The Effects of Karl Marxs Communist Manifesto on Human Values Essay

The Effects of Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto on Human Values What was it like living in the times before the Communist Manifesto was introduced to society? What kind of affect did this document have on the values of the average family? How did it influence the values of the individual? Sometimes these values where affected in a way that does not come directly from the release of the Manifesto but instead vicariously through other events brought on by the document. Overall, an interesting topic to look at is what it meant to be human in the 1840’s. France is representative of European nations at that time. Through France, the effects of the Communist Manifesto on human values are evident. In order to understand how people lived before the year 1848, in which Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto, it is important to know a little about the history of France. In the years of the French Revolution, the citizens began to think differently about their lives and the quality of them. They started to look at other countries, America for example, and saw how people there seemed to have more rights and freedoms then those in France. The people decided that they deserved better and became interested in the ideas of â€Å"liberty and equality, of popular sovereignty and national self-determination, social mobility, mass literacy, and citizen armies.†1 These ideas were revolutionary to the people living in France at that time. The values of the human people in France changed mainly because they found themselves thinking that they deserved more in terms of respect from the government, better education, and equality amongst themselves. Revolts by the common people in the year 1848 showed how the people viewed themselves and t... ...eliefs in how this situation could be improved. Although the effects did not happen right away, some people realized, after reading this document, that this might be a good way to improve their lives and their human values. Notes Guy S. Metraux and Francois Crouzet, The Nineteenth Century World (New York: The American Library, 1963), 44. Ashley, Roscoe Lewis, Modern European Civilization (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922), 271. Ashley, 271. Study Guide For the Communist Manifesto, 23, October 2001, www.wsu.edu:8080/~brains/hum_303/manifesto.html. Study Guide, 23, October 2001.Study Guide, 23, October 2001. Study Guide, 23, October 2001. Study Guide, 23, October 2001. Study Guide, 23, October 2001. Ashley, 259. Ashley, 259. Ashley, 259. Ashley, 260. Ashley, 260. Ashley, 260. Ashley, 261.