Three Main Effects of the Dual Revolutions
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Three Main Effects of the Dual Revolutions
The French Revolution of 1789 and the Industrial revolution were important milestones on the timeline of world history. Many changes, radically new ideas, and progressive thinkers emerged from these essential revolutions that sparked a metamorphosis of Europe. The creation of liberalism, conservatism, and the extension of railroad lines are the lasting products of the Dual Revolutions that will echo in eternity.
Liberalism is an important concept that was created during the French revolution in response to the maltreatment of the French government upon its people. A main concept of liberalism is to support change in society. We as human beings have the power to control our own destinies. Different circumstances call for different amounts of change. Sometimes the best course of action is to implement a large amount of change over a long period of time. Other times, in dire circumstances, the more radical approach of large change over a short period is needed to make a more drastic impact. Immediate abolition is sometimes the best choice.
Immediately following the start of the French Revolution the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham became a large activist in support of the liberal movement. He had an urge for positive social engineering and proposed sophisticated plans in helping convicted criminals be rehabilitated instead of executed. Bentham soon joined the antislavery campaign of England. His liberal views and the motivation of the masses lead the British House of Lords to abolish slavery in England and all of its colonies. By doing this, Britain showed the world they can be a liberal nation because they gave all their citizens natural rights and supported drastic change within their society (Hunt 716).
A very liberal governmental concept that has been embraced by many nations is Laissez-faire. The term laissez-faire is French for leave alone, referring to the government’s interference with trade. It has been the tradition of the government of many nations to implement a tax on imported goods called a tariff. Eventually the citizens of one of these countries will see a need for change and feel the need to break the chain of excessive taxation. Since 97% of the tax payers were in the poorest Estate during the 19th century, they had a lot of power to make big changes (class notes “Revolutions within the Revolution” 1/ 23/08). The British liberals did make big changes in 1846 when they forced, through the use of “organized mass demonstrations”, Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel to repeal a tariff on corn in England called the Corn Laws (Hunt 717)
In reaction to the liberals, conservatism was created. This was mainly in response to the horrific acts of “the terror” which some citizens blamed on the liberal concepts of the Enlightenment. (class notes “The Revolution and Napoleon”) Conservatives tend to oppose changes in society which, they argue, will only cause a breakdown in traditional beliefs, traditional morals, or traditional social structures. It is a basic premise of conservatism that whatever has worked well in the past should be assumed to be good enough to work just as well in the future, unless very compelling counter-arguments can be offered. Even so, changes which do take place should do so gradually and be an outgrowth of the natural order of things.
After the Napoleonic wars and Napoleon was removed from power, “his enemies met in the Congress of Vienna in 1814 to decide the fate of post revolutionary Europe
and hopefully restore their old regimes” (Hunt 700). Any classical conservative would agree that this Congress represents the basic definition of conservatism by attempting to
return the borders of European countries to the borders of those pre-revolutionary periods. With these borders returned, European nations would be less likely to start wars over the dividing lines of their countries. Conservatism finally saves Europe after a very liberal minded twenty-five year period.
Conservatism is ultimately based upon a generally negative and pessimistic view of