The American War of Independence

• -In 1778 France joined the war between America and Britain in the side of America. In this war, the Americans were fighting for their independence from the British
• -the assistance given to America by France had some detrimental effects to the French people in the sense the Louis xvi little thought of the consequences when he used money to support the Americans in a country which already had financial crisis- D. Richards argued that the war cost France 2 million livres.
• –The participation of the French soldiers in the American War of independence however had a great effect of exposing the soldiers to democratic and revolutionary ideas that in turn made them revolutionary upon returning to France.
• The war exposed the soldiers to democratic ideas for example the soldiers got exposed to the American Declaration of Independence that pointed out that all men were created with inalienable rights namely life and liberty.
• After the war the soldiers returned to a France whose people had no control over the French taxation since there was no parliament.
• That the French soldiers got exposed to democratic ideas has been demonstrated by the fact that General Lafayette, a veteran of the American War of Independence, became one of the revolutionary leaders.
• -When the French people came back home, they began to compare their situation with that of the Americans who according to D. Richards revolted not because the British taxed them but they only feared that they might tax them ( Richards page 14). As a result of this, the French people came back home where there were a lot of taxes and this made them to revolt
• -in line with this, D. Richards also added that it was no accident that one of the earliest leaders of the French revolution was Lafayette who also saved as a soldier in the American War of Independence

The American War of Independence contributed to the outbreak of the French revolution mainly in two ways: 1. By causing financial crisis in France thereby increasing the criticism of the government by the French people 2. By exposing the soldiers to democratic ideas of equality and liberty and this in turn made them revolutionary when they returned home in France (Lafayette)

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