Liberté WHAP/Napp
“The victory of the rebel American colonies, with French help, had strong repercussions in France. Much debt had been incurred and the king had to increase taxes in order to fight the war. But the events on the far side of the Atlantic had shown that even the most powerful monarch was vulnerable if people, in demanding more freedom, stood up to him. The outbreak in 1789 of a popular revolution in France, the outcome of a whirlpool of major and minor causes, was strongly propelled by the revolt in the United States and the principles enunciated in that revolt.
Erupting in Versailles and Paris in May 1789, the French Revolution at first seemed to be a declaration of hope rather than a prelude to the turmoil. By July, however, a mob was running loose in Paris. In the next month the French assembly issued a declaration of ‘the rights of man.’ Such declarations, to be almost a monthly event in some years of the late 20th century, were a rarity as well as an act of treason in the 18th century. Three months after the declaration, the extensive properties of the Catholic church in France were nationalized, and many priests as well as royalists were wisely fleeing the kingdom. And yet the collapse of the old regime in France initially pleased or delighted many liberals. In London in February 1790, where the democratic tradition had long been more vigorous than in France, the House of Commons could still debate whether the tumultuous events in France were to be welcomed or feared.
By 1791 the King of France was a captive in his own land. In 1792, amongst the new laws, marriage was permitted without the clergy presiding and divorce was liberalized. In September of that year was passed an unusual law whereby any clergyman denounced by six or more citizens for ‘uncitizenly behavior’ was liable to be deported, and at the end of that year three ships, carrying 550 convicted priests, set sail for the area in northwestern Africa later known as Spanish Sahara. A month after they sailed the king himself was executed for the crime of treason. Less than nine months later was issued an official manifesto of a kind unimaginable in western Europe in any of the previous 1,000 years. It virtually proclaimed that Christianity was abolished in France.” ~ A Short History of the World
1- How did the American Revolution affect France? ______
2- What happened in 1789? ______
3- How did revolution in France affect the Catholic Church? ______
4- What law was passed in September 1792? ______
5- What happened to 550 convicted priests? ______
6- What happened to the king? ______
7- What did the revolutionaries abolish? ______
Notes:I. Atlantic Revolutions
A. Revolutions in North America, France, Haiti, and Latin America
B. Thomas Jefferson was U.S. ambassador to France on eve of French Revolution and Simon Bolívar visited Haiti twice
C. Radical notion that human society could be improved by human action
D. New ideas of liberty, equality, free trade, religious tolerance, rationality
E. Englishman John Locke (1632-1704)à“social contract” between ruler and ruled should last only as long as it served people well
F. Yet except in Haiti, beneficiaries were propertied white men
II. The North American Revolution
A. (1775-1787) was a struggle for independence from oppressive British rule
B. Began with Declaration of Independence in 1776 and resulted in an unlikely military victory by 1781 which generated a federal constitution in 1787
C. But conservativeàOriginated in an effort to preserve existing liberties
D. Colonies in North America had considerable degree of local autonomy
E. Then sudden effort by British government to tighten control over colonies
F. New taxes were imposed on colonies due to European wars
G. Enlightenment ideas and discontent à colonists went to war
I. But independence from Britain not accompanied by social transformation
J. Political authority remained in hands of existing elites (revolutionary leaders)
K. Yet property requirements for voting were eventually lowered
L. Yet U.S. Constitution put political ideas of Enlightenment into practice
III. The French Revolution
A. French soldiers fought with colonistsàreturned home with new ideas
B. French king aided Americans to undermine British, on brink of bankruptcy
C. In effort to raise taxes against opposition of privileged classes, French king, Louis XVI, called into session an ancient parliamentary body, Estates General consisting of three “estates”- clergy, nobility, commoners
D. First two estates, clergy & nobility, comprised about 2 percent of population
E. Third Estate included everyone else and paid most of taxes in France
