Political Revolutions

1
Political Revolutions

• America
• France
• Caribbean
• Spanish America

1750-1850
2
Revolutions and the modern world

• The two major European political revolutions, the
  American (1775-1783) and the French (1789-1815),
  inspired revolutions in many parts of the globe
• Though fuelled by grand ideas of liberty and
  equality, these proved to be elusive ideas to put
  into practice (think about slavery in America and
  the Terror in Franceor poverty in the modern
  world, for that matter))

3
Ideologies

• By the beginning of the 19th century, liberalism
  and nationalism become powerful ideologies among
  European states
• The basic ideas behind these ideologies had been
  long-discussed in the 17th and 18th centuries and
  these revolutions start to put those ideas into
  practice

4
To many who fought during these revolutions,
liberty was the main goal mirrored in slogans
from a French pamphlet (left) and the words of
the revolutionary general John Stark
5
Constitutionalism
The American Declaration of Independence
The American Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizens
6
American Revolution

• The Revolution was started by colonists who felt
  that their wealth was being unfairly taxed by the
  English king why should they contribute to the
  upkeep of a government in which they had no say
• But to King George III, the colonists were his
  subjects (that was the situation when the
  colonies were founded) and thus owed taxes for
  the upkeep of the crown

7
In his book Common Sense, Thomas Paine, a recent
immigrant to the colonies advocated that it was
common sense for the colonists to govern
themselves, an idea that quickly developed a
strong following Mixing a learned understanding
of the British Constitution and a populist tone,
Paine reflected the enlightenment ideal of
applying natural law to the running of government
8
Government

• The government set up by the Constitution of 1776
  was a compromise between those who wanted a
  loose association and those who wanted a strong,
  centralized state
• Another major tension beneath the surface was a
  major split on the question of slavery and
  between the urban north and rural south

9
French Revolution

• The French Revolution was also a tax revolt of
  sorts, and like Paine, revolutionaries believed
  that it was common sense for the people to
  govern themselves
• However, this led to several experiments with
  forms of government (constitutional monarchy,
  republicanism, dictatorship) sometimes with
  drastic effects

10
Phases of the French Revolution

• Phase I July 1789-August 1792
• Constitutional liberalism (peaceful)
• Phase II August 1792-September 1793
• Radical Republicanism (violent)
• Phase III September 1793-July 1794
• The Terror (fear)
• Phase IV July 1794-1799
• The Directory (War with conservative Europe)
• Phase V 1799-1815
• The Napoleonic Era (War and Empire)

11

• Though Napoleons personal rule flew in the face
  of the liberal ideals of the revolution, he
  nonetheless reformed civic law and public
  education
• His most important achievement, however, may have
  been to unite the French nation and put monarchy
  up to a new standard personal merit

12
Revolution in Haiti (1791-1804)

• News of events in France quickly spread to the
  colonies where white colonists hoped for their
  independence and African slaves hoped for
  emancipation neither would come about without a
  struggle
• Slaves led a revolt in Haiti in 1791and in 1793
  the French National Assembly abolished slavery
  leaving Haiti to form its own republic

13
Toussaint Louverture led a force against
Napoleons army that invaded in 1802 to bring the
island back under French control Toussaint
himself was tricked into being brought back to
France where he was jailed and ultimately
died Here he is idealized as the bringer of a
modern constitution to Haiti. A great supporter
of Enlightenment thought, Toussaints
constitution reflected the same sort of ideals as
those of France and the United States
14
Brazil Constitutional Monarchy

• The Portuguese royal family saw the writing on
  the wall and granted Brazil independence with a
  constitutional monarchy in 1822
• The royal family and the elite landowners worked
  closely together to crush all signs of slave
  uprisings in order to keep their privileged
  position
• Brazil was one of the biggest producers of coffee
  in the world

15
Mexican War of Ind. (1810-1821)

• Opposition to Spanish overlords (which in 1810
  was Napoleons brother) came from a wide
  coalition of Mexican society Europeans,
  mestizos, and mulattos
• Uprisings raged for over a decade until Spain
  could not hold on any longer
• In 1821, Mexico was granted its independence

16
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was captured by the
Spanish in 1811 and executed by a firing squad He
became a martyr to the cause a liberator-hero
and to this day is a symbol of Mexican
independence
17
Wars of liberation in the Americas

• By the end of the eighteenth century Spanish
  colonial rule in the Americas was taxing an
  already impoverished monarchy
• Resistance was influenced by the spirit of the
  French Revolution and, closer to home, the
  Haitian Revolution 1791-1803
• By 1826, the whole of South America was
  independent from outside rule

18
Simon Bolivar (1793-1830)

• Following the example of Napoleon Bonaparte,
  Bolivar mixed passion for liberty and patriotism
  with military genius
• A romantic figure who led armies to liberate
  several counties
• He was elected president of Venezuela, Columbia,
  and Peru at different times

19
The legacy of liberation

• By mid-century there had grown up a class of
  military leaders known as caudillos who
  controlled large areas with the tacit consent of
  the national government the military could make
  or break the government
• All parties tended to agree on liberty but had
  very different visions of what liberty meant in a
  civil society precarious balance between
  liberals and conservatives and a widening gap
  between rich and poor

20
Conclusion

• The Revolutionary ideals that spread across the
  Atlantic world between 1780 and 1820 made the
  People the prime focus of politics
• This emphasis on the People also promoted
  ideals of nationalism and spawned a debate about
  what makes up a nation