"horrified by the secularism of the French Revolution"

"most of the Founders, in contrast to Jefferson, were horrified by the secularism of the French Revolution, and did not see it as the successor to the American one" (go to 1:04:00)

There's an irresistible simplicity in saying that all of the late 1700s revolutions - America, France and Ireland - were in some way inspired by each other. On closer scrutiny that's not quite the case. Video below is a recent conference from the American Enterprise Institute.

 

In 1795, William Drennan wrote:

"...You will be told , that the people in the North of Ireland are deeply infected with what are called French principles ... I do believe them most obstinately attached to the principles of Locke, as put in practice at the (Glorious) revolution... ... the very same principles of Locke were illustrated in the plains of America..."