An Era of Revolutions

Between 1775 and 1825, revolutions broke out all over Europe and the Americas. In Europe, countries like France got rid of their kings and queens. Colonies in the Americas fought to be independent of European empires. The American War of Independence was fought in North America. It was followed by the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the many revolutions of Latin America.

These revolutions had many similarities. They all rejected European power and tried to set up new kinds of society. They were also all influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that placed great value on individual freedom.

The revolutions came at a time when Europe was weakened by internal fighting. In 1763, the Seven Years’ War left the British and the French in debt. So, each government issued new taxes on colonists to raise money. The colonists, thousands of miles away, had little say in the matter.

Until then, the American colonists had been more or less in charge of themselves. Many started openly challenging British rule.

The American Revolution

When Britain raised taxes, protests and riots broke out in the American colonies. A tax on tea in 1773 inspired the Boston Tea Party, in which protestors threw British tea into the harbor. In response, Britain passed laws closing Boston’s harbor, restricting local elections, and expanding the power of the royal governor. Tensions built until they reached a breaking point. In April 1775, fighting broke out in Massachusetts.

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was sent to the British king. It announced that the United States was its own nation and listed the natural rights of mankind. In 1778, the French government gave support to the American revolutionaries. After years of war, the English lost. They recognized the independence of colonies in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

In the United States, great value was given to the ideals of liberty and equality. Even so, not everyone was equal in the young nation. For example, the new government continued to allow and profit from slavery.

The French Revolution

After the Seven Years’ War ended in 1763, the French government needed money. King Louis XVI was determined to raise taxes. To do so, he called a meeting of a legislative body known as the Estates General. It was similar to a parliament or congress, just weaker. It hand’t met since 1614.

The French people were divided into three “estates.” The First Estate was the Catholic church. The Second Estate was the nobility, the traditional ruling class who controlled the country’s wealth. The Third Estate was everyone else. They paid all the taxes but had no say in the government. When the king called the Estates General, the Third Estate suddenly had a voice.

In May of 1789, the opening session was held. The delegates were sharply divided, and no agreement could be reached. Though the Third Estate represented many more people and had twice the number of delegates, each estate had an equal vote. So, in June, the Third Estate met alone. It declared itself the National Assembly.

In response, King Louis XVI sent an army toward Paris. People in Paris responded by storming the royal prison, called the Bastille. They freed a handful of prisoners, seized weapons, and killed two officials. The country found itself in a state of revolt.

The National Assembly stripped the nobility of their titles. In 1789, it passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, recognizing all citizens as equal before the law. And a constitution was written establishing a democratic political system.

The French empire strikes back

As the French Revolution spread, it became more extreme. There was widespread violence. Peasants attacked castles and burned records of their debts. The new government seized and sold church lands. In 1793, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antionette were killed by revolutionaries. The first French Republic was declared.

The republic transformed French society. The National Assembly ended feudalism, the economic system in which peasants had to work on land they could never own. Laws were also passed to put an end to slavery.
 
The republic did not last for long, however. A powerful and popular general named Napoleon Bonaparte soon rose to power. He declared himself emperor in 1799 and began taking over new land.

Napoleon ruled with an iron fist. His armies spread ideas behind the French Revolution in new places the conquered. He ended feudalism and established equal rights and religious tolerance.

A revolt leads to a new nation

In the Americas, France had a colony called Saint Domingue. This was in present-day Haiti. Saint Domingue was the richest plantation colony in the world. It had around 8,000 plantations and produced 40 percent of the world’s sugar and about half of its coffee. The colony made these profits through enslaved labor. Enslaved laborers made up 90 percent of the population. In 1791, enslaved people revolted. This forced the French National Assembly to abolish slavery in 1794.

The Haitian Revolution went for many hard years. The man who emerged as its leader was a brilliant general named Toussaint Louverture.

The nation of Haiti declared its independence in 1804, and the Haitian Revolution was won in 1808. Haiti became the second independent republic in the Americas. It was the first independent nation-state ruled by people of African descent.

It was not just a fight for national independence, though. It was about human rights and racial equality. Haitian leaders rejected European racial categories, which placed whites above other groups. Instead, all Haitians were defined as “black.” The plantation system was taken apart, and Haiti became a nation of farmers who grew their own food on their own land.

The Latin American revolutions

The Creoles led the revolutions at first. The Creoles were native-born descendants of Spanish and Portuguese settlers. The first revolutions in Latin America were sparked by events in Europe. In 1808, Napoleon conquered Spain and Portugal. These were the two colonial powers that controlled Latin America. Suddenly, the Latin American colonies found themselves without anyone in charge.

In 1810, peasants in Mexico revolted. They demanded better opportunities and cheaper food. Two priests, Miguel Hidalgo and José Morelos, led the uprising. It was put down, however, by wealthy Creole landowners. They were alarmed by the peasant revolt. They worried that it would destroy their power. So they joined forces with anti-revolutionary priests. In 1821, Mexico was granted independence from Spain. But the wealthy landowners were able to keep their privileged position in society.

In other parts of Latin America, several revolutionary movements were gaining strength. In the northern regions, the general Simón Bolívar claimed large amounts of land from Spanish forces. In 1819, he created a new nation called “Gran Columbia” modeled after the United States. It was made up of present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. But Gran Columbia only lasted until 1830.

Meanwhile, another revolt was held against the Spanish in southern Latin America. This was led by General José de San Martín. He freed the modern nations of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. Both San Martín and Bolívar freed large parts of the region. But neither revolution created a long-lasting constitutional republic. Instead, South America was taken over by rulers who cared more about power than democratic ideals.

An era of revolutions

Though each of these revolutions was different, they were tied together by three things. First, they were inspired by the moral and political ideas of the Enlightenment. Second, they rejected political systems that gave all power to a ruling class. Finally, they were influenced by the same global events and colonial history.

The era of revolutions transformed the world. Colonial powers shrank and new nations were formed. They went on to create completely new kinds of governments and societies.