The Atlantic Revolutions Flashcards
What were some Enlightenment ideas that led to the Atlantic Revolutions?
- Equality - race, class, gender, etc
- Republicanism & Democracy (voting)
- Individual Rights ( Free Speech, press, religion, property)
- Laissez-Faire (capitalist) economic theory
- Secular laws & society
What’s the context of The (North) American Revolution
- 13 British settler colonies in North America (Protestant & majority white)
- Largely self-governing through elected officials
- Few/no rights for women
- Enslaved blacks on cash-crop plantations
- Policies of displacing native tribes
What were the causes of The (North) American Revolution?
In the mid-1700s the British government started REASSERTING more control over the colonies.
- Taxatation without representation
- Prohibited westward expansion
- Restricted trade through mercantilist policies
What were some changes as a result of The (North) American Revolutions?
- The independence of the United States
- End to mercantilism & beginning of capitalism (laissez-faire)
- Territorial expansion westward & displacing of more native groups
- Served as a model for other revolutions
What were some continuities despite the North American Revolution?
- Persistence of chattel slavery
- No gains for women
- Elite white men stay in power
What is the historical context of the French Revolution (1789-1815)?
- Western European country with strong fuedal traditions
- Catholic
- Absolute monarch with no voting
- Nobility & clergy (2% of population) given legal privileges & exempt from most taxes
- Commoners ranged from poor peasants to succesful merchants
What were the causes of the French Revolution?
- Financial Crisis: France was bankrupt & refused to tax the rich
- Commoners desired voting rights, an equitable tax system, and equal laws
- Influence of Enlightenment & North American Revolution
- High Food Prices led to social unrest
What were the effects of the Early French Revolution?
-They became a constitutional monarchy with a king + elected parliament like Britain
- Upper-class & white men could vote
- Creation of the DOROMAC
- Very Moderate
What was the DOROMAC?
-The Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen
What were the results of the Radical French Revolution?
-A republic with universal male suffrage
- King & Royal family executed
- Slave abolished (temporarily)
- Restructuring of French society
- Beginning of Reign of Terror
- France goes to war with European neighbors
What was included in the restructuring of France after the Radical French Revolution?
- Catholic Churches seized by government & closed
- New “secular” calendar system
What was the French “Reign of Terror”?
A period of which suspected “counter-revolutionaries” were executed without trial
Who was Napolean?
A General, dictator, and then later “emperor” of France who conquered most of Europe
What Enlightenment ideas did Napolean spread?
- Religious tolerance
- Equality before the law
- Secular law codes
In what ways did Napolean backtrack on some Enlightenment ideas?
- No voting
- No free speech/press
What happened after Napolean was exiled in 1815?
France went back to a “constitutional monarchy” (from the moderate phase); preservation of equality, tolerance, etc.
What were 4 major effects of the French Revolution?
- No more feudalism in France ( and most of Europe)
- Religious freedom across many European states
- Growth of republicanism in Europe ( voting for men)
- Weakening of the Catholic Church and some Protestant Churches too
What are 3 continuities after the French Revolution?
- Most monarchies persisted in Europe
- No widespread abolition of slavery
- Few gains for women
What’s the historical context of the Haitian Revolution? (4 bullet points)
- St. Domingue was a French colony in the Carribean that was Catholic/vodou
- They were a major producer of sugar and coffee (France’s wealthiest colony)
- Huge slave population (90%)
- Both rich and poor whites, along with mixed-race minorities
What were the 3 major causes of the Haitian Revolution
- Chattel Slavery
- Wealthy white men wanted to end mercantallist policies
- Rumors that the French Revolution led to the abolishment of slavery in France
What were the 8 major effects of the Haitian Revolution?
- Independence from France: country renamed “Haiti”
- Class & racial equality declared for all
- Plantation system destroyed and switched to subsistence farming
- Weren’t as profitable and led to increased poverty
- “Independence Debt” imposed by France kept country poor
- Continuing divisions of race and class led to authoritan rulers in the 19th century
- Inspiration/warning to the rest of the world
What’s the historical context of the Spanish American Revolutions? ( 1808-1825)
- Many Catholic Spanish & Portuguese colonies in Latin America
- Direct government control by Spain/Portugal
- Complex racial hierarchies (casta)
What were the 3 major causes of the Spanish American Revolutions?
- Creoles resented dominance of Peninsulares
- Enlightenment ideas
- Trade restrictions through mercantallist policies
What was the main change as an effect of the Spanish-American Revolutions?
Independence from Spain Portugal for 18 new independent states
