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Across the Atlantic World
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Examine the causes and outcomes of 4 different Atlantic
Revolutions: Haitian, Columbian, and Brazilian
General questions to think about:
What factors led American colonies to break away from
their respective metropolis?
Why did these revolutions end so differently?
How do these revolutions compare to the American
Revolution?
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The Age of Revolutions was a
movement seen across the
Atlantic World, both in Europe
and the Americas, showing a
general shift from Absolutism
to Constitutional Monarchy
and Republicanism.
The spread of revolutionary
ideas was connected to the
spread of the Enlightenment.
The writings of Locke,
Rousseau, and Montesquieu
both made learned men
aware that they had “basic”
rights and that they should
fight for them.
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Both the French Revolution and
the Napoleonic Wars had huge
impacts on the Atlantic World
The struggle between republican
forces against the European
monarchies showed that the
“people” could fight successfully
to secure their freedoms and
demonstrated the symbolic
transformation from “privileges”
to “rights”
Finally, the Napoleonic Wars
destabilized the Europe, making
it much easier for colonies to
assert their independence
Storming the Bastille
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Before the revolution, Haiti was considered the most valuable colony in
the French Empire, producing some 60 percent of the world’s coffee
and 40 percent of its sugar.
Slave population numbered at roughly 425,000 (outnumbering whites
by about 10 to 1), despite such a high population most of these were
African born due incredibly high death rates caused by plantation work.
The country was also riven by racial and geographic tensions, split
between North (dominated by plantations), the east (where the colonial
capital Port-au-Prince was located) and the South (geographically
isolated place where freed slaves could make a living).
During the French Revolution, the publication of the Declaration of the
Rights of Man led many whites to hope for independence from France,
however, as the revolution continued questions about slavery began to
arise.
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Initiated by a Voodoo priest in August 1791,
in the ritual of Bois Caiman who predicted
that the slaves would rise up against their
masters, by 1792 the northern section of
island was effectively under slave control,
massacring their former masters and
destroying plantations
Involved in a war with Great Britain, the
French government attempted to correct
the situation by granting rights to its freed
black population and by freeing slaves in
territories that were still under French
control. In the midst of the war, both British
and Spanish forces attacked the island and
were joined by the former slaves
By 1794, Robespierre led the French
National Convention to abolish slavery, this
eventually won over one of rebellion’s
leaders, General L’Ouverture
After Spanish and English forces were
ousted, the French imprisoned L’Ouverture,
By 1802, Napoleon attempted to reinstate
slavery, fearing this Haitian blacks revolted
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Haiti gained its independence in
1803, after the Battle of Vertieres
Following the battle, some whites
were massacred and others forced
to leave the island
After gaining independence, Haiti
went through a period of instability,
first being ruled by a despot and
then being divided into both a
kingdom in the north and a republic
in the south
In 1825, after Haiti was able to
reunify, under the threat of French
invasion, the Haitian republic was
forced to pay the French
government 150 million francs to
pay for their freedom.
Haitian Coat of Arms
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The Impact of the Haitian revolution was immense.
It showed that slaves were more than capable of both
overthrowing their masters and fighting successfully for their
independence. It further sparked a number of slave revolts,
although these were suppressed.
The Fall of France’s most economically successful colony meant
that all French aims at maintaining its empire in the Americans
became untenable and too expensive, resulting in the Louisiana
Purchase.
In American colonies, it caused the planter elite class, which had
formerly been pro republican to adopt a more conservative view
on both the French Revolution and republicanism in general.
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The Viceroyalty of New
Granada was a rough and
only partially developed
territory, thus its components
were only loosely united.
Bourbon Reforms, effecting
all of Spanish America,
placed pensulares (natives of
Spain) in charge of colonial
administration, displacing the
creole aristocracies.
Spread of liberal ideas into
the new world from Spain.
