The French Revolution (1789-99) was rooted in the ideals of the Enlightenment and historically was far more consequential than the American Revolution. The French Revolution sowed the seeds of liberty and the empowerment of man through enlightened humanism throughout Europe and later, the entire world. The modern secular state was born out of the French Revolution. In many ways the world is still coming to grips with the changes wrought by the French Revolution. Modern independence movements often refer to the great intellectuals and revolutionaries of the French Revolution as inspiration. The French Revolution ended with the ascendance of Napoleon as emperor, which represented a failure of the revolution in the short term. But the forces unleashed by its bloody tide of revolutionary violence could not be quelled and in the long run the French Revolution succeeded in creating a modern, secular, humanist society that is based upon the fundamental enlightenment expression of humanity that was the rallying cry for the revolution, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”.