APWH Ch. 29 Notes
Increasing discontent with imperial rule propelled reformist and revolutionary movements. American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions that facilitated the emergence of independent states. How were the North American colonists negatively impacted by the Seven Years' War?
After the mid-1760s North American colonists became increasingly disenchanted with British imperial rule. Faced with staggering financial difficulties arising from the Seven Years' War, the British Parliament passed legislation to levy new taxes and bring order to a far-flung trading empire. Parliament expected that the North American colonies would bear a fair share of the empire's tax burden and respect imperial trade policies.
What did not change with independence?
Although Brazil achieved independence as a monarchy rather than a republic, creole elites dominated Brazilian society just as they did in former Spanish colonies. Indeed, independence brought little social change in Latin America. The peninsulares returned to Europe, but Latin American society remained as rigidly stratified as it had been in 1800.
What limits on freedom were maintained? Why?
Although he approved the Enlightenment ideal of equality, Napoleon was no champion of intellectual freedom or representative government. He limited free speech and routinely censored newspapers and other publications.
What nations attacked France and why?
Austria, Russia, and Britain formed a coalition to attack France and end the revolution.
American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions including the Latin American independence movements, that facilitated the emergence of independent states. What happened in Mexico?
Colonial rule came to an end in 1821, when the creole general Augustín de Iturbide (1783-1824) declared independence from Spain. In the following year, he declared himself emperor of Mexico. He was an incompetent administrator, and in 1823 creole elites deposed him and established a republic. Two years later the southern regions of the Mexican empire declared their own independence. They formed a Central American Federation until 1838, then split into the independent states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
Increasing discontent with imperial rule propelled reformist and revolutionary movements. American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions that facilitated the emergence of independent states. What types of laws were unpopular in N. America? How did the colonists respond to them?
Colonists especially resented the imposition of taxes on molasses by the Sugar Act (1764), on publications and legal documents by the Stamp Act (1767), and on tea by the Tea Act (1773). Colonists also took offense at the Quartering Act (1765), which required them to provide housing and accommodations for British troops. In responding to British policies, colonists argued that they should govern their own affairs rather than follow instructions from London. They responded to new parliamentary levies with the slogan "no taxation without representation." They boycotted British products, physically attacked British officials, and mounted protests such as the Boston Tea Party (1773), in which colonists dumped a cargo of tea into the Boston harbor rather than pay duties under the Tea Act. They also organized Continental Congress (1774), which coordinated the colonies' resistance to British policies.
How did liberals and conservatives differ?
Conservatives viewed society as an organism that changed very slowly over the generations. In contrast to conservatives, liberals took change as normal and welcomed it as the agent of progress. They viewed conservatism as an effort to justify the status quo, maintain the privileges enjoyed by favored classes, and avoid dealing with injustice and inequality in society.
Beginning in the 18th century, people around the world developed a new sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs and territory. These newly imagined national communities linked this identity with the borders of the state, while governments used this idea to unite diverse populations. How was nationalism expressed in Germany?
During the late eighteenth century, Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803) sang the praises of the German Volk ("people") and their powerful and expressive language.
How was liberalism a development of discontent with monarchist and imperial rule?
For liberals the task of political and social theory was not to stifle change but, rather, to manage it in the best interests of society. They usually favored republican forms of government in which citizens elected representatives to legislative bodies, and they called for written constitutions that guaranteed freedom and equality for all citizens and that precisely defined the political structure and institutions of their societies.
The rise & diffusion of Enlightenment thought that questioned established traditions in all areas of life often precede revolutions and rebellions against existing governments. How was the French Revolution different from the American Revolution?
French revolutionaries also drew inspiration from Enlightenment political thought, but the French revolution was a more radical affair than its American counterpart. American revolutionary leaders sought independence from British imperial rule, but they were content to retain British law and much of their British social and cultural heritage. By contrast, French revolutionary leaders repudiated existing society, often referred to as the ancien régime ("the old order"), and sought to replace it with new political, social, and cultural structures.
