An Overview of a Revolution in Animal Farm, Declaration of Independence and the Anatomy of a Revolution

In a revolution there are multiple important questions to ask to explain what they are. These questions can be poised as What is a Revolution and why do they occur, How do the Governments obtain and maintain power, and what are common pitfalls do revolutions experience. These questions can be found in the “Declaration of Independence" by Thomas Jefferson, "The Anatomy of a Revolution" by Crane B, and in Animal Farm by George Orwell.

The first question asked is What is a Revolution and why do they occur. It occurs from the unrest of an oppressed group of people or a group of people who feel there is a unequal divide of power. This is the cause of almost all revolutions. Most of the things that happen pre-revolution are gatherings of people who are unrested who need justice. But it can be a small group, a large one or a group of animals. This is what happened in Animal Farm, the group of animals were oppressed by the upper powers such as the government. The government or rulers are almost always a small minority that speaks for a large majority of the population. This how the animals in animal farm were under rule. This is also how it was in the American revolution Britain would make decisions based on what they wanted not what the Americans needed.

The second question is how do governments obtain and maintain power, they simply do this thing. A majority of the governments that take over after a revolution use multiple fear tactics and propaganda to maintain the power they need. This happened in Animal Farm when Snowball was overthrown and replaced by Napoleon who ruled by oppression and fear. He used propaganda as his main weapon to keep the other farm animals on his side, multiple times he used Snowball as a place for all the holes in his rule. He used his power to the fullest and is a good example of someone who took over and abused what power they had after a broken period of time. In a revolution and after the people are mostly confused and are willing to take most chances to get structure back. This happened in the Russian revolution they took what ever structure they could get and were happy with it.

In the American revolution the newly found us government was formed after the goal was met. It was able to stay stable with a new set of laws and a foundation that was stable. This was shown in the Declaration of Independence where they make laws directly relevant to the british, with this it was easy for them to get a better strat at change. Unlike in the Russian revolution or in animal farm. The change that was brought to them seemed to be good in the moment but the propaganda the Officials used really helped to make it seem as if the thing happened yes.

Lastly the third question is, What are common pitfalls in a revolution. There are multiple pitfalls in a revolution many of these can be seen in multiple revolutions. Such as in the Haitian Revolution when they initially had a rough time when Toussaint Louverture was taken away by the French government. that was a major pitfall in the revolution and afterwards they soon reverted back into slavery. Since Haiti was a French colony where they had slaves grow sugar. A similar thing happened in Animal farm Snowball was chased away to only to be replaced with a harsher rule on Napoleon's part. This shows a common pitfall is the main ruler being chased away or changed. This always brings a damper in the revolution and the movement. Since of course without the correct leader the revolution and its efforts will fall flat. Even though it did put a halt on the Revolution in animal farm the Haitian revolution insisted and in a little while they were able to claim freedom from France.

To conclude, in a revolution there are multiple steps that can be broken down into the three important questions. These questions are important to understanding what goes on in certain parts of revolution. Also how all this is able to tie into not just the real world but also in literature.

Cite this page