Regardless, I'd argue that the French Revolution was ultimately far more revolutionary than its American counterpart. I mean, in some ways America never had an aristocracy, but in other ways it continued to have one. The French Enlightenment thinker Diderot felt that Americans should fear a too unequal division of wealth, resulting in a small number of opulent citizens and a multitude of citizens living in misery. And the American Revolution did nothing to change that polarization of wealth. What made the French Revolution so radical was its insistence upon the universality of its ideals. I mean, look at Article 6 of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. Law is the expression of the general will.