Similar to the over taxation of American colonists, the French monarchy too levied excessive taxes on the subjects, including the nobility. Apart from taxes paid to the monarch, the poor people were forced to pay taxes to the nobility as well, which usually took the form of rent, wage deductions etc. All these factors exacerbated the already inequitable distribution of wealth and power in France. This imbalance has strong parallels to the unequal sharing of power and wealth between the British monarchy and its colonies in America. The nobles had their own share of grievances against the monarchy, as the latter placed limitations on the extent of land the former could own. All these tensions eventually had to give and it took the form of people’s uprising.
There was one crucial difference between the American and French revolutions and this had to do with the brutality and horror of the French experience. As the French people were fighting their own rulers and that too within the confines of their own territory, there was lots of suspicion, hostility and violence. In what came to be known as the Great Terror, thousands and thousands upon nobles, aristocrats and other members related to the ruling class were beheaded with the guillotine. Not only was the number of lives lost to the guillotine far greater, but it far more horrifying and bloody than anything that the British loyalists could have experienced. Unlike the American colonialists’ experience, the French people held their own citizen courts to determine whether or not to send accused persons to the guillotine. But in retrospect, the effects of all that bloodshed do seem to have had benign consequences.
As a result of the revolution, a strong democratic tradition was established in France ever since and all its citizens enjoy protection of their human right and political freedoms. In contrast, the colonies in America continued to follow the system of slavery and only white men were entitlement to land ownership. Even before the American push for independence started, many colonies had already enjoyed years of successful self-governance, and weren’t about to allow the king of England to strangle their success. Furthermore, the colonists were actually allowed to vote for or against the revolution. And finally, the subsequent generations of citizens in the United States have to thank their brave forbears for conducting the American Revolution and securing for them their rights and freedoms, which are institutionally guaranteed and protected by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This has allowed the United States to become the most powerful industrialized nation in the world and the envy of all other nations.