Warm Up
1. From prior knowledge compare and contrast
the French and American revolutions:
people, impact, cause, end result
CH 21: REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES IN
THE ATLANTIC WORLD, 1750- 1850
• I. Prelude to Revolution: The 18th century crises
– A. Colonial Wars and Fiscal Crisis
– European countries in the 1600s are competing
over possessions in the Americas
– Seven Years War –French are defeated by British
and are forced to give colonial possessions in the
Americas and in India
– Cost of War in Europe forces governments to try
to find new sources of revenue and the people are
upset
– Ideas from the Enlightenment fuel some people to
question and protest the new collections of
revenue
• http://www.videopediaworld.com/video/1086
4/Revolution-Warships-and-the-Seven-YearsWar
– B. Enlightenment and the Old Order
– John Locke view of government: governments
were created to protect the people emphasizing
the importance of individual rights
– Jean Jacques Rousseau: will of the people was
sacred, people should have a say on how
government is run
– Nobility view on enlightenment ideas: some
nobility thrived on enlightenment
– Using enlightenment ideas to reform government,
legal systems, taxes, and economies (Catherine
the Great of Russia, Frederick the Great of Prussia)
– C. Folk Cultures and Popular Protest
– Most people do not share the Enlightenment
ideas and stay loyal to rulers
– Monarchs during the 18th century try to increase
and centralize power by collection of tax
• II. American Revolution
– A. Frontiers and Taxes
– 2 problems British face in the colonies:
– danger of war with the Amerindians as colonist
continue to push westward
– money try to raise taxes on colonist
– One way to raise taxes—Stamp Act of 1765
– 1765 – Stamp Act = colonists had to pay taxes on
newspapers, legal documents, all other public
papers
•
•
Maker: Benjamin Wilson
Date: March 18, 1766
• One of the most famous and popular of the political satires commenting
on the Stamp Act, this print actually celebrates the end of the tax. An
instant success, the print became one of the most copied satirical prints of
the period.
• The print depicts a funeral procession composed of supporters of the act
carrying a small coffin containing the remains of the bill toward an open
vault. The vault has been prepared for the burial of all unjust acts that
would alienate Englishmen. Leading the procession and preparing to
deliver the funeral eulogy is the Reverend W. Scott, who is followed by the
mourners: Grenville (carrying the coffin), Bute, Bedford, and Temple, some
of the same Englishmen who were responsible for passing the act.
• By setting the action on a dock, Wilson is able to show the large unshipped
cargoes destined for America that accumulated during the period when
the act was in force. Ships labeled "Conway," "Rockingham," and "Grafton"
that represent the Parliamentary leaders responsible for the repeal of the
bill now stand ready to carry the goods to America. Stamps just returned
from America are also stacked on the wharf.
• "This is the place to
affix the stamp"
During the Stamp
Act crisis of 1765
one American
newspaper
proposed, with
biting humor, that
the hated British
stamps take the
form of the skull
and crossbones.
• “No Taxation Without Representation!”
– The British government decided it should stop
demanding the use of special stamps and
cancelled the law in February 1766.
• The colonists wanted a say in Parliament
– Colonists called for a boycott of British goods,
which led Parliament to repeal the act
– The next year Britain placed new taxes on glass,
paper, paints, and tea leading to the Boston
Massacre of 1770
– This led to merchants in Boston calling for a new
boycott and the British sent troops to keep order
• Boston Massacre – British shoot and kill five
men
• Boston Massacre
March 5, 1770
Tensions between the American colonists and the
British were already running high in the early spring
of 1770. Late in the afternoon, on March 5, a crowd
of jeering Bostonians slinging snowballs gathered
around a small group of British soldiers guarding the
Boston Customs House. The soldiers became enraged
after one of them had been hit, and they fired into
the crowd, even though they were under orders not
to fire. The soldiers shot into a crowd of civilians
killing three and injuring eight others, two of them
mortally.