Historically, what was the most common form of governance in settled agricultural societies? What did rulers do to justify/legitimize their rule? What was this called in the east/west?
Hierarchical rule flowing from a king or emperor was by far the most common form of government in settled agricultural societies. In justifying their rule, kings and emperors throughout the world often identified themselves with deities or claimed divine sanction for their authority. In imperial China, for example, dynastic houses claimed to rule in accordance with the "mandate of heaven," while in early modern Europe centralizing monarchs often asserted a "divine right of kings" to rule as absolute monarchs.
Demands for women's suffrage & an emergent feminism challenged political and gender hierarchies. What did Olympe de Gouges write? What did it Demand?
In 1791, Gouges published a Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, which claimed the same rights for women that revolutionary leaders had granted to men in August 1789. She asserted that freedom and equality were inalienable rights of women as well as men, and she insisted on the rights of women to vote, speak their minds freely, participate in the making of law, and hold public office.
Demands for women's suffrage & an emergent feminism challenged political & gender hierarchies. What did Mary Wollstonecraft write? What did she argue?
In 1792 she published an influential essay entitled A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She argued that women possessed all the rights that Locke had granted to men.
Increasing discontent with imperial rule propelled reformist and revolutionary movements. How did France become radical?
In 1793 King Louis XVI and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette went to the guillotine when they were found guilty of treason because of the king's prior reluctance to approve the constitution, his opposition to anticlerical legislation, and his family's unsuccessful flight from Paris.
Enlightenment ideas influenced many people to challenge notions of social relations, which contributed to the expansion of rights as seen in expanded suffrage, the abolition of slavery & the end of serfdom. How did the Enlightenment ideas influence the abolition of slavery?
In the wake of the Atlantic revolutions, social activists in Europe and the Americas considered the possibility that the ideals of freedom and equality might have further implications as yet unexplored. They turned their attention especially to the issues of slavery and women's rights.
What were two examples of nationalism in Europe?
In Germany as in Italy, unification came about when political leaders harnessed nationalist aspirations. The Congress of Vienna created a German Confederation composed of thirty-nine states dominated by Austria. Metternich and other conservative German rulers stifled nationalist movements, and the suppression of the rebellions of 1848 left German nationalists frustrated at their inability to found a national state. In 1871 the Prussian king proclaimed himself emperor of the Second Reich—meaning the Second German Empire, following the Holy Roman Empire—which embraced almost all German-speaking peoples outside Austria and Switzerland in a powerful and dynamic national state.
Beginning in the 18th century, people around the world developed a new sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs and territory. These newly imagined national communities linked this identity with the borders of the state, while governments used this idea to unite diverse populations. How was nationalism expressed in Italy?
In Italy, the nationalist activist Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872) formed a group called Young Italy that promoted independence from Austrian and Spanish rule and the establishment of an Italian national state.
Why did slavery end in Mexico?
In Mexico slavery was abolished in 1829, though not for solely humanitarian reasons. It served as a mechanism to stop the influx of residents from the southern United States coming in with their slaves to grow cotton.
Increasing discontent with imperial rule propelled reformist and revolutionary movements. American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions that facilitated the emergence of independent states. What were the results of the American Revolution?
In September 1783 diplomats concluded the Peace of Paris, by which the British government formally recognized American independence. In 1787 a constitutional convention drafted the blueprint for a new system of government—the Constitution of the United States—which emphasized the rights of individuals.
American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions including the Latin American independence movements, that facilitated the emergence of independent states. Who was Simon Bolivar? What did he do?
In South America, creole elites like Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) led the movement for independence. Born in Caracas (modern-day Venezuela), Bolívar was a fervent republican steeped in Enlightenment ideas about popular sovereignty. Inspired by the example of George Washington, he took up arms against Spanish rule in 1811. In the early days of his struggle, Bolívar experienced many reversals and twice went into exile. In 1819, however, he assembled an army that surprised and crushed the Spanish army in Colombia. Later he campaigned in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru, coordinating his efforts with other creole leaders like José de San Martín (1778-1850) in Argentina and Bernardo O'Higgins (1778-1842) in Chile.
