The Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes

The Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes 1750-1914 Strayer: Chapter 17

Chapter Overview • Part 1: Comparing Atlantic Revolutions • The North American Revolution 1775-1787 • The French Revolution 1789-1815 • The Haitian Revolution 1791-1804 • The Spanish American Revolutions 1810-1825

Part 2: Echoes of Revolution • The abolition of slavery • Nations and Nationalism • Feminist Beginnings • Part 3: Reflections Pros and Cons

Comparing Atlantic Revolutions • 1750-1850: A century of revolutions • Political revolutions occurred in North America, France, Haiti, and Spanish South America • The Columbian Exchange accelerated cultural diffusion and led to radical ideas • All were inspired by Enlightenment ideas • Each attempted to form Enlightened republican governments with varying levels of success

Enlightenment Ideas That Shaped Revolutions • Liberty • Equality • Free Trade • Religious Tolerance • Republicanism and “Popular Sovereignty” • Human Rationality • Ending arbitrary rule of divine right monarchs • Ending special aristocratic privileges

The World by 1750 • Atlantic basin = center of cultural, intellectual, and biological exchange • Enlightenment ideas shared in newspapers, essays, pamphlets, and books • People began to believe they could actively shape the world around them • Arbitrary rule of kings, and singular authority of the Church questioned • Huge emphasis on popular sovereignty

New questions arose: • Were liberty and equality compatible? • How far should liberty be extended? • What kind of government- unitary and centralized or federal and decentralized- would best ensure freedom?

Major similarity: • Propelled by Enlightenment ideas • Major differences to explore: • Triggered by different circumstances • Expressed different social and political tensions • Varying levels of experience with democracy prior to revolution • Varied in their outcomes

Question • In what ways did the ideas of the Enlightenment contribute to the Atlantic Revolutions?

North American Revolution (1775-1787) • 1776- Declaration of Independence • What Enlightenment ideas are found in this document? • 1781- Americans win an unlikely military victory • 1787- Federal Constitution joins thirteen colonies into a single nation

Triggered political revolutions around the Atlantic • Was politically conservative: • Originated out of an effort to preserve original liberties of colonies, not create new ones • Less profitable than Britain’s West Indian colonies, the 13 North American colonies benefitted from a huge amount of autonomy • American colonists benefitted from trade, and protection • American colonists came to see this autonomy as their birthright

Availability of land led to less poverty and fewer economic differences between classes than in Europe • Revolution DID NOT grow out of class tension, but from the sudden and unexpected attempt of the British government to take greater control over its colonies

So what made it revolutionary? • The society that emerged in North America prior to the revolution • The acceleration of democratic tendencies already present in the colonies • Although power remained largely in the hands of the wealthy, lower property requirements for voting allowed more small landowners to vote and hold office • Widening of political participation eroded the traditional power of he landed gentry

Successes of the American Revolution: • Declaration of Independence sets precedent for the right of people to revolt against unjust rule • US Constitution was one of the first sustained efforts to put Enlightenment ideas into practice • Bill of Rights • Checks and Balances • Separation of Church and State • Federalism • Unresolved Issues: • Slavery

Questions • In what ways was the American Revolution revolutionary? • In what ways was the American Revolution not revolutionary?

The French Revolution (1789-1815) • Causes • Enlightenment thought • Humiliating loss in the Seven Years War • Debt from giving monetary aid to American Revolutionaries • Increasing taxes • Consecutive years of bad weather and poor harvests • Emergence of middle class who resent their lack of power

Louis XVI attempts to solve problems • Calls the Estates General to raise taxes • Third Estate refuses to vote unless demands for greater equality are met • Louis XVI bans Third Estate from meeting • Members of the Third Estate and some sympathizers write The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen • National Assembly formed as planning for a new government, a limited monarchy, begins

Land

French Revolution: More violent and far-reaching than the American Revolution • Original goal: create a constitutional monarchy and promote harmony • Ideals faded as the revolution turned radical • Urban crowds protested violently • Peasants attacked castles of their lords, “The Great Fear” • National Assembly abolished noble titles and formally end feudalism • Church lands seized and sold • Civil Constitution of the Clergy made priests government employees • 1793, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette executed

