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Chapter EightRevolutions
Section OneTools for Analyzing Revolutions
From the title of the chapter, youve probably surmised that this unit is about revolutions. Tons of people started revolting against their governments in the late 1700sAmerican colonists, French people, Haitians, and Spanish colonists. This was due in large part to the spread of Enlightenment ideas about the social contract and the responsibility of government within that contract. But before we learn about the revolutions themselves, we need to learn about some tools we will be using to analyze and compare revolutionsthe Political Spectrum and the Fever Model.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section OneTools for Analyzing Revolutions

the Political Spectrum Think about the color spectrum. Youve

probably learned about ROY G BV in science, so you know the order of the colors on the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. But those six main colors arent the only colors in a spectrum. There are millions and millions of spots in a rainbow that are in between two colors: maybe a tiny bit of red with a lot of orange, or a sort of turquoise color between green and blue. Now think about peoples political beliefs. You might know some terms for political beliefs, like liberal, conservative, or moderate. But just like a spectrum has colors that are blends of two main colors, there are also beliefs on the political spectrum that are blends of two of the main positions. That is why the metaphor of a spectrum is used to analyze political beliefs. There are five main positions on the political spectrum, and an infinite number of positions in between. The location of a position on the political spectrum gives us some information about the nature of the beliefs. The further left a persons position on the spectrum, the more change he wants (and vice versa). The closer to the top of the spectrum, the less violence he wants (and vice versa).
less violent

Moderates

Liberals

Conservatives

Radicals
more violent more change

Reactionaries

less change

the Political Spectrum

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Radicals On the bottom left of the political spectrum are radicals. Radicals want significant change and are willing to use violence to achieve it. On our modern American political spectrum, this spot would be occupied by communists and anarchists. Liberals The second-to-the-left position on the spectrum is occupied by liberals. Liberals want change, but want to achieve the change by legal or peaceful methods. (That is why they are further up on the spectrum than radicals are remember, the closer to the top, the less violence.) Democrats are the liberals in our modern political spectrum.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section OneTools for Analyzing Revolutions

Thats David Bowie. He sings that song that goes, Chch-ch-ch-changes! Also, hes got a spectrum on his face.

Moderates At the top of the political spectrum are moderates. Moderates might want a little change, but for the most part they tend to try to achieve compromise between competing political parties. On our modern spectrum, moderates might identify as either Democrats or Republicans, but their beliefs would be kind of in between. (By the way, most Its fun when inanimate objects presidents are moderateswhy does have faces! But not when they have arms. Thats just unrealistic. that make sense?) Conservatives The second-to-the-right position on the spectrum is occupied by conservatives. The root word of conservative conservetells you what conservatives want. They like things the way they are, and desire no change. In the American political spectrum, Republicans are in the conservative spot. Reactionaries On the bottom right of the political spectrum are reactionaries. Reactionaries tend to want to go back to the way things used to be, and are willing to use violence to achieve it. There isnt really a wellknown modern example of reactionaries, though the Tea Party is somewhere between conservative and reactionary.
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The political spectrum can be applied to any political system in any time period. You just have to take into account what kind of government was in existence during the time when you are doing your spectrum. For example, if you were doing an American political spectrum in 1950, when segregation was legal, a conservative might be pro-segregation. However, if you did your spectrum in 1995, after segregation had been made illegal, a prosegregationist would be a reactionary.

the Fever Model The Fever Model is a metaphor for analyzing

the events of a revolution which compares the stages of a revolution to the stages of an illness. Incubation The first stage of any illness is incubation. This is when germs, which come from outside a person, infiltrate a persons body. The person might not even know the germs are there, but the germs are already working to make the person sick.
According to the internet, In a revolution, the perceived germs are freakin adorable. unfair actions of the government are like germs. The government begins to do something that makes the people angry. In the incubation stage, the people havent done anything about it yet, thoughjust like when there are germs in your body, but your body hasnt done anything to fight them off yet. In other words, the incubation stage of a revolution would include all the causes of the revolution. Chapter EightRevolutions; Section OneTools for Analyzing Revolutions

Ew.

Symptoms The next stage of getting sick is the symptomatic stage. A sick person might get a fever or a runny nose. Both of these actions are the bodys way of trying to kill off the germs before the person gets so sick that he is not functional. (The function of a fever is to heat up the body and kill the germs with heat; the function of snot is to capture germs and help them run out of the body.)

