Dear English Exile,

French aid ideologically & financially was vital in the victory of the Americans seeking independence from Britain. The spread of these ideologies inside France itself and  high debt France accumulated supporting  American Revolution was a major cause of the French Revolution in 1789.

You should note that there are several important dates in American revolutions.  The first one is the 1776, which is the date for declaration of independence.  Second, important date is 1781 when the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union is formally ratified by all 13 states. Finally the most important date was  May 1790  when the new Constitution was ratified by all thirteen states, with Rhode Island signing on last in May 1790.

Many of most influential American revolutionary figures such as Benjamin Franklin spend many years in France.  Benjamin Franklin, for example, served as the American ambassador to France from 1776 to 1783. He met with many leading diplomats, aristocrats, intellectuals, scientists and financiers. Franklin's image and writings caught the French imagination – there were many images of him sold on the market – and he became the image of the archetypal new American and even a hero for aspirations for a new order inside France.

So you see these two revolutions are interdependent.  However, most of ideological inspiration for American revolution comes from France's intellectuals.

Behnam wrote in #12
English Exile (unregistered) wrote in #7

How could French revolutionary ideas have spun off the revolution of British colonialists in British North America?
The American declaration of independence was made by British colonials in British North America in 1776, some 11 years before the French revolution broke out in 1787.
------- ----------------Dear English Exile,
First, I would like to point out to two big wars we fought against Kingdom of Britain because we had irreconcilable differences with British:

1.  The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)  began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, but gradually grew into a world war 0 between Britain on one side and the newly formed United States, France, Netherlands and Spain on the other. The main result was an American victory.

2.  The War of 1812 between the United States and the British Empire.  This war lasted about 32 month and in August 1814 British captured and burnt Washington, D.C.

Now compare that with Sept 11, 2001 (911). 
Here is a passage from our declaration of independence in USA :
“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”
Just change the “King of Great Britain” with “King Louis XVI” and you see little difference between American and French Revolution.
If you are interested in learning about these wars, do a on line search on “The American Revolutionary War” and “War of 1812”.  Also, you really should read declaration of independence.
The French revolution happened 11 years after the declaration of independence made by 13 British North American colonies. How, therefore, could "the ideas born from the French revolution" have "inspired the American revolution"?
Furt hermore, if the citizens of the United States were so enamoured with the idea of independence, why, in 1812, less than 40 years after the US declaration of independence and under the presidency of James Madison, did the USA three times attempt to invade Canada, an independent territory, in order to annex it to the USA?

westpreuße (unregistered) wrote in #8

It is not the ideas born from the French revolution that inspired the American revolution. Both the French and the American revolution were inspired by Enlightenment ideas from the 16th and 17th centuries. They have similar origins.It is basically these ideas and their offshoots that still drive the revolution. Ideas such as racial equality, cultural relativism, gender mainstreaming, promotion of homosexuality, pro-abortion activism, etc. are based upon Enlightenment values of individualism, anti-traditionalism and equality.
--- -------------------- -------- Dear westpreuße,
The origion of your idea goes back to the Greek philosophers and in partcular to Plato, and his division of society into three classes.  According to Plato, a state will decline from an aristocracy (rule by the best) to a timocracy (rule by the honorable), then to an oligarchy (rule by the few), then to a democracy (rule by the people), and finally to tyranny (rule by one person, rule by a tyrant).

The problem is who determines who is the best, and more fundamentally what is good? 

The French revolution asserts that people should choose what is good, not a king or Santa Clause.

Never the less, you can find good discussion on this in Jean-Jacques Rousse au's book “The Social contract” and Federalist Papers (#10) about Tyranny of the majority.