1793-1794: The Reign of Terror, the radicalization of the French Revolution • Most violent and politically radical phase of the revolution • Turned of many of the revolution’s supporters like Thomas Jefferson • Dominated by Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety • Tens of thousands of “enemies of the revolution” die on the guillotine, most were just normal people

Radical attempts to create a new French society • Differed from America in its attempt to totally recreate the social order • New revolutionary calendar attempts to break with the Roman calendar • Became a republic and briefly passed universal male suffrage • Created a citizens army of over 800,000 people (service was mandatory for all male citizens) • State replaced the Church in registering all births, deaths, and marriages

Moved politics into the public sphere for the first time ever as people… • Joined political clubs • Served on public committees • Ran for public office • Began to think of themselves as citizens of a nation

The Hymn Of Liberty Oh Liberty, sacred Liberty Goddess of an enlightened people Rule today within these walls. Through you this temple is purified. Liberty! Before you reason chases out deception, Error flees, fanaticism is beaten down. Our gospel is nature And our cult is virtue. To love one’s country and one’s brothers, To serve the Sovereign People- These are the sacred tenets And pledge of a Republican!

The influence of the French Revolution spreads through Napoleon’s conquests (1799-1815)

Napoleon’s accomplishments • Seizes power in a coup d'état but becomes emperor through a plebiscite • Tamed the French Revolution • Conquered a huge empire spanning most of Europe • Ended feudalism • Codified laws into the Napoleonic Code • Insisted on legal equality and religious tolerance • Formed rational governments • Stimulated national consciousness throughout Europe

Despite all of this, Napoleon is only considered politically moderate • Napoleon’s liberal ideas • Civil equality, secular law code, religious freedom, freedom of occupation and promotion based on merit • Napoleon’s rejected radical ideas • Did not grant suffrage to women or abolish slavery • Embraced social equality but rejected liberty • Became an emperor

Questions • In what ways was the French Revolution similar to the American Revolution? • In what ways was the French Revolution different from the American Revolution?

The Haitian Republic (1799-1804) • A unique, and unprecedented event in world history • Marks the only time a revolution completely changed the social order by granting the lowest group within the society full equality and liberty • Made Haiti the first independent nation to reject slavery

Haiti before the revolution • Richest colony in the world • More than 8,000 plantations • Produced 40% of the world’s sugar • Produced 50% of the world’s coffee • Enormous inequality • 500,000 slaves • 40,000 whites including plantation owners, merchants, lawyers, and petitsblancs (poor whites) • 30,000 gens de couleurlibres (free blacks)

How the Haitian Revolution was inspired by the American and French Revolutions • Grandsblancs (rich white landowners) wanted more autonomy and fewer trade restrictions • Petitsblancs wanted equality and citizenship for all whites • Entrenched racism kept both white groups from considering extending the “rights of man” to all free people • Slaves wanted to end slavery

In 1791, a rumor spreads among the slaves of Haiti that the king of France has abolished slavery sparking revolution

Revolution spreads turmoil through Haiti • Factionalization • Spain and Britain attempt to grab territory • Confusion and brutality • 1000 plantations destroyed • Thousands killed in massacres • Toussaint L’Ouverture, a former slave, emerges as the leader • Overcomes internal division • Turned back Napoleon’s army

Positive effects of the Haitian Revolution on Haiti • Slavery ends- full equality and citizenship granted • Becomes the first non-European state to emerge from Western colonialism • Private and public lands redistributed to former slaves and free blacks  small scale farms • Negative effects of the Haitian Revolution on Haiti • Violence and distrust and division between racial groups • Weak economy • Unstable authoritarian government

Legacy of the Haitian Revolution • Source of hope for slaves in the Atlantic world • Source of fear for slave owners in the Atlantic world • Boosted abolitionist movements • Increased Creole fear of non-European peoples in Spanish and Portuguese Americas • Increased slavery in Cuba as Haitian sugar declined • Increased slavery in the USA following the Louisiana Purchase

Questions • In what ways were the origins of the Haitian Revolution similar to the French and American Revolutions? • What makes the Haitian Revolution different from the other Atlantic Revolutions?