In a revolution, the symptomatic phases would entail the people

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PLEASE DO NOT WRITE ON THIS PACKET OR TAKE IT FROM THE CLASSROOM!! IN AN ILLNESS Germs enter the body, but sick person doesnt really know theyre there yet. SNOT!! FEVER!! COUGHING!! Body is trying to get rid of the germs without getting fully sick. Sick person lies in bed and whines for things. Others allow this because being sick sucks. Sick person gets better, and tries to prevent herself from getting sick again by having good hygiene, resting, etc. FEVER MODEL STAGE IN A REVOLUTION Government does annoying things to the people.

Incubation

Symptoms

People try to peacefully negotiate with the government to get the problems solved. BULLETS!! SWORDS!! BLOOD!! EXPLOSIONS!! (This is where they fight, see.) Revolutionaries set up a new government, hopefully in such a way as to prevent whatever made them mad from happening again.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section OneTools for Analyzing Revolutions

Crisis

Convalescence

the Fever Model of Revolutions

doing something to let the government know they are unhappy, but without trying to overthrow the government. This could include nonviolent protests, documents asking the government to mend its ways, etc. Crisis For a sick person, if the body didnt successfully get rid of the germs in the symptomatic stage, she would next enter the crisis phase. Crisis is the part of the illness in which a person must stay in bed, cant do her work, and may need to be hospitalized. In a revolution, the crisis phase is the time during which there is open fighting between the government and the people. Convalescence Convalescence is an old-fashioned word for getting better. Obviously, not all sick people get better; some die, and thus never get to convalescence. But for those who do get better, they will go through a period during which they change their ways and try to prevent whatever made them sick in the first place. For example, a person who had a heart attack might make changes to diet and exercise; a person who was in a car accident might be extra vigilant about seat-belt wearing. For a failed revolution, there would be no convalescence phase. In a successful revolution the convalescence phase would include the formation of a new government with policies designed to prevent the injustices that caused the revolution in the first place.
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8.2Causes of the American Revolution

the Thirteen Colonies As you
remember from Chapter Six, by the 1600s, colonies had been established in North America by Spain, France, and England. The first permanent English settlement in the Americas was Jamestown (in Virginia), which was established in 1607. By 1691, there were thirteen officially recognized British colonies in North America.

British settlers and Native Americans making friends at Jamestown. That didnt last long.

In general, the southern colonies were founded by people who were concerned with making a profit. Because the southern colonies had a good climate and fertile soil, they were ideal for growing cash cropslike cotton and tobaccoon plantations. In contrast, the northern colonies tended to be founded by people who wanted to enjoy religious tolerance (or at least tolerance for their own religion, if not for other peoples!). Though there was some farming in the northern colonies, it was not as lucrative as was that in the southern colonies. The economies of the northern colonies were more mixed, and also supported fishing (particularly whaling), animal trapping, and lumberjacking. These differences in economies would persist into the 1800s, eventually causing a little disruption called the Civil War. Alas, we are getting ahead of ourselves. Salutary Neglect Until the 1760s, the colonies were left in a state of salutary neglect.
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British is often used as a synonym for English. If you want to get technical, England refers to England only, and Great Britain refers to England, Scotland, and Wales together. But who wants to get technical? Maybe technicians. So if youre a technician, this box is for you! A lucrative industry is one from which lots of profit can be made.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section TwoCauses of the American Revolution

British colonies in North America

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Salutary means healthful or beneficial. So salutary neglect implies that though the British government wasnt paying much attention to the American colonies, the colonists were OK with that. During this period, the colonists pretty much ruled and taxed themselves. Every colony had its own version of a government with separation of powers: a governor to act as an executive branch, Houses of Burgesses to act as the legislative branch, and a court system to act as the judicial branch.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section TwoCauses of the American Revolution

A burgess (pronounced BUR-jiss) is a representative.

Burgesses in da house! Apparently, that one burgess is utterly fascinating.

