Chapter 21: Revolutionary Changes in the Atlantic World, 1750-1850
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
 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; will
of the majority
Montesquieu – 3 branches of govt, checks/balances
Voltaire – freedom of speech/religion, critic of “optimism”;
“I do not agree with a word you say . . . “
 Wollstonecraft – rights of women, “On the Vindication . .”
 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
 Reform and Popular Culture
Tax reforms met with riots and protests – prefer status quo
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 (1 % of pop)
2nd Estate – Nobles (1-2 % of pop)
3rd Estate – 97-98% of Population
1780 onward – series of poor harvests (Potato had NOT caught on)
 The Poor – 80+ % of population – increase in price of bread =
 The Politics of Debts and Taxes – Louis XVI (& Marie Antoinette)
inherit debt but support US; Protest turns to Revolution (1789-1792)
 3rd Estate Acts
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
Emigres (mainly nobles who emigrate to other countries)
The French Revolution, 1789-1815 … continued
 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen – similar to US Constitution
 The Women of Paris Act – march to Versailles, bring back royals
 Revolutionary Changes Begin – Church’s land seized, neighbors worried, religion outlawed
The Reign of Terror, 1793-1794
 The Jacobins and Girondists (Radicals and moderates)
Jacobins take the lead – Guillotine, Terror, Execution of Louis XVI
Maximilien Robespierre – virtual dictator
September Massacres – one way to clean out the prison population
 Guillotine – democratic & used on Louis XVI +40,000
 Women & the Revolution – women’s sacrifices go unrewarded
 NO ONE is safe from the Guillotine – not even Robespierre
Rise of Napoleon
Napoleonic Code: Equality for ALL (in the eyes of the law)
Concordat with Church – churches; Catholic religion restored, churches reopened, ppl can
“go to heaven again” – woo hoo!
Lycees – public schools for
Declares himself emperor 1804 – widely popular w/ppl
Napoleon restores stability and security to France, military powerhouse, great deal of
nationalism - making him widely popular with the ppl – rockstar, pro athlete,
hollywood star all in one times 100! “Cult of Personality”
 Undefeated in Europe 1796 – 1812
 Impact on Napoleon’s perception?
 Continental System – unified economic Europe – targeting Britain; attempts to starve them into
submission
 Iberian war – Napoleon never personally commanded French troops; therefore did NOT
understand the threat Wellington would represent
 King of Portugal to Brazil (many creoles, including San Martin and Bolivar will fight in Napoleonic Wars)
 Russian Scorched Earth policy; Napoleon refuses to quit
 Defeated at Leipzig (Battle of Nations) - exiled to Elba
 Returns to France – defeated at Waterloo (Wellington); exiled to St. Helena (dies 1821)
The Haitian Revolution, 1789-1804 – while the cat’s away…
 Accounted for 66% of French tropical imports and 33% of French Foreign trade
 The Haitian Revolution - 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 win indepedence
Yellow Fever and tenacity of rebels defeat French troops
Napoleon decides to end dream of N. American Empire;
sells Louisiana Purchase to US (What if . . . . . . . )
Congress of Vienna & Conservative Retrenchment, 1815-1820
 Balance of Power, restore monarchy to all of Europe
 The Holy Alliance – Austria/Russia/Prussia
 People have tasted democratic rights, will not give them up w/o a fight
Nationalism, Reform, and Revolution, 1821-1850
 Greek Independence – from Ottomans – w/help of Brits and French
 Revolutionary Fears in France and Britain
 The Revolutions of 1848 – Paris/Vienna/Rome/Berlin looking for reform & self determination