French Revolution Essay - 1522 Words

ON 9th JULY 1797 the statesman and the philosopher Edmund Burke died, after having contracted stomach cancer. He was buried in Beaconsfield Church near his Buckinghamshire home. Burke had been a distinguished Member of Parliament but never attained high office. His political career must be judged a failure. However, Edmund Burkes true legacy was contained in his extensive writings. In letters,pamphlets and books he expounded a coherent system of ideas about human nature;the organic state; the benefits of prejudice;the dangers of government by secret consensus and the role of political parties. Two hundred years on, most scholars would agree that Burke had a gift for deep analysis conveyed in stylish English prose.Yet the content of his†¦show more content†¦A typical example of such thinking was Richard Prices Discourse on the Love of Our Country (1789). Dr. Price argued that patriotism was quot;a blind and narrow principle,producing a contempt of other countriesquot; and he called upon people to become quot;citizens of the worldquot;. Burkes most famous tract,Reflections on the Revolution in France,strongly attacked Price. Instead of forcing people to conform to a model of an quot;ideal societyquot;, Burke started by studying mans true nature. He observed that real people were not abstract quot;menquot; but Englishmen, Frenchmen, Indians and the like.Burke wrote: quot;We begin our public affections in our families... we pass on to our neighbourhoodsquot;. He accepted that human beings have distinctive identities, that we love our kin above strangers and that this must affect the type of society we create. It is not morally bad, it is simply the way we are. quot;To love the little platoon we belong to in society is the first principle of public affections. It is the first link in the series by which we proceed towards a love to our country and to mankindquot;. (1) 2. THE ORGANIC STATE In defending the family, locality and nation,Burke stood for a natural, organicShow MoreRelatedThe French Revolution And The Revolution1523 Words   |  7 PagesThe French Revolution was a time rife with violence, with many revolutionaries using extreme actions to overturn the French Monarchy and create a government based on equality and justice, rather than tyranny and despotism. This violence reached gruesome and terrible heights throughout the revolution, but was justified by the revolutionaries, who believed that their goals of total equality, the end of tyranny, and the return to a virtuous society, allowed them to use means necessary to attain theseRead MoreThe French Revolution And The Revolution1336 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis The French Revolution was such an important time history. 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Before the French Revolution, France was ruled by an absolute monarchy, this meaning that one ruler had the supreme authority and that said authority was not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customsRead MoreThe Revolution Of The French Revolution1636 Words   |  7 Pageswas an old fortress that had served as a royal prison and in which gunpowder was stored. This will be the place where Parisian crowds will lay siege on and use the gunpowder for their weapons, and this will become a great turning point in the French Revolution. 3) The Great Fear was the vast movement that the peasant insurgency of sacking nobles’ castles and burning documents would blend into. This attack was mainly because of seigneurial dues and church tithes that weighed heavily on many peasantsRead MoreThe French Revolution And The Revolution1180 Words   |  5 PagesLooking at the historical timeline, one can see that the French Revolution derived after the Enlightenment, which brought different ways of thinking, and different outlooks on government and society (553),(555),(558). The Enlightenment also changed the world of public debate, and established some ideas central to the French Revolution. The French Revolution of 1789 occurred due to government debt, class conflict, bankruptcy, the Enlightenment, and the rule of absolutism. These social, economic, and