Causes of the American Revolution Eventually, however,

several factors led the British government to end its policy of salutary neglect and tighten its rule over the American colonists. These factors included the Seven Years War, the Proclamation of 1763, the Quartering Act, and numerous taxes. the Seven Years War It all started with the Seven Years War, which began in 1756. We learned about it in Chapter Seven, but just to refresh your memory, this war started when Frederick the Great of Prussia invaded Saxony (part of the Holy Roman Empire). Prussia had the strongest land army in Europe, and was allied with England, which had the strongest navy and most prosperous economy. This alliance upset the balance of power, which freaked out other European countries. Eventually, all the major European countries got George Washington did such a fantastic involved to try and preserve the job in the Seven Years War that he was made commander of the American balance (including France). troops in the American Revolution. Not surprisingly, the English & Prussians won the war, in 1763. What the heck does this have to do with America? Well, the English had colonies in America, and so did the French (in modernday Canada). So, part of the Seven Years War was fought between French and British colonists in the Americas. (This part of the war is sometimes called the French and Indian War in American history, because American colonists were fighting with
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the French and Indians for territory.) The English had spent considerable amounts of money during the war, part of which went for the defense of the American colonists. The English government needed to recoup its expenses, and prevent future clashes between English colonists and Indians in the Americas. In order to do this, the government began making a bunch of laws that affected the colonists. The problem with this situation was that the American colonists felt they had all the same rights as other British peopleincluding the right to representation in Parliament. But there was no colonial representative in Parliament, and so the colonists believed that it was unfair that they had to obey laws made without their consent. The ideas of the Enlightenment, which had become relatively widespread, contributed to the recalcitrant nature of the American colonists. the Proclamation of 1763 Since the British colonists had arrived, there had been many occurrences of violence between them and the native Americans whom they were displacing. After the Seven Years War, Parliament didnt want to have to lay out any more money for the colonists defense, so they made the Proclamation of 1763 to prevent conflict between the colonists and native Americans. This law basically stated that no colonists were to go west of the Apparently these colonists didnt get Appalachian the memo about the Proclamation of 1763. mountains. the Quartering Act In 1765, Parliament declared that colonists must provide or pay for places for British soldiers stationed in the colonies to stay. Essentially, the colonists were expected to take in the soldiers as houseguests. (Its called the Quartering Act because it was the colonists responsibility to provide living quarters for the soldiers.) The next year, Parliament amended the
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To recoup is to gain back something that has been lost.

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A recalcitrant person is uncooperative or disobedient.

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say that the colonists should pay for soldiers to stay in hotels if they didnt want to host them in their homes.

OI! CAN I SLEEP ON YOUR COUCH?

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section TwoCauses of the American Revolution

Taxation Without Representation The thing that stuck in the If something sticks in colonists craws the most was the your craw, it really issue of taxation without annoys you. A craw representation. The colonists is a birds throat, so (supposedly) did not have a hopefully you dont problem with Parliament taxing have one. Its just Thanks to the Quartering Act, this guy them; it was the fact that they an expression. doesnt have to sleep outside. werent represented in My Dad says the Parliament that made them angry. This led to a pattern: every only good tax is a time the British would come up with a new way to tax the colonists, tax on someone the colonists would resist. There were lots n lots n lots of different else. Most people taxes, but two of the most hated were the Stamp Act and understand on a theoretical level Townshend Acts. The Stamp Act, passed in 1765, was a tax on printed goods. It required that any printed paper (like newspapers, books, or legal documents) have a stamp on it that showed the tax had been paid. The Townshend Acts, passed in 1767, taxed paper, paint, lead, In 18th-century printing, glass, and tea. This would be lower case Ss looked like Fs. the equivalent of taxing plastic and caffeinated drinks for modern peopleit would essentially be a tax on everything. Glass and paper were ubiquitous forms of If something is ubiquitous, it can be packaging in the 1700s, and British people loved tea the way we love Starbucks & Red Bull. found everywhere.
Americans actually started drinking coffee as a substitute for tea during this time period, as a way to rebel against the tax. that governments need to tax people, but its still annoying when it happens to you!

Early Colonial Responses Think about when you have a

disagreement with your boyfriend or girlfriend. You dont just immediately break up and vow never to talk to each other again. Instead, you try to fix whatever caused the disagreement. Its only after a series of disagreements and failures to fix the problems that you would consider breaking up. It went the same way with the American colonists and Britain. At first, the colonists tried to peacefully let the British know that they werent happy with all the new taxes and legislation. After their protests failed, then they decided to break off and form their own country.

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Declaration of Rights and Grievances In 1765, right after the passage of the Stamp Act, delegates from eight colonies got together and drafted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. A grievance is a This was basically a letter to the king stating that they felt they had complaint. (The all the same rights as other Englishmen, and should be represented root word is grief.) in Parliament. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but instead passed a new law that stated its right to create whatever laws it wanted to for the colonists. Non-importation Agreements Starting with the issuance of the Quartering Act in 1765, the colonists got together numerous times and agreed to boycott British goods. Collectively, these are known as the Non-importation Agreements. This was a big deal for the American colonists, because almost all manufactured goods (including guns) came from Great Britain at the time. That would be similar to modern people boycotting products from Asiawed have no electronics! So the fact that they were willing to make these sacrifices shows how truly unhappy they were with the situation. Belligerent Boston In 1770, there was a riot among colonial Bostonians, and in response, British soldiers fired into the crowd. Five colonists were killed, which is sad, but the event hardly merits the name it was given by the coloniststhe Boston Massacre.

During a boycott, consumers refuse to buy something, which punishes the sellers by lessening their profits.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section TwoCauses of the American Revolution

A belligerent person is argumentative and prone to violence.