Spanish American Revolutions (1810-1825) • Inspiration for the revolutions • Success of American, French, and Haitian revolutions • Creoles angered over Spanish monarchy’s attempt to take greater control over colonies • Creoles familiar with Enlightenment ideas

Why did it take so long for the revolutions to begin? • Unlike 13 colonies, little tradition of self government • Societies more stratified and more authoritarian • Whites fearful of losing control of much larger non-white populations, especially after Haitian Revolution

Napoleon’s actions in Europe thrust the revolution upon the colonists • 1808- Napoleon invades Portugal forcing the royal family into exile in Brazil • 1808- Napoleon invades Spain deposing king Ferdinand VII • Lack of royal authority threw Spanish colonists into disarray • Creoles work to establish control  independence movements

Mexico’s journey to independence • Began in 1810 as a peasant insurrection led by priest Miguel de Hidalgo and later Jose Morelos • Hidalgo fights off Creole elites, and Peninsular • Hidalgo is captured, defrocked, and excommunicated-then decapitated • Jose Morelos-leads the revolution • Defeats Spanish Army • Creole military leader Augustin de Itrubide becomes emperor of Mexico • However, Santa Anna overthrows Itrubide • In 1825, Mexico became a republic

In South America, Creoles break the Spanish imperial state but maintain colonial social order • Most Creole leaders were liberals inspired by Enlightenment ideas • Creole leaders like Jose de San Martin and Simon Bolivar gain the support of “the people” • Relied on nativismto unite Americanos against the Spanish • Mestizos joined the revolution believing promises of greater social status • Few promises of the revolutions were kept

Geography made uniting the Spanish colonies impossible • To many different regions with distinct local identities and different needs

Questions • How were the Latin American Revolutions shaped by the American, French, and Haitian revolutions that occurred before them? • Describe the major issues that delayed the beginning of the Latin American revolutions

Echoes of the Atlantic Revolutions • Abolition of slavery • Rise of nations and nationalism • Emergence of feminism

Abolition of Slavery • Between 1790 and 1890 slavery lost its legitimacy and was largely ended • Enlightenment though was critical of slavery • American and French revolutions focused on liberty and equality raising more questions • Quakers and other Protestant sects found slavery repugnant to their religion • Emergence of industrial society further made slavery obsolete

Actions of slaves also helped end slavery • Haitian revolution followed by three more major slave revolts in the British West Indies • Illustrated that enslaved people were not content • Brutal suppression outraged the British public

Britain, the nation that once dominated the slave trade brings about its end • Puts international pressure on other nations to end slavery • 1807- Britain bans sale of slaves within its empire • Strongest navy in the world actively patrols oceans disrupting international slave trade • 1834- Britain emancipates all slaves in its empire

Coerced labor comes to an end outside the British empire • Most Latin American countries abolish slavery in the 1850s • Russian Czar Alexander II emancipates serfs • Emancipation Proclamation ends slavery in the USA in 1863 • In 1888, Brazil becomes the last nation in the Americas to end slavery

Resistance came from slave owners and slave traders in the colonies and in West Africa • Kingdoms like Asante began to use slave labor to build plantation economies • Haiti was the only nation to abolish slavery and grant full equality to formerly enslaved people • For former slaves in other nations, emancipation meant little more than freedom • Reluctance of former slaves to continue plantation work  a new wave of global migration and an influx of indentured servants from India and China

Former slave trading kingdoms began to rely on slave labor as they transitioned to plantation economies • Ironically, Europeans would use the need to end slavery in Africa as an excuse to establish colonies throughout the continent in the late 19th century

Questions • Describe how the end of slavery came about in the Atlantic world • How did the end of slavery affect the loves of formerly enslaved peoples?

The Atlantic Revolutions and Their Echoes