F. When convened in 1789, Third Estate soon organized themselves as the National Assembly, with sole authority to make laws for country
G. Drew up Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which declared that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”
H. Actions in acien régime (the Old Regime) launched French Revolution
I. French Revolution driven by sharp class conflicts within society
J. Social conflicts gave Revolution, during its first five years, a much more violent, far-reaching, and radical character than American counterpart
K. National Assembly decreed end of legal privileges and abolished feudalism
L. Early 1793, King Louis XVI and queen, Marie Antoinette, executed
M. Reign of Terror of 1793-1794 led by Maximilien Robespierre and Committee of Public Safety sent thousands to guillotine
N. As revolutionary France prepared for war against threatening neighbors, it created the world’s largest army with all adult males required to serve
O. Common people, who had identified with local community, now began to think of themselves as belonging to a nation
P. Ideas spread through conquest, Napoleon Bonaparte (ruled 1799-1814)
Q. Napoleon kept social equality but dispensed with liberty
R. Resistance, particularly from Russia and Britain, brought down Napoleon and ended his empire by 1815 but ideals lived on
S. Independence Movements in the Americas
T. To slaves in French colony of Saint Domingue, promise of French Revolution’s ideas was personal freedom that threatened slave labor system
U. Slave revolt began in 1791, triggered by rumors that the French king had declared an end to slavery, in colony
V. Power gravitated toward slaves, led by Toussaint Louverture, a former slave
W. It was the only completely successful slave revolt in world history
X. Country had been renamed Haiti, a term meaning “mountainous”
Y. Haiti was formally declared independent on January 1, 1804
Z. Jean-Jacques Dessalines was the new country’s first head of state
AA. Haitian Revolution injected social conservatism in elites of Spanish America as nations soon fought for independence although inspired by Haiti
BB. Napoleon’s defeat in Haiti persuaded him to sell French territories known as the Louisiana Purchase to the United States
Complete the Graphic Organizer Below:
Questions:
· In what ways did the ideas of the Enlightenment contribute to the Atlantic revolutions?
· What was revolutionary about the American Revolution and what was not?
· How did the French Revolution differ from the American Revolution?
· What was distinctive about the Haitian Revolution, both in world history generally and in the history of Atlantic revolutions?
1. Which of the following documents spells out Enlightenment ideas as they were applied to revolutionary France?(A) The Declaration of Independence
(B) Second Treatise of Government
(C) The Social Contract
(D) Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
(E) Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
2. Which of the following ran counter to the democratic impulses associated with the American Revolution?
(A) Rejection of aristocratic notions of hierarchy in the thirteen colonies
(B) Continued centrality of slavery to the colonial socioeconomic order
(C) New England’s tradition of town meetings
(D) Virginia’s practice of election of a House of Burgesses
(E) Demands for representation in British Parliament
3. Historians estimate the numbers of victims in the Reign of Terror in roughly what figures?
(A) Hundreds
(B) Thousands
(C) Tens of thousands
(D) Hundreds of thousands
(E) Millions / 4. Which list places key events of the French Revolution in proper chronological order?
(A) Formation of National Assembly, Reign of Terror, Directory, rule of Napoleon
(B) Reign of Terror, rule of Napoleon, formation of National Assembly, Directory
(C) Directory, rule of Napoleon, formation of National Assembly, Reign of Terror
(D) Formation of National Assembly, Reign of Terror, rule of Napoleon, Directory
(E) Rule of Napoleon, Directory, Reign of Terror, Formation of National Assembly
5. Which group emerged at the peak of French social status as a result of the French Revolution?
(A) Urban proletariat and artisans
(B) Aristocracy
(C) Clergy
(D) Bourgeoisie
(E) Peasantry
6. Which traditions of the French Revolution did not survive long beyond the initial and radical phases?
(A) Equality under the law
(B) Attack on feudal privilege and institutions
(C) Popular nationalism
(D) The metric system
(E) Women’s leading role in toppling established political powers
Thesis Statement: Comparative: The Atlantic Revolutions
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