But King George, the colonists started it!

Those rebellious Bostonians made a splash again in 1773 with the Boston Tea Party, which you almost assuredly learned about in first grade. But just in case you were busy eating paste that day and not paying attention, heres a refresher: in order to protest the tax on tea, colonists sneaked onto ships in the middle of the night and dumped all Wow, colonists. Good job on those the tea in Boston super-realistic Native American costumes! harbor.
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8.3the American Revolution and its Effects

To quibble is to argue.

So basically, for more than ten years (1763-1776), the British government and the American colonists quibbled. They got into a pattern: Parliament would pass a tax; the colonists would protest it, and then the British would repeal it and pass a different tax instead. According to the social contract theory of the Enlightenment, the government had a responsibility to the people, and in the colonists eyes, the British government was not holding up its end of the deal. After a while, the colonists got sick of it and decided to ditch the British.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section ThreeAmerican Revolution & its Effects

Calling it Quits with the Brits In

1775, Parliament declared that the colonists were in a state of rebellion, and sent in more troops to keep them under control. These British soldiers, whom the colonists called lobsterbacks or redcoats, skirmished with colonial troops Nice capri pants, Colonial Kid. called Minutemen. So though officially the American Revolution began in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence, the fighting actually began the previous year. Common Sense In January of 1776, a corset-maker named Thomas Paine published a pamphlet, called Common Sense. In it, he argued that the colonists had done all they could to address their issues with the British government, and the government was not responding appropriately. The best thing to do would be to just break off and form their own country.
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The British soldiers wore red coats, and lobsters are red; hence the term Lobsterback. A skirmish is essentially a minibattle. The colonial militias were called Minutemen because they were supposed to be ready at a minutes notice.

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the Declaration of Independence On July 4, 1776, members of the Second Continental Congress sent the Declaration of Independence off to King George III and Parliament. It was drafted by a committee which included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Richard Henry Lee, and was led by Thomas Jefferson, who did most of the writing. In the Declaration, Jefferson asserted that all people were born with natural rights, which included life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The governments job was to project those natural rights, and the British government hadnt been doing so. Essentially, the British had broken the social contract, so the colonists were overthrowing them. WAIT A MINUTE. Didnt John Locke say all that stuff? Why yes, Young Scholar, he did. Good for you for remembering something from that long-ago chapter, Chapter Seven! The Founding Fathers of America were very into Enlightenment philosophies.

King George III was king of England during the American Revolution.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section ThreeAmerican Revolution & Its Effects

Golly! I wonder what those dudes are signing?

In fact, all of the US Founding Documents (the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights) were influenced by Enlightenment thinkers. You should definitely remember who influenced what. Well cover the rest of it later in the section, but for now, be sure to write down that John Locke influenced the Declaration of Independence. Also, the signing of the Declaration of Independence was considered to be the official beginning of the American Revolution, so you should write down that the aforementioned revolution began in 1776.
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PLEASE DO NOT WRITE ON THIS PACKET OR TAKE IT FROM THE CLASSROOM!! Prattle is foolish or meaningless talk. And while battles might be foolish, they arent usually meaningless. Hey, man, it rhymes, so give me some artistic license, willya? In a turning point battle, the side that eventually wins the war starts to win.

Battle Prattle In most wars, there are lots of battles. If you watch
the History Channel, or if you become a military historian, you can learn about almost every aspect of every battle that ever was. If youre into that kind of thing, go for it! However, for our purposes, we really only need to know a couple of battles for each war. The battles that are always important to remember are the first battle, the turning point battle, and the last battle. The first two battles of the American RevolutionLexington and Concord are usually mentioned together. Both occurred in 1775, so were part of the fighting that happened before the Declaration of Independence. These two battles are often referred to by the moniker shots heard round the world, because they were the first official battles of the revolution, and the American Revolution inspired Fellow ladies!! Check out that guy in the foreground of this revolutions painting of the Battle of Lexington. That is what I call a around the historical hottie. (I think battles are BOR-ING. Thats why I dont work for the History Channel.) world. The Battle of Saratoga, in 1777, was the turning point in the American Revolution. After the Americans won this battle, the French realized that the Americans might actually win, and began to send them money to aid them in the fighting. The last battle of the revolution was the Battle of Yorktown, in 1781. After this battle, the British General Cornwallis surrendered to the American General George Washington, marking the end of the fighting. The Treaty of Paris (1783) officially ended the war. In this treaty, the British acknowledged American independence.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section ThreeAmerican Revolution & Its Effects

A moniker is a nickname.

