North and South America: 1750-1900 Flashcards
To educate students on the revolutions that diminished European power in the Americas, providing the foundation for countries that eventually industrialized
What philosophical school influenced the leaders of the American Revolution?
The leaders of the American Revolution, such as Washington, Jefferson, and Adams, were influenced by the writings of Enlightenment philosophers, such as John Locke.
The Declaration of Independence opens with language similar to that from Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. Meanwhile, the Constitution’s notion of balance of power derives from Montesquieu.
What caused the outbreak of the American Revolution?
After 1763, the English government established taxes on the American colonists to pay the cost of the French and Indian War and to fund the British Army forces protecting the colonists.
Irritated that they were being taxed without their consent, the American colonists sent missives to the British government and, when these were refused, broke out into open rebellion.
Why were the American forces able to achieve victory in the American Revolution?
There were many roots for American victory in the Revolution. The war was unpopular in England, and Britain never dispatched the full might of the British Army to America.
The British supply line also stretched across the Atlantic, while the Americans were fighting close to home.
Finally, a timely alliance between the Americans and the French tilted the balance against England, and peace was declared in 1783.
The American federal government has three branches. What are they?
The three branches are the executive (the President and his cabinet), the legislative (the House and the Senate), and the judicial (the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts). The Constitution established a divided government to ensure that no branch became too powerful.
The American Revolution and the Constitution served as ideals for democracy movements ranging from the French Revolution of 1789, the Atlantic revolutions of the 1810s and 1820s, and even Ho Chi Minh’s efforts to oust the French from Vietnam in the 1950s.
What was the Monroe Doctrine?
Announced by President James Monroe in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine declared that European nations would not be allowed to interfere in the Western Hemisphere.
While the Monroe Doctrine did ensure that most of the Western Hemisphere remained free of direct European control, the growth of U.S. power in the 19th century ensured that the region became part of the American sphere of influence.
What American purchase may have been the best real estate deal in history?
In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, a territory of some 828,000 square miles, for $15 million. The purchase doubled the size of the United States overnight.
Define:
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was an American belief that it was entitled to the entire North American landmass between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
The United States fought wars against both the Native American tribes and Mexico to assert control of most of North America and, by the 1850s, had most of the modern United States.
Between 1846 and 1848, Mexico fought a war with what power, eventually losing much of its territory?
Between 1846 and 1848, Mexico fought the Mexican-American War against the United States. Mexico sued for peace after U.S. forces captured Mexico City. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico gave up most of what is today the Western United States.
What was the underlying cause of the American Civil War?
The underlying cause of the American Civil War was slavery, which had disappeared in the Northern United States, but remained prevalent in the South. In a bloody conflict that lasted from 1861 to 1865, the South and its economy was destroyed and slavery was outlawed.
What status did the British government grant Canada in 1867?
In 1867, the British government allowed Canada dominion status, meaning that Canada would be largely self-governing and have its own parliament and constitution.
The granting of dominion status followed a large series of lenient British policies in Canada and the merger of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The British government followed the dominion model in Australia and New Zealand.
A large-scale slave revolt broke out in what Caribbean country in 1791?
In 1791, while France was in the midst of the French Revolution, a large slave revolt against the French rule broke out in Haiti. By 1793, French forces had been largely defeated by Haitian forces under Toussaint L’Ouverture.
How did the French respond to the Haitian Revolution?
Distracted by the French Revolution and large-scale European wars, the French initially did little to put down the Haitian Revolution.
In 1802, Napoleon dispatched troops to retake Haiti. The French troops captured Haitian leader L’Ouverture and sent him to France, but eventually 40,000 French troops died of yellow fever. The French returned home and Haiti became an independent nation.
What was the response in Latin America to Napoleon’s invasion of Spain and Portugal?
With Spain under French control, the Spanish colonies in the Americas rose in revolt, a reaction to longstanding resentment at Spanish colonial policies that marginalized Creole populations.
While the Spanish revolts were bloody, Portugal’s colony of Brazil faced a relatively smooth process to independence and was, for a short period, directly ruled by the ousted Portuguese monarchy.
Who was Simón Bolívar?
Simón Bolívar led many of the Central and South American nations in their wars of independence beginning in 1815.
A member of the Creole class in Venezuela, Bolívar led revolutions against Spanish authority in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, beginning in 1815.
After promising to protect the rights of creoles and emancipation to slaves in his 1815 Jamaica letter, Bolívar began to see success and by 1821 had freed Venezuela and Colombia.
What Bolívar ally emerged to lead revolutions against Spain in South America?
In 1816, José de San Martín, an ally of Simón Bolívar, led revolutions against Spain in South America, freeing Argentina, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
