What Causes Revolutions?
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: Are revolutions sparked by new ideas or by economic conditions?
The rights of the individual, the sovereignty of states, the growth of capitalism, and new ideas about democracy were ingredients in the recipe for revolution. But revolutionaries also took to the streets to protest the price of bread. What’s more important—new political ideas or economic realities?
Learning Objectives:
- Evaluate the importance of ideological and material conditions in producing revolutions.
- Practice the historical thinking skill of causation to assess the sources of revolutionary action.
Vocab Terms:
- bourgeoisie
- capitalism
- citizen
- consent
- enslaved people
- indentured laborers
- sovereignty
The lesson opener asks students to determine causes and effects for a social outburst in Chile in 2019. Need to brush up on causation? See page 4 of our Historical Thinking Skills Guide.
The study of a revolution is incomplete unless we consider the causes—why did it happen? You’ll learn a lot more about revolution and causation in this lesson. Jump-start your thinking by exploring the causes of a real-life “social outburst.”
During the long nineteenth century, political communities transformed on every continent. Use this geography activity to orient yourself to some of the most dramatic changes.
The two articles here are meaty! Remember that you can adjust the Lexile level at the top-left of the page. Check out other ideas to support students on pages 4 and 5 of our Reading Guide.
What causes revolutions? Do revolutionary ideals spark people to action? Or are economic conditions more important? Use these two articles and activity to decide for yourself.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What is a citizen, and how is the idea of popular sovereignty important to creating citizens?
- Thomas Hobbes was an important thinker from this period who wrote Leviathan, a book about popular sovereignty. How does the image from Leviathan express that idea?
- What groups of people were left out of ideas about sovereignty?
- How did ideas about sovereignty lead to some people losing rights?
After you read
Respond to these questions: What is the author of this article’s main claim about sovereignty? Do you agree?
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- How did environmental and demographic changes lead to the Atlantic Revolutions?
- How did economic changes contribute to the Atlantic Revolutions?
- How did the Enlightenment inspire the Atlantic Revolutions?
After you read
Respond to these questions:
- What do these revolutions reveal about the role of global networks in spreading ideas and inspiring change?
- After reading this article, which of the ingredients do you think was the most important factor that led to the Atlantic Revolutions? Which ingredient do you think was the least important and why?
Causal maps are a great tool for helping students trace the causes and consequences of revolutions. Causation is one of the historical thinking skills we scaffolded throughout the course. For a quick refresher about this skill, take a look at our causation one-pager.
Use the information from your Revolutions Causation Tool to create a causal map that makes the connections between events over time and uncovers what really causes revolutions.
We all know what it feels like to want to see something change. The “something” might be as minor as what’s on the lunch menu, or as major as a whole political system. In this quick activity, you’ll write your own revolutionary manifesto.
The roots of revolutionary thought go further back than the Enlightenment. Extend this lesson by exploring the political changes in England that started 600 years before the Age of Revolution.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What rights did the Magna Carta guarantee to the barons, and how were these principles reflected in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights?
- When did the English Civil War take place, and what were its causes and outcomes?
- How did the English Civil War influence the American War of Independence?
- Who were the key figures in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and what key provisions were included in the English Bill of Rights?
- What lessons did American revolutionaries take from the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution?
After you read
Respond to this question: Which of the three frames—communities, networks, or production and distribution—do you think played the biggest role in the political changes described in this article? Use evidence from the reading to explain your answer.
