Women throughout history have often been ignored and pushed away from participating in new movements in Europe, given the role of housewives and little more. Throughout the scientific revolution, women were excluded from things such as scientific academies and scientific conversations. Despite this, said women continued to push and learn further past those boundaries. Women such as Maria Sibylla Merian withdrew from society to further research her causes.
As the scientific revolution came to a close, it opened the door for what was later known as the enlightenment, a movement of intellectuals who advocated for the use of reason, natural law, hope, and progress. Enlightenment thinkers such as Mary Astell, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Marie-Thérèse de Geoffrin pushed against social norms to be participants in the Enlightenment by writing about, speaking about, and standing for what they believed in, much like the female thinkers of the scientific revolution before them. Despite their work and dedication, these women were still the discussion of criticism from men such as Jean-Jaques Rousseau, who believed many things along with the idea that male and female roles could never overlap, as well as things such as the Querelles des femmes which attempted to prove that women were inherently inferior to men simply based on anatomy.
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Political standings before the Glorious and French revolutions were rooted in absolutism. In Britain, King James II ruled with absolute power and tried to take away power from Parliament. He elevated Catholics to high standings in government and focused his efforts on the Catholic Church to separate himself from parliament further. In France, King Louis XVI was following Absolutism. He ruled based on heredity and did not listen to his people when they were starving, and instead spent his riches on himself and his wife. Both kings only cared about the upper-class nobility and ignored the lower classes, who were the majority of the population. This sparked the need for a revolution in both places. \n
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The Glorious Revolution and the French Revolution were both consequences of similar governing styles and led to their own political consequences to varying extents. The French Revolution led to the creation of multiple French Constitutions and Napoleon’s civil code. In contrast, the Glorious Revolution led to the creation of the Bill of rights, there was a difference in violent activity, and the Glorious Revolution ended with two monarchs. In contrast, the French Revolution led to one.
Bill of rights vs Napoleonic code and french constitutions
Violent activity differences
Number of monarchs (how they ruled compared to the other)
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The French Revolution wanted a government by the people, for the people. This was seen in the motto, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” The revolution focused on the individualism of every person. One of the main goals of the revolution was for the lower classes to have a say in government. They did not have the same value as upper-class citizens and could not express themselves the same way. The Old Regime was abolished during the French Revolution. This made people equal and took away the estates.
When Napoleon came to power he adhered to the enlightened ideals when it benefitted him. When it was good for him. He made the lycée system his civil code adhered to equality among men, and was tolerant of religions. When being enlightened hindered his power the Coup d’etat happened, he reinstituted slavery, and
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