The American War of Independence

• for many classic liberals, the American Revolution was a perfect example of a broken contract between the ruled and the rulers

• it demonstrated that government could be challenged and raised ideas of freedom and political independence

• for many, it was an example of Locke’s social contract ideas working in practice, as the British government was no longer governing in the interests, or had the consent, of the American colonies

• for Tories, who supported monarchical and aristocratic rule, it was a terrifying challenge to their legitimacy as rulers

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION

French Revoltuion furthered the ideas that men are fundamentally equal with the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity

King of France made France, not the people