The French and English totally hated each other (remember the Hundred Years War?), so it makes sense that the French would want to help the Americans beat the English. There are about 478 treaties named the Treaty of Paris, so you have to put the year after it so people know which one youre talking about. I know you talk about historical treaties a lot in daily life. 8.3

the New Government Whats the first thing every new country
needs? A government! But the constitution we currently use in the United States wasnt ratified until 1789. So there must have been some other government in effect before that, right?
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the Articles of ConfederationNOT a Newspaper You know how, as a teenager, you like to rebel, and you kinda want to do exactly the opposite of what your parents do? The new American government was pretty much like a rebellious teenager. The Americans didnt want to have a set-up like the British had, with centralized government control, and separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Thus came Americas first constitution, which was essentially the polar opposite of the British government--the Articles of Confederation. This constitution ruled the country between 1781 and 1787. Weve talked about confederations before, in reference to the Holy Roman Empire. A confederation is a loose alliance among states, usually for defense purposes. In a confederation, the central government is very weak; instead, states or regions have a lot of autonomy. So, under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government was very weak. In fact, the Articles dont even refer to the United States as a nation. Its stated purpose was for the states to establish a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense. Under the Articles, states retained the right to tax the people, regulate trade, and conduct foreign policy. It was essentially as though each state was its own little country. This caused serious economic issues, so in 1787, a group of delegates met in Philadelphia to draft a new constitution at the aptly-named Constitutional Convention.
Chapter EightRevolutions; Section ThreeAmerican Revolution & Its Effects

Autonomy is control over ones own affairs. Federal government is national government.

Oh, look! Its yet another picture of guys wearing kneesocks sitting in a room holding some papers. Refreshing!

the Constitutional Convention The delegates to the Constitutional Convention began writing a new constitution that would provide for a federal republic. Federal means national, and you already know that a republic is a type of representative democracy in which citizens vote for representatives who act on
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their behalf (like the Senate in Ancient Rome, or Parliament in England). So a federal republic would be a country with a strong national government made up of elected representatives. The framers of the constitution were influenced by the writings of Montesquieu. As a result, they provided for a separation of powers in the US government, giving executive power to the President, legislative power to Congress, and judicial power to the Supreme Court. Each branch of government could limit the other branches power, so that no one branch would have absolute power. This ability to limit the power of the other branches of government is called checks and balances. Some examples of checks and balances include the veto power of the president, the ability of Congress to override a presidential veto, the right of Congress to impeach the president, and the presidents appointment of Supreme Court justices. Federalists vs. Anti-federalists Once the US Constitution was written, it had to be ratified, or approved of, by all thirteen states in order to go into effect. A lot of people thought the Constitution was really awesome because it created such a strong federal government. These people were called Federalists, and they wrote pamphlets about how wonderful the constitution was called the Federalist Papers. Another group thought the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government. Conveniently, they were called the Antifederalists, and their pamphlets which argued against the Constitution were the Anti-federalist Papers. They refused to ratify it as it had been written, and wanted to give more power to the states. the Bill of Rights In order to get the Anti-federalists to ratify the Constitution( which they did in 1789), the framers had to add ten amendments to it which protected individual freedoms. These ten amendments are collectively referred to as the Bill of Rights, and the freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights are known as civil liberties. the Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights directly addresses a lot of the grievances the colonists had had against the British government. For example, the second amendment emphasizes the rights of citizens to form a militia, and the third amendment states that citizens will never have to quarter troops in their homes. Other portions of the US Bill of Rights show the influence of the English Bill of Rights. Both documents protect citizens from cruel and unusual punishment, promote religious toleration, and guarantee due process of law. Additionally, the US Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech and press and the right to assembly.
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Chapter EightRevolutions; Section ThreeAmerican Revolution & Its Effects

In a government with checks and balances, one part of the government must check with another part before it can take action. To impeach a government official is to formally accuse him or her of a crime. It doesnt necessarily mean the person has to leave office. The President will usually appoint Supreme Court justices whom he knows will support his policies.

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8.4the French Revolution

Since the late Middle Ages, French kings had been working on increasing monarchical power. By the 1600s, Louis XIV had become the quintessential absolute monarch. Louis successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI, werent quite so good at managing the country as he had been, though. These problems, along with the spread of Enlightenment ideas and the success of the American Revolution, led to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789.
XIV = fourteenth, XV = fifteenth, and XVI = sixteenth.

Causes of the French Revolution By the end of the

eighteenth century (the 1700s), serious social and economic problems had developed within France.
Chapter EightRevolutions; Section Fourthe French Revolution

This political cartoon is depicting representatives of the First and Second Estates crushing the Third Estate under a rock with the French word for taxation written on it.

