The American revolution was a succession, and not a revolution in the sense that it wasn't an attempt to overthrow the British crown. It turned out remarkably well compared to most others though, although I'm being noisily reminded of its shortcomings on a dreary, daily basis.

In general, meet the new boss -- same as the old boss, and for the most part, upheavals swap one ruling class for another. The children of the revolutionaries become the new privileged ruling elite. This is as inevitable as bureaucracy, regardless of whatever glowing utopian rhetoric the activists had used to mobilize the masses for the revolution.