Atlantic Revolutions
1750-1914
The Promise of the Enlightenment
Contract government (John Locke)
• A political theory that views government as
stemming from the people, who agree to
surrender some personal freedom in return for a
government that guarantees protection of
citizens’ rights and property.
Laissez faire (Adam Smith)
• An economic theory that advocates freeing
economies from government intervention and
control.
The Promise of the Enlightenment
Salons
• were places where people discussed the
ideas of the Enlightenment, published in
the Encyclopedia (1751-1772)
Atlantic Revolutions
The North The French Haitian
American
Revolution Revolution
Revolution 1789–1815 1791-1804
1775–1787
Latin
American
Revolutions
1810-1825
Popular sovereignty
authority to govern comes from the people, not from
God or tradition.
North American Revolution
1775-1787
• A conservative political movement aimed
to preserve colonial liberties, rather than
gain new ones.
• Colonists regarded autonomy as their
birthright.
• Colonial society was more egalitarian than
Europe or Latin America.
• Revolted against “taxation without
representation.”
North American Revolution
1775-1787
• U.S. Constitution was
one of the first
documents that put
the ideas of the
Enlightenment into
practice.
French Revolution
1789-1815
• French government was bankrupt
• Unlike the American Revolution, it was
driven by social conflicts based on the
unfairness of the Old Regime
• Effort to create a new society during the
Reign of Terror.
• Napoleon Bonaparte spread the ideals of
the revolution through conquest.
Legacy of the French Revolution:
Birth of -isms
Nationalism Liberalism Conservatism Romanticism
Create a
nation-state
unified under
the rule of
law.
Create
centralized
nationstates ruled
under a
constitution
Maintain the
status-quo,
tradition,
continuity and
monarchies.
Glorified nature,
emotion, and
the imagination
in art and
philosophy.
Nationalism
Liberalism and Romanticism
Conservatism:
Prince Klemens von Metternich
Conservatism is a political
philosophy which embodies a
desire to prevent change. 19th
Century conservatives
believed in the power behind
absolute monarchy, the
aristocracy and the Church.
The conservatives of Europe
succeeded in creating an era
between 1815 and 1914
without war. They did so
through repression of
dissension and thought.
Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804
• Santo Domingue was a
French Caribbean colony.
• Regarded as the richest
colony in the world.
• Majority of the population
were slaves.
• Solidarity and suffering
made it ripe for
revolution.
Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804
• French Revolution inspired revolts and
demand for political equality.
• In1793, a proclamation granted slaves
freedom.
• In 1794, the French revolutionary
government declared blacks had rights
equal to whites.
• This created wide-spread rebellions
across the Caribbean and Latin America.
Haitian Revolution, 1791-1804
• Toussaint L’Overture
possessed strong military
skills and became the
leader in the Haitian
Revolution.
• Although he modeled
French ideals of freedom
and citizenship, he reenslaved many Haitians.
Latin
American
Revolutions
1810–1825
Mexican Revolution
1810-1821
• Father Miguel Hidalgo
opened a campaign
against colonial rule
in 1810 with the help
from the popular
classes, natives and
creoles.
• Augustin de Iturbide
created a
constitutional
monarchy in 1821.
Simon Bolivar
“Liberator”
• Took up arms,
leading military
campaigns , which
along with popular
uprisings, ousted
Spain from much of
Latin America.
• 1830 created the
Gran Colombia in
northern South
America.
Brazilian Independence
• Pedro I, son of
Portugal’s king,
declared Brazil
independent in 1822
and made himself
king.
• More peaceful
transition than the
rest of Latin America
with little change to
the social structure.
Latin American Revolutions
• Creoles were offended by the Spanish
monarchy’s efforts to control them in the
eighteenth century.
• Latin American independence movements
were limited at first because there was
little tradition of local self-government.
• Society was authoritarian, with class
divisions.
Latin American Revolutions
• Many leaders were liberals and their message
appealed to the lower classes.
• In reality, the indigenous people and slaves got
little benefit from independence.
• It was very difficult to unite various Spanish
colonies, unlike the United States.
• The United States grew more democratic and
wealthy while Latin American countries grew
more impoverished, undemocratic, and
unstable.
Global Impact
• Inspired efforts to abolish slavery, give
women greater rights, and extend
franchise in many countries
• Nationalism was shaped by revolutions
• Principles of equality eventually gave rise
to socialism and communism
Reflection Questions
• To what extent were revolutions the
product of misery, injustice, and
oppression?
• To what extent did they reflect the growing
weakness of established authorities, and
the arrival of new ideas?
• What was revolutionary about the Industrial
Revolution?
• What was common to the process of
industrialization everywhere, and in what ways
did that process vary from place to place?
• What did humankind gain from the Industrial
Revolution, and what did it lose?
• In what ways might the Industrial Revolution be
understood as a global rather than simply a
European phenomenon?