Social Problems Medieval and early modern France was characterized by a rigid social system called the Ancien Regime. The three social classes within the system were referred to as estates. The First Estate was made up of the clergy; hereditary nobles composed the Second Estate, and the Third Estate included everyone else. Many members of the Third Estate were poor, such as farmers and urban laborers, but it also included the middle class, which in France was called the bourgeoisie. The First and Second Estates had several privileges that did not extend to the Third Estate. The members of the top two estates owned most of the land in France, could demand that peasants from the Third Estate perform certain tasks for them, and most importantly, were exempt from taxes.
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Ancien Regime (pronounced ONsee-on ruh-JEEM) is French for the old order. (Nope, I didnt forget to put the T on ancient. Its French!) Bourgeoisie is pronounced borezhwah-ZEE, and is quite possibly the hardest word in the entire universe to spell. 8.4

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When a government is using deficit spending, it is spending more money than it takes in. (This usually means that the government is using borrowed money.) The trappings of absolute monarchy are all the accessories and extra things that go along with it. A famine is a time period during which there is very little food and many people are starving. The Estates-General included representatives of all three estates, but did not have any official power in the government. The king could just call it whenever he wanted advice.

Economic Problems For a long time, the monarchs of France had been using deficit spending to finance all the trappings of absolute monarchy, such as palaces, art, and multiple wars. For example, France had recently participated in the Seven Years War (on the losing side) and contributed money to the American Revolution. Because the First and Second Estates were not taxed, and the Third Estate couldnt afford any further taxation, the government was spending more money than it brought in. Meanwhile, weather issues had led to a series of famines throughout the country. This culminated in a financial crisis for Louis XVI in 1789. In order to deal with these economic problems, Louis called a meeting of his advisory board, the Estates-General, in 1789. The answer to the problem was obviousthat the First and Second Estates needed to be taxedbut of course, the clergy and the nobles would not vote to tax themselves.

Chapter EightRevolutions; Section Fourthe French Revolution

Hey, First and Second Estates, wanna tax yourselves? Thatd be like your parents asking you if you wanted to clean your room. An impasse is a situation in which no progress is possible, usually due to a disagreement.

the Moderate Phase of the French Revolution Some of the

delegates to the Estates-General (mostly Third Estaters) got fed up with the impasse, and decided to create a new committee, which they called the National Assembly. The goal of the National Assembly (and of the moderate phase in general) was to create a constitutional monarchy. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen Just as the American colonists had been, the participants in the National Assembly were influenced by Enlightenment ideas. They created a preamble to their new constitution, called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which was modeled on the Declaration of Independence. Both documents mentioned the ideas of John Lockethat the governments job was to protect the peoples
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natural rights, and that if the government didnt, then the people had a right to overthrow it. the Moderate Constitution The new French constitution was ratified in 1791. Professional historians would refer to this as the Constitution of 1791, but in order to make things a little simpler for us, we will just call it the Moderate Constitution. It established a threebranched government, with the National Assembly serving as the legislative branch, the king and his An original copy of the Declaration of the Rights of advisors as the executive Man and Citizen. The flowers are so pretty. branch, and a new court system for the judicial branch. (Shout out to Montesquieu!) The Moderate Constitution also guaranteed freedom of speech and religion, and made provisions to protect property. (Thanks, Voltaire and Locke!) All citizens were to be taxed according to their ability to pay. In order to promote the general will (Hi, Rousseau!), a system for voting was created. This system wasnt totally egalitarianonly citizens who owned a certain amount of property were allowed to votebut hey, at least someone was voting, right? Not everyone dug the new constitution, however. Some people thought it was too liberal. Louis XVI was very reluctant to ratify it, and lots of nobles and clergy, who were unhappy about being taxed, moved away to other countries. Other people thought the new constitution wasnt liberal enough. A chick named Olympe de Gouges was annoyed because it didnt include rights for women, so she wrote the creatively titled Declaration of the Rights of Woman in response. Radical groups, like the sansculottes and the Jacobins, wanted a They really did have pants.
all text 2011 by Carrie Floyd Cagle

A provision is a condition or requirement in a legal document. If something is described as egalitarian, then it assumes that all people are equal. Olympe de Gouges is pronounced ohLOMP duh gooJAY. Sans-culottes (pronounced SAN coo-LOTT) were working class people who wanted a republic. Literally translated, the name means those without pants. The nobles wore knee-pants called culottes, and the working people wore regular pants. So actually, it means those without noble-pants. Jacobins (pronounced zhaco-bean) were guys in the National Assembly who wanted a republic. 8.4

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republic instead of a constitutional monarchy.