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Spanish leaders surrender to
Napoleon in Madrid, 1808
After forcing the Bourbon family
to abdicate the throne,
Napoleon installed his brother
Joseph on the throne, beginning
the Peninsular War.
Without a king, the Spanish
Empire was controlled by
competing Juntas both
throughout the new world and a
central junta based first in
Seville and later in Cadiz.
Recognizing that the Junta of
Cadiz might fall at any moment
to the French, Spanish American
territories effectively governed
themselves independently from
the metropolis.
 Map
Key
 Red: Territory under
Spanish Imperial
Authority
 Orange: Territory under
Spanish Junta
 Black: Occupied or
territory independent
from the Spanish
Empire
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Admired both the American and
French revolution, nevertheless,
Bolivar was an abolitionist and
believed that Latin America was
not ready for a republican style
government.
After a series of campaigns
against royalist forces (not all of
them successful), Bolivar was
able to push imperial forces out
of New Granada.
He then turned his attention on
pushing the royalist out of Peru,
with this accomplished, Gran
Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia all
gained their independence.
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Though Bolivar was able to secure
independence, keeping the former
viceroyalty together was a different
matter.
Broken apart by geographical
boundaries and political differences
dating back to the early colonial
days of the Spanish empire, the
nation was riven by federalist and
separatist divisions.
Combined with losing a war with
Peru, Bolivar was forced to flee the
country and resign from his
dictatorship.
Soon after Bolivar’s departure, Gran
Colombia split into three nations:
Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.
Columbian Coat of Arms
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Like Spain, Portugal was also under attack by French
forces, but unlike the Spanish monarchy, the Portuguese
royal family was able to escape to Brazil before being
captured by Napoleon.
While staying in the colony, Joao I found it to be enjoyable –
safe from French invasions and the political machinations
of Portugal, the colony was almost idyllic for the monarch.
Thus, during his stay Joao endorsed a number of national
institutions, met with the Brazilian aristocracy regularly, and
in bringing the court to Brazil, the colonial regime was all
but eliminated – this was more or less finalized when Joao
promoted the colony to the status of Kingdom in 1815.
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By 1821, the Portuguese was
demanding that Joao return to the
country, which was in a state of
devastation, reluctantly the king agreed.
However, Joao left behind his son Pedro I
to rule a regent, some say that if an
independence movement was afoot, that
Joao should take the lead so that the
family could stay in control of the
country.
In 1821, the Portuguese Cortes passed
a law subordinating Brazil back to
Portugal, effectively making it a colony
again.
In response to this and the attempts by
Portuguese commanders to humiliate
him, Pedro I declared himself the leader
of an Independent Brazil and dismissed
the Portuguese troops.
Pedro I sends the Portuguese
troops back to Portugal
After declaring
independence, Pedro
was crowned
constitutional emperor of
Brazil, in December of
1822.
 After several small
battles, Portuguese
military was effectively
removed from the
country in November
1823.
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Coronation of Dom Pedro !
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Because of the events in Haiti, many liberals were weary of creating an all out
republic because they feared that it might lead to widespread slave revolts or the
end of slavery in Brazil. As a result they believed that a strong monarch was the only
way to maintain stability in the country.
Nevertheless the newly minted empire faced difficulties: a war with Argentina
caused the territory of Uruguay to break away from the empire and liberal factions
within the parliament attempt to restrict the powers of the emperor in order to make
him a figure head instead of an outright leader.
Facing these problems and open rebellion in Portugal, Pedro was forced to abdicate
the throne and sailed for Portugal, leaving the country in the hands of his young son
Pedro II in 1831.
A regency council then ruled the empire, though during this period Brazil went
through something just short of anarchy – several territories attempted to break
away, open rebellions all across the country led to widespread violence, and the
many politicians who had previously fought for expanded legislative powers realized
that the country needed an emperor to remain stable, thus Dom Pedro II was able to
come to power while still under age in 1840, and imperial government would survive
until 1889, just after slavery was abolished.