Although thousands of years apart the agricultural revolution and the French revolution are very much similar when it comes to social science.
The Stone Age, a primitive lifestyle long ago where ignorant nomads with long untamed beards dressed in animal fur would hunt with spears and women would devote themselves to childbirth and fruits gathering, right? Well, not precisely. The Stone Age was a period in the history of humanity that was defined by the sophistication and use of tools split into three different periods: Paleolithic (Upper and Lower), Mesolithic, and Neolithic.
The Lower Paleolithic period took place about 2,500,000 – 200,000 years ago with the earlier ancestors to Homo sapiens. In its last 40,000 years, the Paleolithic Upper period took place where humanity had developed tools made of bone, ivory, and antlers, along with simple wood instruments. Other objects were made of narrow stone blades and tools [1]. Scientists believe that the early use of language and cave artwork as a form of expression and passing on knowledge happened during this period [2]. After the last glaciation occurred and ended the Paleolithic period, the Mesolithic period began. It was characterized by gradually domesticizing plants and animals, which later became the core characteristics of the following period.
The Neolithic period, also known as the agricultural revolution, was the latest period of the Stone Age set 11,500-5,000 years ago [3] that transitioned societies from hunting and gathering societies -societies that depended on hunting animals and gathering fruits to survive- to agricultural societies that were able to domesticate animals and harvest crops to survive. This revolution led to the creation of cities and towns instead of temporary settlements, that would usually only be in certain eras for a few months as long as resources where available. It also led to the yielding of crops and subsequently law and coins as a form of money, a medium of exchange, instead of objects.
On the other hand, the French Revolution, an extreme overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy during the late 18th and 19th century, was led by the philosophy of the enlightened such as Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Montesquieu. This revolution was also majorly influenced by the lower classes of society, commoners, and peasants, after a series of fruitless harvests, regressive taxations, and raising resentment towards the aristocrats and the church by the public. The aftermath of this period led to the fundamental change in power by abolishing the aristocratic system and the separation of church and government, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. It embraced science after centuries of conflict with the church, which subsequently upheld the value of reasoning over belief and spiritual adherence.
So, what do they have in common?
The Stone Age and The French Revolution are prime examples of what a social revolution is and how it differentiates from social reforms. Social revolutions are defined by the fundamental change in social structure within a society, so much so that the people in it no longer feel connected to the change in government systems – a shift of power- due to the loss of its legitimacy to the people it governs. The shift in power, the restructuring of societies, and the sophistication of lifestyle are results of a fundamental change in thought as well, whether it was brought on by philosophers or the sheer need to survive. Economic changes can result in social revolutions as well, such as the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949 that led to a juristic change in the nature of society as well as the ownership of production means and distribution of wealth. Whereas social reforms “seek to change small parts of an existing system, but ultimately keep it in place” –Emily Cummins [4].
References
[2] https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/origin-humans-early-societies/a/paleolithic-culture-and-technology
[3] Khanacadmy.org, The Neolithic Revolution
[4] Study.com, the Agricultural Revolution: Timeline, Causes, Inventions & Effects.
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