Radical Phase of the French Revolution Towards the end of

1791, the radicals within the legislature began to outnumber those who supported the Moderate Constitution. They supported the authoring of a new constitution which would set up a true republic, in which the country was ruled entirely by the legislature. They called this legislature the National Convention. Eventually the National Convention would produce the Radical Constitution (officially, the Constitution of 1793), but it was never officially put into effect.

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That dude at the podium, Antoine Saint-Just, has just tried to convince the National Convention that King Louis XVI should be executed, and clearly not everyone was thrilled about it. SPOILER ALERT: they eventually got over it. The Bourbons were the ruling family of France in the 18th century. Tyranny is a type of undemocratic, dictatorial rule. Abroad means in another country. So the War on Tyranny Abroad was a war with European countries that were not democratic enough. 8.4

the War on Tyranny Abroad Other European countries had been passing all kinds of laws to prevent the French Revolution from spreading to their own countries. Additionally, the monarchs of Austria and Prussia (who were related to the Bourbons) were worried about the safety of the French royal family, and had openly promised to come to the Bourbons aid if the family was physically threatened. The National Convention viewed these actions as threats, and reacted by declaring war on the other countries, which they called the War on Tyranny Abroad. By 1793, France had declared war on Austria, Prussia, Spain, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. De-Christianization In keeping with the ideals of the Enlightenment, which glorified reason, the radicals wanted to
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establish a completely secular society. They decided to deChristianize the country. This included the implementation of a new calendar, the closing of churches, and the confiscation of church property. They even re-named the Cathedral of Notre Dame the Temple of Reason. the Reign of Terror Just to recap what weve read so far: France didnt have enough money to take care of its own problems. Taxation was screwy and there were famines and starving people all around the country. A new constitution was written to create a constitutional monarchy, but it wasnt good enough for the radicals, who wanted a republic. Then, though it hadnt even solved its own problems, the government declared war on other countries. This was expensive, and meanwhile, people at home were starving. To top it all off, the government then attacked the Catholic Church. As you can imagine, these actions were not popular with the people, and they began to express their displeasure by rioting. So, in order to save the revolution, the National Convention established the Committee of Public Safety, which was led by a guy named Maximilien Robespierre. Its job was to do whatever was necessary to keep the revolution safe. The Committee of Public Safety had about 40,000 people executed by guillotine between 1793 and 1794 basically anyone who went against the actions of the National Convention. (That included the former king, Louis XVI, and his wife, Marie Antoinette.) This time period, in which the government was essentially on a killing spree, is called the Reign of Terror.

A secular society is completely nonreligious.

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Louis XVI about to be executed by guillotine

the Directory After a while, the other members of the Committee of Public Safety turned against Robespierre, and had him executed. Then, they got busy correcting all the issues that had come up during the Reign of Terror, eventually establishing a new government, called the Directory. The Directory was an oligarchy, in which five guys formed the executive branch, and it ruled France from 1795-1799.
all text 2011 by Carrie Floyd Cagle

The guillotine (pronounced GHEE -yuh-teen) was a head-chopperoffer. Before the French Revolution, nobles would be executed by sword, and common people would be hanged. (Yes, hanged is the correct past tense when referring to an execution!) The guillotine was viewed as extrademocratic since everyone, regardless of social class, would be executed the same way. 8.4

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8.5Effects of the French Revolution

Napoleon Bonaparte In 1799,
the Directory was overthrown in a coup detat led by Napoleon Coup detat (pronounced Bonaparte, a general who had koo day-TAH) fought in the War on Tyranny literally means a Abroad. A new government, strike upon the called the Consulate, replaced state. This can be the Directory. Technically the used to refer to any kind of overthrow of Consulate was an oligarchy with the government. three guys in charge, but Napoleon named himself First Consul and pretty much controlled things. Gradually, Napoleon started giving himself more and more power, and in 1804, he crowned himself emperor. Every time he would increase his power, he held a plebiscitewhich is a sort of approve or disapprove election. Why does Napoleon always have The people of France approved in his hand inside his shirt? Maybe he suffered from a persistent stomach every plebiscite. This was rash. (Nah. Actually that was just probably because they were tired a style of posing that was popular of all of the upheaval they had in the 19th century.) been experiencing since 1789, and Napoleons rule provided for stability. the Napoleonic Code Additionally, Napoleon put a new law code the Napoleonic Codein place. Some parts of the Napoleonic Code helped to promote Enlightenment ideas of equality. For One effect of the Napoleonic Code was a greater example, all of degree of religious toleration throughout the empire. the old social distinctions that had been in place during the Ancien Regime were abolished. Also, the law was the same in every part of the
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Plebiscite is pronounced PLEEbiss-ite.

