A World in Crisis: The Eighteenth Century

The world was experiencing big changes at the end of the 1700s. Revolutions happened in America, France, and Haiti. They permanently changed societies. You will explore the argument that the revolutions had economic causes.

The rise of a capitalism contributed to social challenges. Capitalism is an economic system. People own private property and seek to earn more money. Capitalism became the main system in Western Europe and the Americas. There were three important changes:

• European built plantations in American colonies. Most plantation workers were enslaved people. They planted crops like sugar and cotton. These crops produced wealth for European landowners.
• A new class of working poor people lived in European cities.
• An upper-middle class also lived in cities. This class was known as the bourgeoisie.

The working poor and the bourgeoisie were both unhappy with their governments. Peasants and others revolted many times from 1500 to 1800. Most revolts were stopped. Successful revolutions took place in America, France, and Haiti.

Material Causes of Revolt¹

The revolutions had political and economic causes. Yes, they were about liberty and political representation. But they were also about taxes and property.

The American and French Revolutions were a result of the Seven Years’ War. This war between England and France happened from 1756 to 1763. It began as a struggle for territory in North America. The war quickly spread to the rest of the world. The war led to the American and French Revolutions.

Rich men fight the high cost of tea: The American Revolution

The American Revolution was really about taxes. The British empire owed a lot of money after the war. The British crown came up with a solution: to tax the American colonies.

Tea prices rose and tobacco prices fell. American colonists demanded representation in the British Parliament. Parliament made the laws. Plantation owners then declared the their independence and belief in the equality of all men. But they also wanted to make more money from their crops grown by enslaved people.

Have you seen the price of bread? The French Revolution

In France, people at the middle and bottom of society resented aristocrats. Even many wealthy people did not have political rights. Poor people often struggled to eat.

The harvest of 1788 was unusually bad. At the same time, King Louis XVI created new taxes to pay for wars. Taxes and the high price of bread caused revolts. In October 1789, thousands of women marched from the marketplace to the Palace of Versailles. They had weapons.

The poor were most active protesting in the streets and storming the Bastille.² But the bourgeoise directed the early revolution. They revolted to gain rights and power from the aristocracy. But these French revolutionaries also became wealthy from crops grown by the enslaved. Together the fight for political representation, the bad harvest, and new taxes caused the revolution.

The right to property? The Haitian Revolution

The French colony of Saint Domingue made a lot of money for France. Many enslaved people grew coffee and sugar. Today Saint Domingue is known as Haiti.

Class divisions were extreme. Enslaved people were nearly 90 percent of the island’s population. Wealthy white landowners (grands blancs) controlled most land and labor. There were two other groups: poor white workers and artisans (petits blancs), and free people of color.

All four classes had complaints. Landowners (grands blancs) resented being taxed by the French king. Free people of color knew they would never be considered equal. White workers (petits blancs) resented landowners and free people of color. Yet it was slavery that made Saint Domingue so unstable. Slavery in the colony was incredibly harsh. These tensions caused conflict in 1791. It was the first successful revolt of enslaved people.

Haitians wrote their own constitution in 1806. It was inspired by Enlightenment ideals about equality. The constitution established a right to property. This right also included the right to one’s own labor. The constitution outlawed slavery. This strongly contrasted to American and French revolutionary declarations. Americans and French often used the right to property to protect slavery. Many Americans refused to recognize Haiti. This included President Thomas Jefferson.

An age of revolutions

The late 1700s saw many changes throughout the world. Revolts also happened in India, Russia, and China. These revolutions were about political rights. Yet they were also about class and the way that goods were produced and distributed.

1 Material conditions are physical things that people want or need. Being able to find food is one example.

2 The Bastille was a prison in Paris that people saw as a symbol of oppression. Because of these events, “storming the Bastille” has become an idiom frequently used to describe protests and uprisings, especially when they happen at a building that houses those in power.