French and American Revolutions

Directions: Using your readings and the video clips for this week, write an essay (3 pages minimum) that answers the following questions:
• What do the American and French revolutions seem to have in common?
• Why, in your opinion, did the French Revolution take such a tyrannical detour compared to the American Revolution? Make sure to cite sources.
• According to Tocqueville what was special about the new United States of America, and what did he not like?
***Feel free to also bring Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau or even Machiavelli into your analysis. Use the textbook (Ryan, Alan. On Politics: A History of Political Thought From Herodotus to the Present. Vols 1 & 2. New York, NY: Liverlight Publishing Corporation, 2012). The chapters to choose from are listed below.

Preface to Book Two (403-408)
Chapter 16: The American Founding (Pp. 577-615)
Chapter 17: The French Revolution and Its Critics (Pp. 616-651)
Chapter 20: Tocqueville and Democracy (Pp. 729-769)