To abolish something is to get rid of or do away with it. 8.5

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French Empire. (Before, different regions had had different laws.) Since the Napoleonic Code was used to govern all of the areas Napoleon eventually conquered, it helped to spread Enlightenment ideas throughout Europe. Agreements with the Roman Catholic Church During the reign of Napoleon, two documents, the Concordat of 1801 and the Organic Articles, helped re-establish the Catholic Church in France. (Remember, De-Christianization during the Radical Phase had essentially destroyed the official status of the Church.) However, Napoleon made sure that the re-established Church would still be responsible to the government, and also declared only that Roman Catholicism was the religion of many French people. This showed that the government wasnt establishing an official state religion. the Napoleonic Wars Napoleon used his fantastic army general skills and his strong land army to conquer or control much of Northern and Western Europe. Countries that were either directly under Napoleons control or allied to Napoleonic France included Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, Prussia, Austria, and the

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Grand Duchy of Warsaw (modern-day Poland). Napoleon tried, but was unable to defeat Great Britain and Russia, however. He lost the Battle of Trafalgar, a naval battle, to the British. Frustrated at his inability to militarily defeat the British, he decided to defeat them economically with the Continental System. The Continental System essentially forbade every area under Napoleons control to trade with the British. The idea was that it would hurt the British by depriving them of profit from trade. This idea completely backfired, because Great Britain was the main source of manufactured goods in Europe at the time, and it led to shortages and inflation. It didnt hurt the British too much, because they still had a huge colonial empire who could buy their stuff.
A blockade is a military prevention of trade. Historically, armies couldnt carry enough supplies with them to get them through an extended campaign, so they would either buy or steal food along the way. When a scorched earth policy is used, and the defending army burns everything as they retreat, then the invading army cant get enough food and will eventually either starve to death or desert. (Both things happened to Napoleons army. Also it was really friggin cold, and since there were no shelters, many soldiers froze to death. )

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The Continental System also made Russia angry, and it officially withdrew from the blockade in 1812. As a result, Napoleon decided to invade Russia. Napoleon had way more troops than did the Russians, so it would have been really stupid for the Russians to try to face him in battle. Instead, they used a scorched earth strategy, which led to Napoleons eventual retreat. He had invaded Russia with about 500,000 soldiers; upon his retreat, he had only about 27,000 left. (Whom he abandoned, btw.)

Its hard to imagine anything being scorched in Russia when you look at this picture of Napoleon leaving in disgrace. Russia is a nippy place.

the Quadruple Alliance Napoleons failed attempts to invade Great Britain and Russia heartened the major European countries who were getting tired of him. Much like the Black Knight in Monty
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Neither Napoleon nor the Black Knight was invincible.

Python and the Holy Grail, he wasnt totally invincible. So they ganged up on him, forming the Quadruple Alliance. (This included Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, and Austria.)

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In 1813, the new alliance defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Nations (which was fought in Leipzig, part of modern-day Germany). Napoleon was exiled, but in 1815, he escaped from exile and returned to rule France again for 111 days. This time period is conveniently called the Hundred Days. Then the Quadruple Alliance defeated him again at the Battle of Waterloo, in modern-day Belgium, and exiled him again (this time for good). the Congress of Vienna Needless to say, France under Napoleons rule had upset the balance of power in Europe. So in order to restore it, the Quadruple Alliance met in Vienna, Austria to figure out how to fix the problems created by the Napoleonic Wars. The Congress was led by Klemens von Metternich, an Austrian statesman. In order to be sure that France wouldnt threaten the security of Europe again, the map of Europe was re-drawn. Strong countries surrounded France to make sure it didnt get too big for its britches again. Also, the principle of legitimacy was upheld. This meant that former hereditary monarchs of all the countries Napoleon had invaded were restored to their thrones. The Congress of Vienna was very successful in establishing a new system by which the countries of Europe could interact peacefully. Though there were a few regional wars sprinkled throughout the nineteenth century, there wasnt a major Europe-wide war again until World War I broke out in 1914.

Latin American Revolutions Enlightenment ideas and the

American and French Revolution inspired the colonial peoples of Latin America to revolt against their colonial masters. In 1804, the French colony of Haiti gained its independence, after a successful slave revolt led by Toussaint LOuverture. Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin led rebellions against Spain in Columbia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in the 1810s and 1820s. Additionally, Mexico earned its independence from Spain in 1821, thanks to the work of Father Miguel Hidalgo and Jose Maria Morelos.
all text 2011 by Carrie Floyd Cagle

Before Haiti became independent, it was called SaintDomingue. (prono unced SAN doming) Toussaint LOuverture is pronounced tooSON lo-vur-TOOR. 8.5

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