Traditions and Encounters, 4th Edition (Bentley)

Chapter 29: REVOLUTIONS AND NATIONAL STATES IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD

Chapter Outline

  1. Popular sovereignty and political upheaval
    1. Enlightened and revolutionary ideas
      1. Popular sovereignty: relocating sovereignty in the people
        1. Traditionally monarchs claimed a "divine right" to rule
        2. The Enlightenment challenged this right, made the monarch responsible to the people
        3. John Locke's theory of contractual government: authority comes from the consent of the governed
      2. Freedom and equality: important values of the Enlightenment
        1. Demands for freedom of worship and freedom of expression
        2. Demands for political and legal equality
          (a) Condemned legal and social privileges of aristocrats
          (b) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
        3. Equality not extended to women, peasants, laborers, slaves, or people of color
        4. Ideals of Enlightenment were significant global influence
    2. The American Revolution
      1. Tension between Britain and the North American colonies
        1. Legacy of Seven Years' War: British debt, North American tax burden
        2. Mounting colonial protest over taxes, trade policies, Parliamentary rule
          (a) Colonial boycott of British goods
          (b) Attacks on British officials; Boston Tea Party, 1773
        3. Political protest over representation in Parliament: Continental Congress, 1774
        4. British troops and colonial militia skirmished at the village of Lexington, 1775
      2. The Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776
        1. Thirteen united States of America severed ties with Britain
        2. Declaration inspired by Enlightenment and Locke's theory of government
      3. The American Revolution, 1775-1781
        1. British advantages: strong government, navy, army, plus loyalists in colonies
        2. American advantages: European allies, George Washington's leadership
        3. Weary of a costly conflict, British forces surrendered in 1781
      4. Building an independent state: Constitutional Convention, 1787
        1. Constitution guaranteed freedom of press, of speech, and of religion
        2. American republic based on principles of freedom, equality, popular sovereignty
        3. Full legal and political rights were granted only to men of property
    3. The French Revolution
      1. Summoning the Estates General
        1. Financial crisis: half of government revenue went to national debt
        2. King Louis XVI forced to summon Estates General to raise new taxes
        3. Many representatives wanted sweeping political and social reform
        4. First and Second Estates (nobles, clergy) tried to limit Third Estate (commoners)
      2. The National Assembly formed by representative of Third Estate, 17 June 1789
        1. Demanded a written constitution and popular sovereignty
        2. Angry mob seized the Bastille on 14 July, sparked insurrections in many cities
        3. National Assembly wrote the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen"
      3. "Liberty, equality, and fraternity" was the slogan and values of the National Assembly
        1. The Assembly abolished the feudal system, altered the role of church
        2. France became a constitutional monarchy, 1791
      4. The Convention replaced National Assembly under new constitution, 1791
        1. Austrian and Prussian armies invaded France to restore ancien régime
        2. Convention abolished the monarchy and proclaimed France a republic
        3. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette executed, 1793
        4. Radical Jacobins dominated the Convention in 1793-94 in a "reign of terror"
        5. Revolutionary changes: in religion, dress, calendar, women's rights
      5. The Directory, 1795-1799
        1. A conservative reaction against the excesses of the Convention
        2. Executed the Jacobin leader Robespierre, July 1794
        3. New constitution
    4. The reign of Napoleon, 1799-1815
      1. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
        1. Brilliant military leader; became a general in the royal army at age twenty-four
        2. Supported the revolution; defended the Directory
        3. His invasion of Egypt was defeated by British army
        4. Overthrew the Directory and named himself consul for life
      2. Napoleonic France brought stability after years of chaos
        1. Made peace with the Roman Catholic church and pope
        2. Extended freedom of religion to Protestants and Jews
        3. Civil Code of 1804: political and legal equality for all adult men
        4. Restricted individual freedom, especially speech and press
      3. Napoleon's empire: 1804, proclaimed himself emperor
        1. Dominated the European continent: Iberia, Italy, Netherlands
        2. Defeated Austria and Prussia; fought British on high seas
        3. Disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 destroyed Grand Army
      4. The fall of Napoleon
        1. Forced by coalition of enemies to abdicate in 1814, exiled on Elba
        2. Escaped, returned to France, raised army, but was defeated by British in 1815

