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Description:

It was the best of questions, it was the worst of questions.... Well, you can decide how you feel about it. Check out this question about the French Revolution, si vous plait. 

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the worst of times -

00:07

7:15 A.M.

00:09

Yeah, that.

00:10

All right, check out this excerpt.

00:11

[ mumbles ]

00:14

[ mumbling continues ]

00:17

All right, and now the question.

00:19

Despite Washington's advice in this letter and elsewhere,

00:23

the French Revolution in 1789

00:25

had what affect on the American political landscape?

00:28

Hmm.

00:29

And here are your potential answers.

00:31

[ mumbles ]

00:33

[ mumbling continues ]

00:35

Ah, the French Revolution.

00:37

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

00:40

But mostly the worst of times.

00:42

All that chaos and violence across the sea was

00:44

bound to have an affect on the early American republic.

00:46

But what exactly was it?

00:48

Well, let's check out our potential answers.

00:50

Did the French Revolution A -

00:52

lead to a military alliance

00:54

between France and the United States?

00:56

Well, that'd make sense given that the French swooped in

00:58

to save the Americans at the end of their own revolution,

01:00

but remember Washington's letter.

01:02

He was advocating neutrality.

01:04

And that's what happened. Sorry, Frenchy.

01:07

Did the French Revolution B - strengthen relations

01:09

between the United States and Great Britain?

01:11

Well, the French were overthrowing their monarchy,

01:14

which in many ways was a direct challenge

01:16

to the English crown, as well.

01:18

The Americans just went through their own revolution

01:20

against the British, so they certainly wouldn't

01:22

grow closer to them right now.

01:24

And since the Spanish were aligned with the British,

01:26

well, we can eliminate D, as well.

01:28

So that means the French Revolution C -

01:30

exacerbated political differences

01:32

in the United States.

01:34

At first, most of the general public

01:35

supported France's revolution because of the whole "we hate kings" thing.

01:39

But as the Revolution persisted,

01:41

it led to greater violence,

01:42

bloodshed, and radical arguments which frightened many Americans.

01:45

Generally, the Democratic-Republican party led by Thomas Jefferson

01:49

supported the French,

01:50

while the Federalist party led by Alexander Hamilton

01:53

wanted to maintain ties with the British.

01:55

And since both of those gentlemen were

01:57

the most vocal members of Washington's cabinet,

02:00

well, you can bet things got a little steamy.

02:03

So C is the right answer.

02:04

Looks like Thomas Jefferson caught something he couldn't shake

02:07

from living all those years in Paris.

02:09

[ chuckles ]

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