american revolution
The moon is but a pale reflection of the brilliance of the sun. It is an imitation, if you will, of light. In the one, there is no spark, no true life; in the other, of course, is the stuff which fuels a solar system; one is cold and lifeless and often dark; the other, seethes and burns and illuminates. So it also is with the French and American Revolutions!
La Fayette, like Prometheus, attempted to enlighten, to uplift, men. The Marquis was an enlightened man, for he had been in America, read the words of Jefferson, seen the ideas given life. He had been close to George Washington, that “colossus” of the American Revolution. La Fayette had shed blood to help establish the principles of freedom and liberty in the New World. He tried, then, to do the same in his own country. What went wrong in France?
After all, many French officers and soldiers had spent time in America during the war (17778-1783); the ideas expressed by La Fayette were familiar ones by 1789: all men have inalienable rights; the government exists to serve the people by protecting those rights; the “guarantee of rights” is the cornerstone of any legitimate government; etc. Voltaire and Montesquieu, as well as others, had been French thinkers. So, what did go wrong?
True, the French had a king, but their king was overthrown and executed early on. True, French society was stratified, but so had been American. In America, the idea of all men being created equal meant, perhaps, something different than it did in France. In our eyes, creation did not mean birth – no two people truly are equal at birth (some are wealthier; some are sicklier…). La Fayette wrote that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights….” Is the difference between this and what Jefferson wrote where we will find the cause of failure in France? Or, is there something else?
As events unfolded in France, Robespierre, Marat, Danton and Napoleon, in their turn, took center stage. Each, in his own way, added something to the Revolution, pulling it further from its goals. Each of them, when offered Power, stepped forth and said, “Yes.” Here, it would seem, we find something profound. Ideas must be wielded carefully, with great concern for the future. Humility must temper the actions of men; pride will lead to tyranny. Thus, France had the Terror, the Directorate, the Empire.
In America, there was no Napoleon, no St. Just, and no Marat. Rather, there was a man who, when offered the reins of power, when given accolades, when lifted above the heads of his compatriots, said, simply, “No.”
George Washington, then, provided the fledgling United States a chance, a chance to put into real practice the ideas set down by Jefferson. Washington said no when his soldiers asked him to thwart the will of Congress. He said no at Newburgh. He said no when it was proposed he be made King, or at least Executive for life. He said no, then, to Temptation. And, with that one word, George Washington separated our revolution from every other in the history of Mankind.