  2. The influence of revolution
    1. The Haitian Revolution: the only successful slave revolt in history
      1. Saint-Domingue, rich French colony on western Hispaniola
        1. Society dominated by small white planter class
        2. 90 percent of population were slaves working under brutal conditions
        3. Large communities of escaped slaves, or maroons
        4. Free blacks fought in American war, brought back revolutionary ideas
        5. Widespread discontent: white settlers sought self-governance, gens de couleur sought political rights, slaves wanted freedom
      2. Slave revolt began in 1791
        1. Factions of white settlers, gens de couleur, and slaves battled each other
        2. French troops arrived in 1792; British and Spanish forces intervened in 1793
      3. Toussaint Louverture (1744-1803)
        1. Son of slaves, literate, skilled organizer, built a strong and disciplined army
        2. Controlled most of Saint-Domingue by 1797, created a constitution in 1801
        3. Arrested by French troops; died in jail, 1803
      4. The Republic of Haiti
        1. Yellow fever ravaged French troops; defeated and driven out by slave armies
        2. Declared independence in 1803; established the Republic of Haiti in 1804
    2. Wars of independence in Latin America
      1. Latin American society rigidly hierarchical
        1. Social classes: peninsulares, creoles, slaves, and indigenous peoples
        2. Creoles sought to displace the peninsulares but retain their privileged position
      2. Mexican independence
        1. Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1807 weakened royal control of colonies
        2. 1810: peasant revolt in Mexico led by Hidalgo, defeated by conservative creoles
        3. 1821: Mexico briefly a military dictatorship, then in 1822 a republic
        4. South part of Mexico was split into several independent states in 1830s
      3. Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) led independence movement in South America
        1. Inspired by George Washington, took arms against Spanish rule in 1811
        2. Creole forces overcame Spanish armies throughout South America, 1824
        3. Bolivar's effort of creating the Gran Colombia failed in 1830s
      4. Brazilian independence
        1. Portuguese royal court fled to Rio de Janeiro, 1807
        2. The king's son, Pedro, agreed to Brazilian independence, 1821
        3. Became Emperor Pedro I in the independent Brazil (reigned 1822-1834)
      5. Creole dominance in Latin America
        1. Independence brought little social change in Latin America
        2. Principal beneficiaries were creole elites
    3. The emergence of ideologies: conservatism and liberalism
      1. Conservatism: resistance to change
        1. Importance of continuity, tradition
        2. Edmund Burke viewed society as an organism that changed slowly over time
          (a) American Revolution: a natural and logical outcome of history
          (b) French Revolution: violent and irresponsible
      2. Liberalism: welcomed change as an agent of progress
        1. Championed freedom, equality, democracy, written constitutions
        2. John Stuart Mill championed individual freedom and minority rights
    4. Testing the limits of revolutionary ideals: slavery
      1. Movements to end slave trade: began in 1700s, gained momentum during revolutions
        1. In 1807 British Parliament outlawed slave trade
        2. Other states followed suit, though illegal slave trade continued from some time
      2. Movements to abolish slavery: more difficult because of property rights
        1. In Haiti and much of South America, end of slavery came with independence
        2. In Europe and North America, campaign against slave trade became campaign to abolish slavery
        3. Abolition in Britain in 1833, France in 1848, the United States in 1865, Brazil in 1888
      3. Abolition brought legal freedom for slaves but not political equality
    5. Testing the limits of revolutionary ideals: women's rights
      1. Enlightenment ideals and women
        1. Enlightenment call for equality not generally extended to women
        2. Women used logic of Locke to argue for women's rights
          (a) Mary Astell attacked male dominance in the family
          (b) Mary Wollstonecraft: women possessed same natural rights as men
      2. Women crucial to revolutionary activities
        1. French revolution granted women rights of education and property, not the vote
        2. Olympe de Gouges's declaration of full citizenship for women too radical
        3. Women made no significant gains in other revolutions
      3. Women's rights movements gained ground in the nineteenth century in United States and Europe

  3. The consolidation of national states in Europe
    1. Nations and nationalism
      1. Cultural nationalism: an expression of national identity
        1. Emphasized common historical experience
        2. Used folk culture and literature to illustrate national spirit (Volkgiest)
      2. Political nationalism more intense in the nineteenth century
        1. Demanded loyalty and solidarity from members of the national group
        2. Minorities sought independence as a national community
        3. Young Italy formed by Giuseppe Mazzini
      3. Zionism: Jewish nationalism as a response to widespread European anti-Semitism
        1. Movement founded by Theodor Herzl to create a Jewish state in Palestine
        2. Jewish state of Israel finally created in 1948
    2. The emergence of national communities
      1. Congress of Vienna, 1814-15
        1. Conservative leaders determined to restore old order after defeat of Napoleon
        2. Succeeded in maintaining balance of power in Europe for a century
        3. Failed in repressing nationalist and revolutionary ideas
      2. Nationalist rebellions against old order throughout nineteenth century
        1. Greek rebels overcame Ottoman rule in 1827
        2. 1830 and 1848, rebellions in France, Spain, Portugal, and German states
        3. Conservative government usually restored afterward but ideals persisted
    3. The unification of Italy and Germany
      1. Cavour and Garibaldi united Italy by 1870
        1. Mazzini's Young Italy inspired uprisings against foreign rule in Italy
        2. Cavour led nationalists and expelled Austrian authorities in northern Italy, 1859
        3. Garibaldi controlled southern Italy, returned it to King Vittore Emmanuele, 1860
      2. Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) created a united Germany
        1. In Germany, nationalist rebellion was repressed in 1848
        2. Bismarck provoked three wars that swelled German pride
        3. 1871, Prussian king proclaimed emperor of the Second Reich
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