Chapter 21: Revolutionary Changes in the Atlantic World, 1750-1850
Prelude to Revolution: The 18th Century Crisis
Colonial Wars & Fiscal Crises
 The Cost of War
Cost of maintaining defense of colonies = expensive
War debts strap European powers
The Enlightenment and the old order
 Enlightenment – scientific revolution meets politics & religion
 Intellectual Challenge to Old Order – hereditary rulers & the church
Hobbes – Social contract, we surrender certain rights to government in exchange for order
Locke – Government duty to protect life/liberty/property, otherwise rebel
Rousseau – Governments operate with the consent of the governed
 Monarchs and the Enlightenment – enlightened despots – benevolent dictators
Prelude to Revolution: The 18th Century Crisis… continued
 The Community of Belief Systems
Many channels of communication open – pamphlets, salons, correspondence
Expanding middle class – high literacy rate – coffee & tea houses
 Enlightenment and the New World
America = unrestrained by Europe’s corruption would thrive
Benjamin Franklin – writer, inventor, representative, ambassador
 The Counter Enlightenment – driven by Catholic nations
Folk Cultures and Popular Protest
 Reform and Popular Culture
Tax reforms met with riots and protests – prefer status quo
Reformers look to replace non-productive festivals
Meet with popular uprisings
The America Revolution, 1775-1800
Frontiers & Taxes
 British Frontier Policy
Westward push seen as future cost of conflict
Ottawa chief Pontiac fought British over policies
Proclamation of 1763 – est. western limits
 New Colonial Tax & Commercial Policies – Americans
enjoyed foreign trade
 Colonial Protests
Stamp Act of 1765 – every document was taxed
Women from prominent colonial families
organized boycotts
Reaction to boycotts threatens liberties
Boston Massacre – fueled popular support for
independence
East India Co monopoly on tea – met with Tea
Party, and martial law
The America Revolution, 1775-1800… continued
The Course of Revolution, 1775-1783
 Continental Congress
Created a currency, declared independence, and organized an army
George Washington – Virginia planter & veteran of French Indian war
Joseph Brant – Mohawk chief on side of British
British defeat at Saratoga – Mohawk go to Canada, French join American side
Yorktown courtesy of French support
Treaty of Paris – unconditional independence
 “Common Sense” – Thomas Paine – made argument for independence
The Construction of Republican Political Structures, to 1800
 Europeans lived vicariously through U.S. – constitutions published in Europe
 2nd Continental Congress = Articles of Confederation
One House legislature
No executive branch
 Creating a new Government: Constitutional Convention – 3 branches
 Limits of Democracy – still slavery and limited women’s rights
The French Revolution, 1789-1815
French Society and Fiscal Crisis
 Estates General – each has one vote
1st Estate – Church – 10% of land
2nd Estate – Nobles – 30% of land
3rd Estate – 98% of Population, 33% of land, tied to economy
1780 onward – poor harvests
 The Poor – 80% of population – Les Miserables, increase in bread price = riot
 The Politics of Debts and Taxes – Louis XVI (& Marie Antoinette) inherit debt but support US
Protest turns to Revolution, 1789-1792
 3rd Estate Acts – after 6 weeks of deadlock
Tennis Court Oath – becomes National Assembly
33% unemployed and hungry
 The Bastille Falls
Fear leads to Bastille and heads on pikes
Great Fear spreads throughout France – not a good time to be rich
The French Revolution, 1789-1815 … continued
 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen – similar to US
 The Women of Paris Act – march to Versailles, bring back royals
 Revolutionary Changes Begin – Church’s land seized, neighbors worried
The Reign of Terror, 1793-1794
 September Massacres – one way to clean out the prison population
 Guillotine – democratic & used on Louis XVI +40,000
 The Jacobins
Girondists & the Mountain
Maximilien Robespierre – king of the hill
 Women & the Revolution – women’s sacrifices go unrewarded
 The end of Robespierre – when he dies, the end is near
The French Revolution, 1789-1815 … continued
Reaction and the Rise of Napoleon, 1795-1815 – coup détente – popular authoritarianism
 France under Napoleon
1801 – Civil Code: Protection for persons and property
1804 – Concordat with Church & declared himself emperor
Free speech limited
 French Expansion and Defeat
Starts off undefeated in battle
Continental System – unified economic Europe – Britain
Iberian war – King of Portugal to Brazil
Russian Scorched Earth Policy – losses 95% of Army
Loses and exiled to Elba, leaves for 100 days – Waterloo
St. Helena in South Atlantic
Revolution Spreads, Conservatives Respond, 1789-1850
The Haitian Revolution, 1789-1804 – while the cat’s away…
 Accounted for 66% of French tropical imports and 33% of French Foreign trade
 Gens de Couleur (free mixed race) sent delegates to Estates General for greater freedoms
 The Haitian Revolution begins – colonial government weakened
Rebelling slaves killed & destroyed plantations
Toussaint L’Ouverture takes military leadership
Defeats British expeditionary force and next door Spanish
Napoleon sent forces , Toussaint ends up in Prison, eventually Haiti
The Congress of Vienna & Conservative Retrenchment, 1815-1820
 Balance of Power, reseat Iberian monarchies, reestablish borders
 The Holy Alliance – Austria/Russia/Prussia
Nationalism, Reform, and Revolution, 1821-1850
 Greek Independence – from Ottomans
 Revolutionary Fears in France and Britain
 The Revolutions of 1848 – Paris/Vienna/Rome/Berlin looking for self-determination