(i) Lafayette who participated in the American war of Independence came back with democratic ideals and played an active role in the French revolution.
(ii) During the French revolution he served as the Commander in Chief of French National guards.

CLERGY:
(i) Men and Women ordained for religious duties.
(ii) The clergy, despite being a minority occupied a prominent position in France.
(iii) They were exempted from taxation.
(iv) They collected tithe (one tenth of annual produce or earnings) from the common people.
THE NOBLES:
(i) Wealthy land owners.
(ii) Enjoying feudal rights.
(iii) Exemption from taxation.
(iv) They collected feudal dues from the peasants.
(v) The Nobles enjoyed hunting rights.
THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE PEASANTS:
(i) The peasants paid taxes to the state such as taille (land tax) gabelle (Salt tax).
(ii) Burdened by the demands of the state, nobility and clergy the peasants were in despair at the prospect of dying of starvation.

(i) In 1792 the revolutionary commune of Paris enforced Martial law and ordered an attack on the king's palace.
(ii) The king ordered shooting by his Swiss guards.
(iii) The people of Paris angered by the action of the Swiss guards in shooting and killing hunted down the supporters of monarchy under their leader Marat.
(iv) In three days, from September 2 about 1500 suspected dissidents were put in prison.
(v) After a trial, they were killed and this incident is called "September Massacres".

(i) The British Parliament repeated the Townshend Acts. But it retained the tax on tea.
(ii) This harmed the local tea trade and so it was decided to boycott this tea. In many places the colonists obstructed the import of tea.
(iii) In NewYork and Philadelphia ships carrying tea were blocked.
(iv) In December 1773, a group of men disguised themselves as Native Americans boarded the Cargo vessels and threw the tea overboard which was hailed as the Boston Tea party.
(v) It was a challenge which led to war between the rebellious colonies and England.

(i) Reformers who led a religious movement to reform the church of England dispensing with the teachings and practice of Roman Catholic Church were known as puritans.
(ii) The Stuart kings James I and Charles I did not tolerate their attempts to reform the Church of England.
(iii) The persecution of Puritans prompted many to leave England and settle in the colonies.

(i) The French Revolution had may lasting results.
(ii) It marked the end of the system of absolute monarchy in France.
(iii) All feudal privileges were abolished and the power of clergy was curbed.
(iv) The Revolution united the people of different sections and paved the way for the enhanced power of the state.
(v) It also led to the growth of feelings of nationalism and the emergence of an assertive middle class.
(vi) Revolution up held the theory of people's sovereignty and laid the foundation for the birth of liberal constitutional governments in Europe.
(vii) Liberty, equality, and fraternity became the watchwords of freedom loving people all over the world.
(viii) It inspired many later day political movements for the establishment of liberal democracy in Europe and elsewhere.

(i) For the first time a colonial power was overthrown by the colonies, leading to the establishment of a republican government in the United States.
(ii) The Declaration of Independence of 1776 stated that, "all men are born equal." But in reality America had to fight a bitter civil war in the succeeding century to abolish slavery.
(iii) By 1777 nearly all the colonies had a written constitution. These constitutions protected individual rights, freedom of press and freedom of religion. The church and the state were separated
(iv) The intellectuals of the time believed that the republican state was the only political structure in which individuals could preserve their basic freedom including property and political rights.
(v) The conception of people's right to a government of their choice encouraged the Latin American revolutionaries to strive for the overthrow of the Spanish empire in South America.
(vi) Mirabeau quoted the Declaration of Independence with enthusiasm during the French Revolution.
(vii) Lafayette, who fought the British on Washington's side through to the conclusive battle at Yorktown in 1781, later during the French Revolution served the French National Guard as its Commander

(i) Initially the colonies did not begin fighting for the sake of independence. Their grievances were taxation and restrictions on trade.
(ii) George Washington was the Commender-in-Chief of the colonies and their battle cry was 'No Taxation without Representation'.
(iii) On 5 September 1774, the first Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. The Congress adopted a Declaration of American Rights.
(iv) The Battle of Bunker Hill signaled the outbreak of the American war of Independence.
(v) The second Continental Congress met on 10 May 1775 at Philadelphia. It organised the army gathered around Boston as the continental army and placed it under the command of George Washington.
(vi) As the war progressed, the Continental Congress assumed the functions of government. A committee was formed to explore the possibility of foreign aid.
(vii) On 17 June 1775 the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first major battle was fought in Massachusetts. Soon the British forces retreated from Boston.
(viii) On June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moved a resolution for independence.
(ix) After much debate the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted by the Congress on July 4, 1776. This day is celebrated by the Americans as Independence Day.

There were many notable thinkers and writers in France in the eighteenth century. The important among them were
1. Voltaire
2. Jean Jacques Rousseau
3. Monstesquieu
VOLTAIRE:
(i) He was the most famous writer of the time on rationalistic and scientific subjects.
(ii) He criticised the church in his writings.
(iii) His famous work was 'Candide'.
(iv) He is said to have once exclaimed "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU:
(i) Another, great writer a contemporary of Voltaire but younger than him.
(ii) His political theory set the minds of many afire with new ideas and new resolves.
(iii) His ideas played an important part in preparing the people of France for the great revolution.
(iv) He famously said in his book Social contract "Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains".
(v) He argued that the laws are binding only when they are supported by the general will of the people.
MONTESQUIEU:
(i) Montesquieu who wrote, 'The personal letters' and 'The spirit of the laws' also defended liberty.
(ii) He put forward the theory of separation of powers.
(iii) The liberty of the individual would be best protected only in a government where the powers of its three organs, viz, legislature, executive and judiciary were separate.
(iv) It would put in place the necessary checks and balances to prevent any one organ from assuming more Power to itself.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA:
(i) An encyclopaedia also came out in Paris about this time and this was full of articles Diderat by and Jean di Alembert.
(ii) These philosophers and thinkers opposed religious intolerance and political and social privileges. They succeeded in provoking large numbers of ordinary people to think and act.

(i) The Seven years war of 1756 - 63 between Britain and France had center on the control of colonies especially in North America.
(ii) Britain defeated France and took control of Canada.
(iii) But the war cost the English heavily.
(iv The British ministers proposed that the American colonists pay some of the cost of the war.
(v) So a series of taxes were imposed on the colonists.

(vi) The American colonists protested against all the above taxes.
(vii) The British Parliament did not give representation to the colonists.
(viii) The colonies did not begin fighting for the sake of independence.
(ix) Their grievances were taxation and restrictions on trade.
(x) They challenged the right of the British parliament to tax them against their will.
(xi) George Washington became the commander-in-cheif of the colonists army.
(xii) "No taxation without representation" was their famous battle cry.