10th June 2026
Our final lecture of 2025-26 began with a friendly drink for members, guests and local students. Mary gave some details of next year’s programme and we had a strong audience of 107 in the beautiful Reception Room at the Wills Building.
Professor Doyle began by explaining how much the word ‘revolution’ had itself changed its meaning after 1789 from a political change to something much more profound. According to Robespierre ‘The French Revolution is the first to have been founded on the theory of the rights of humanity, and on the principles of justice’ So was the American Revolution about home rule, or who should rule at home? However, the statement of the American Declaration of Independence suggested a similar profound change. The Founding Fathers statement that they ‘that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ predated the French revolution by over a decade.
Professor Doyle traced the new American State’s relationship with France. We learnt how the French foreign secretary (Vergennes) sought to humiliate England by supporting the Americans in the War of Independence which put a great strain on the French economy. Meanwhile Benjamin Franklin, America’s first Ambassador in Paris (1778-85) , charmed and cultivated French Society and his successor Jefferson continued the propaganda since the French ‘know nothing about us here.’ This America Mania unsettled French politics and ultimately wrecked the French economy while bringing few benefits in terms of trade. Its military intervention cost France around three times its annual tax revenue. The financial crisis led the Ancien Regime to bankruptcy in 1788 and forced the government to call the Estates General in 1789 which led to the Revolution!
So if the French Government’s support for the American Revolutionaries had had unintended consequences for the French State, what about the influences of American Revolution on the French Revolution? In Tom Paine’s view ‘That the principles of America opened the Bastille …[was] not to be doubted.’ Key similarities were the emphasis on Liberty and Equality, no taxation without representation and the need for a written constitution with checks and balances. The French Declaration of Rights devised by Lafayette was advised on by Thomas Jefferson.
But there were also key differences. While America was a republic from the start France initially tried to reform its monarchy and only became a republic after three years of revolution. But in many ways the French thought Americans timid and conservative. The most significant difference is that America had no Terror and religion was never attacked. While Tom Paine praised the French Revolution a more typical supporter of America’s Revolution Edmund Burke was horrified by the chaos and bloodshed of the Terror.
In the 1790s these two revolutionary powers began to diverge. While France abolished slavery in 1794 America avoided the issue for almost 70 years longer. America now welcomed émigrés, with their horror stories of the Terror. French ambassadors attempted to interfere in American politics. Tom Paine the author of The Age of Reason (1796) who had supported both revolutions were now ostracised in America. The Americans tagged a Bill of Rights on to their constitution when it was finally written. However, the American Revolutionary government soon reestablished their relationship with Britain in 1796.
With so much food for thought we had an excellent set of questions and answers from our audience and Professor Doyle. Many of the audience were already asking how to renew their membership or join before the meeting had ended.
