Chapter 21 Revolutionary Changes in Atlantic World 1750

Chapter 21: Revolutionary Changes in Atlantic World, 1750 -1850

Essential Question: • How did the costs of imperial wars & the Enlightenment challenge established political structures & forms of governance & religion in Europe & the American colonies?

Prelude to Revolution: Eighteenth-Century Crisis • European rivalries increased • Dutch attacked Spanish & Portuguese in Americas & Asia • Britain: – checked Dutch commercial & colonial ambitions – defeated France-Seven Years War (1756– 1763) • French & Indian War in N. America – took over French colonial possessions in Americas & India • Huge costs drove them to seek new revenue • Enlightenment inspired people to question & protest new ways of collecting revenue

The Enlightenment & the Old Order • Enlightenment thinkers applied methods & questions of Scientific Revolution to study of human society

Enlightenment & Old Order • Enlightenment encouraged reform, not revolution • Women were instrumental • New ideas attracted expanding middle class • Americas viewed as new, uncorrupted- progress would come more quickly • Benjamin Franklin was symbol of natural genius & potential of America

Folk Cultures & Popular Protest • Most people didn’t support Enlightenment ideas – tax reforms, etc. were violations of sacred customs • violent protests meant to restore custom/precedent, not revolutionary change

American Revolution, 1775– 1800 • After French defeat in 1763, British faced two problems – Conflict between settlers & Amerindians – need to pay debts & defend colonies • provoked protests in colonies • policies undermined Amerindian economy • led to attempts to restrict settlement • Proclamation of 1763 • Quebec Act of 1774

Road to Independence • British government tried to raise new revenue – Stamp Act of 1765 • Colonists organized boycotts, staged violent protests, and attacked British officials – Boston Massacre • East India Company granted monopoly on import of tea to the colonies – Boston Tea Party

Course of Revolution, 1775– 1783 • Continental Congress formed • Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense & Declaration of Independence • Military sent to pacify colonies – won most battles – unable to control countryside – unable to achieve compromise political solution to problems of colonies

Course of Revolution, 1775– 1783 • Amerindians allies to both sides • France entered war as ally of US in 1778 – Crucial to success – naval support enabled Washington to defeat Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia • Treaty of Paris (1783), gave unconditional independence to former colonies

Construction of Republican Institutions, to 1800 • colonies drafted written constitutions • Articles of Confederation served as constitution for US during & after war • democratic but only minority of adult male population could vote • protected slavery

French Revolution, 1789– 1815 • Clergy/nobility controlled most wealth • Clergy exempt from taxes • Third Estate, rapidly growing, wealthy middle class (bourgeoisie) • peasants (80% of population), suffered -poor harvests • violent protests-not revolutionary • expensive wars drove France into debt • kings introduced new taxes & fiscal reforms to increase revenue • met with resistance

Protest Turns to Revolution, 1789– 1792 • King called Estates General for approval of new taxes • Third Estate & some members of First Estate declared National Assembly-pledged to write constitution to incorporate popular sovereignty • As king prepared to arrest members of National Assembly, common people of Paris rose up against government-peasant uprisings broke out in countryside • National Assembly issued Declaration of the Rights of Man • As economic crisis grew worse, Parisian market women marched on Versailles-captured king & family • National Assembly passed new constitution -limited power of monarchy, restructured French politics and society. • Austria & Prussia threatened to intervene-National Assembly declared war in 1791

The Terror, 1793– 1794 • King’s attempt to flee, led to execution & formation of new government, the National Convention, which was dominated by radical Mountain faction of Jacobins, led by, Robespierre • Under Robespierre, executive power placed in hands of Committee of Public Safety, militant feminist forces repressed, new actions against clergy approved, & suspected enemies imprisoned & guillotined • In July 1794, conservatives in National Convention voted to arrest & execute Robespierre

Reaction & Rise of Napoleon, 1795– 1815 • • • Convention worked to undo radical reforms of Robespierre years, ratified a more conservative constitution & created new executive authority, the Directory’s suspension of election results of 1797 signaled end of republican phase of revolution Napoleon seized power in 1799 -began another form of government: popular authoritarianism Napoleon provided internal stability & protection of personal/property rights negotiated agreement w/ Catholic Church (Concordat of 1801) Created Civil Code of 1804 declared himself emperor (also in 1804) Napoleonic system denied basic political & property rights to womenrestricted speech & expression stability depended on military & diplomacy No single European state could defeat Napoleon– occupation of Iberian Peninsula turned into costly war w/ resistance forces – attack on Russia ended in disaster Alliance of Russia, Austria, Prussia, & England defeated Napoleon in 1814

Haitian Revolution, 1789 -1804 • • • 1791 -Slaves rebel, end slavery, create Western Hemispheres second independent nation; Haiti French Saint Domingue was one of richest European colonies in Americas one of most brutal slave regimes political turmoil in France led to conflict between slaves & gens de couleur & whites slave rebellion under François Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture took over in 1794 Napoleon’s attempt to reestablish French authority led to capture of L’Ouverture- failed to retake colony became independent republic of Haiti in 1804

Congress of Vienna & Conservative Retrenchment, 1815– 1820 • From 1814 to 1815, Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria met in Vienna to reestablish & safeguard the conservative order in Europe • The Congress of Vienna – restored the French monarchy – redrew borders of France & other European states – established Holy Alliance of Austria, Russia, Prussia • Holy Alliance defeated liberal revolutions in Spain & Italy in 1820 • Tried, without success, to repress liberal & nationalist ideas

Nationalism, Reform, Revolution, 1821– 1850 • Popular support for national self-determination & democratic reform grew • Greece gained independence from Ottoman Empire • French monarchy forced to accept constitutional rule & extend voting privileges • Democratic reform in both Britain & in US • In Europe, desire for national self-determination & democratic reform led to series of revolutions in 1848

Conclusion: The American Revolution • expense of colonial wars led to imposition of new taxes on colonials • Resentment over taxation led British American colonies to fight & win independence • New American government reflected for contemporaries the democratic ideals of the Enlightenment

Conclusion: The French Revolution • Revolutionaries in France created more radical representative democracy than found in America • Events in France led to Haitian Revolution & Haiti’s independence • Entrenched elite forces within & foreign intervention from without, made French & Haitian Revolutions more violent & destructive than American Revolution • In France, chaos led to rise of Napoleon

Aftermath of Revolution • Conservative retrenchment after Napoleon prevailed in the short term in Europe-nationalism & liberalism could not be held in check for long • New social classes that arose w/ industrial capitalism demanded a new social & political order • New political freedoms were limited to a minority – Women could not participate until twentieth century – slavery endured until second half of 19 th century in America