– East India Company had a monopoly on tea to the
colonies
– British response to the Boston tea party: closed
the port of Boston
– B. The Course of a Revolution
– First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in
1774 to list their grievances against Britain
– Continental Congress: printed currency and
organized an army
– British controlled cities but not the countryside
– French aided the colonist in 1778 including naval
support
– Treaty of Paris ended war in 1783 giving
independence to colonies
– C. Construction of Republic
– Articles of Confederation served as a constitution
for the US
– 1787 Constitutional Convention wrote new
constitution
– Impact of new constitution: established a
democratic government giving only a small
population of adult males votes and protected
slavery
• III. French Revolution
– A. French Society and Fiscal Crisis
– Three estates in French society:
– First Estate = Catholic clergy
• Made up 1% of the population, owned 10% of
the land, and paid no taxes
– Second Estate = nobility
• Made up 2% of the population, owned 35% of
the land, paid some fees, but no taxes
• Got the best positions in gov’t and military
– Third Estate = peasants, bourgeoisie (middle class)
• Made up 97% of the population, paid all the
taxes
– Wars in the 1700s (Seven Years War) drove France
into debt and new taxes had to be enacted
– B. Protest Turns to Revolution
– Estates General meets to raise taxes
– Third Estates establishes National Assembly
setting up their own government
– 3rd estate believes this is only way to have a say
– C. Terror
– 1792 King Louis and Queen Marie Antoinette
attempt to flee
– Louis is executed and Robespierre comes to power
– Committee of Public Safety served as his power:
establishing laws and serving the national defense
– The National Convention votes, arrests, and
executes Robespierre
– D. Reaction and Rise of Napoleon
– After Robespierre’s death the Directory is
established
– Directory is reactionary but too weak
– The military of France takes control led by
Napoleon Bonaparte
– No single nation could defeat Napoleon
– 1812 war with Russia failed; in response European
nations collectively attacked France
– 1814 Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in
Belgium
Napoleon’s Empire
Duke of Wellington
• Irish soldier who
fought for the
British army
• Real name was
Arthur Wellesley
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF4lPWU_qxY&fe
ature=related
• IV. Revolution Spreads
– A. Haitian Revolution
– French colony of Saint Domingue is based on
brutal slave treatment
– Tossaint L’Ouverture takes colony in 1794
– B. Congress of Vienna
– 1814-1815 European representatives met in
Vienna to bring back order in Europe
– Congress would reestablish and safeguard the
conservative order of Europe
– Impact of the Congress of Vienna: restored French
monarchy, redrew boundaries of Europe
• Toussaint Louverture tried to rebuild the collapsed economy
of Haiti and reestablish commercial contacts with the United
States and Great Britain. His rule permitted the colony a taste
of freedom which, after his death in exile, was gradually
destroyed during the successive reigns of a series of despots.
• abolished slavery, and secured native control over the colony
in 1797 while nominally governor of the colony. He expelled
the French commissioner Léger-Félicité Sonthonax, as well as
the British armies; invaded Santo Domingo to free the slaves
there; and wrote a constitution naming himself governor-forlife that established a new polity for the colony.
– Impact of Congress of Vienna:
– Principle of Legitimacy = monarchs or families
who had been in power prior to Napoleon and the
French Revolution were restored to power
– Principle of Intervention = the great powers had
the right to send armies into countries where
there were revolutions in order to put down the
revolution and restore legitimate monarchs
– C. Nationalism and Reform
– Sense of identity and unity as a people
– People owe loyalty to nation rather than dynasties
or political units
– Each nationality should have its own gov’t
– Was seen as a threat to the existing political order
and was strongly opposed by conservatives
– Countries are now uniting and giving people more
privileges
– Self determination and democratic reforms led to
revolutions in 1848.
• V. Comparative Perspectives
– American Revolution
• Taxation led to colonies to fight for independence
• American government reflect Enlightenment ideals
– French Revolution
• Revolutions in France were more radical and more
violent
• Revolutions in France led to Haitian Revolution
• Chaos led to the rise of Napoleon
– Aftermath
• Nationalism and Liberalism arise out of revolutions
• New social classes arise demanding a new political
order