History Western Civilization 2: Lesson 70 Essay- (1) “How does Friederich Gentz distinguish between the American and French Revoltuions? Do you see the influence of Edmund Burke in his thinking?” (2) “What points is Mary Wollstonecraft making in the excerpts you read from the beginning of ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’? What would she like to see changed in European society?”

Friedrich Gentz thought the American Revolution was calmer and more reasonable than the French Revolution, because the Americans did not want to radically remake society. The Americans were not trying to restructure society, they just wanted to stick to the English Constitution. The Americans wanted to exercise the traditional English right of local self-government, without interference from the central English government. The Americans wanted to be traditional, but the English government wanted to create new rules for the colonists. The colonists were deeply conservative. Gentz said the American Revolution was defensive, because the British were the ones aggressing against the Americans. Gentz said the French Revolution was offensive, because the French were coming up with new ideas that they wanted to use to completely change their society. Gentz used the example of when the Third Estate formed the National Assembly so that it could pass laws on its own. When the Third Estate became its own entity, it did not have the traditional right to secede and pass its own laws for the whole country, but the Third Estate did it anyways. Gentz also described the French Revolution as offensive, because the revolutionaries waged war on the Church, which was the most traditional institution in French society. Gentz said the American Revolution was less irrational and less violent than the French Revolution, because the colonists had a limited goal of restoring their rights that were compromised by the central English government. The French Revolution was offensive, because they continued to create new goals to break away from tradition. Friedrich Gentz was definitely influenced by Edmund Burke, because they both believed that society couldn’t be completely changed and restructured based on reason alone.

In the excerpts I read from “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, Mary Wollstonecraft said that men and women needed to have the same education. Mary believed that men and women should take very similar curriculums. She believed women needed to get better educations, so that they could have healthier relationships with men. In the excerpts, Mary said that a good relationship between a man and a woman with is one where there is mutual respect. She said that since women have been deprived of equal education opportunities, feminine qualities have been associated with interests in trivial things, such as clothing, gossip, and style. She believed that most European women should focus on being good mothers, but that they should be capable of supporting themselves. She also believed that European governments should fund equal education opportunities for men and women.

History Western Civilization 2: Lesson 65 Essay- (1) “What happened (involving the Third Estate) during the meeting of the Estates General that set the French Revolution in motion?” (2) “What was the situation of the Church in France after Napoleon came to power?”

The Third Estate demanded that voting in the Estates General took place by head. In the past, the voting was done through delegates. The Third Estate wanted the total of all of the individuals’ votes not the total of the Estates’ votes. The Third Estate also demanded for their votes per head to be doubled, since the other two Estates almost always voted against them. The Third Estate left the Estates General and formed the National Assembly, so that they could make their own laws for France. The Third Estate or National Assembly eventually merged with the other Estates and set out to draft a constitution.

Napoleon wanted to establish a normal relationship with the Church. Napoleon believed that his plans inside and outside of France would not be successful if the Church was his enemy. Napoleon realized that most French people were Catholic, so the people would be upset if Napoleon made the Church his enemy. Napoleon got rid of the newer calendar and brought back the traditional Christian calendar. Napoleon made a deal with Pope Pius VII to bring back Catholicism, but Napoleon wanted to control the Catholic Church officials in France. After the deal, the Catholic Churches in France were re-opened.