Enlightenment philosophers applied new ways of understanding the natural world to human relationships. They also critiqued the role that religion played in public life, insisting on reason as opposed to revelation. Others developed new political ideas about the individual, natural rights & the social contract. What did John Locke believe about the individual? What did he say should happen to rulers who violated rights?
In his Second Treatise of Civil Government, published in 1690, Locke held that government arose in the remote past when people decided to work together, form civil society, and appoint rulers to protect and promote their common interests. Individuals granted political rights to their rulers but retained personal rights to life, liberty, and property. Any ruler who violated these rights was subject to disposition. Furthermore, according to Locke, because individuals voluntarily formed society and establish government, rulers derived their authority from the consent of those whom they governed.
Name & describe the three Estates in France.
In the ancien régime there were three estates, or political classes. The first estate consisted of about one hundred thousand Roman Catholic clergy, and the second included some four hundred thousand nobles. The third estate embraced the rest of the population—about twenty-four million serfs, free peasants, and urban residents ranging from laborers, artisans, and shopkeepers to physicians, bankers, and attorneys.
What happened to many during the reign of terror?
Many people were executed.
Increasing discontent with imperial rule propelled reformist and revolutionary movements. Slave resistance challenged existing authorities in the Americas. How did the establishment of Maroons societies in the Caribbean & Brazil challenge existing authorities?
Many slaves were battle-tested veterans of wars in Africa, and they drew on their military experience to organize large armies. Slave leaders found recruits and reinforcements in Saint-Domingue's maroon communities.
Demands for women's suffrage & an emergent feminism challenged political & gender hierarchies. How was educating women argued as good?
Mary Wollstonecraft insisted on the right of women to education: it would make them better mothers and wives, she said, and would enable them to contribute to society by preparing them for professional occupations and participation in political life.
What were the goals of the Congress of Vienna 1814-15? (3)
Meeting as the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), representatives of the "great powers" that defeated Napoleon—Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia—attempted to restore the pre revolutionary order. Under the guidance of the influential foreign minister of Austria, Prince Klemens von Metternich (1773-1859), the Congress dismantled Napoleon's empire, returned sovereignty to Europe's royal families, restored them to the thrones they had lost during the Napoleonic era, and created a diplomatic order based on a balance of power that prevented any one state from dominating the others. A central goal of Metternich himself was to suppress national consciousness, which he viewed as a serious threat to the multicultural Austrian empire that included Germans, Italians, Magyars, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Serbs, and Croats among its subjects.
Beginning in the 18th century, people around the world developed a new sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs and territory. These newly imagined national communities linked this identity with the borders of the state, while governments used this idea to unite diverse populations. What was this called?
Members of a nation considered themselves a distinctive people born into a unique community that spoke a common language, observed common customs, inherited common cultural traditions, held common values, and shared common historical experiences. Often they also honored common religious beliefs, although they sometimes overlooked differences of faith and construed the nation as a political, social, and cultural, rather than religious, unit. Intense feelings of national identity fueled ideologies of nationalism.
American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions including the Latin American independence movements, that facilitated the emergence of independent states. Who resented colonial rule in South America? Why?
Miguel de Hidalgo (1753-1811) rallied indigenous peoples and mestizos against colonial rule. Many contemporaries viewed Hidalgo's movement for independence from Spanish rule as social and economic warmare by the masses against the elites of Mexican society.
Enlightenment philosophers applied new ways of understanding the natural world to human relationships. They also critiqued the role that religion played in public life, insisting on reason as opposed to revelation. Others developed new political ideas about the individual, natural rights & the social contract. Who was not considered in the Enlightenment ideals?
Most Enlightenment thinkers were of common birth but comfortable means. While seeking to limit the prerogatives of ruling and aristocratic classes, they did not envision a society in which they would share political rights with women, children, peasants, laborers, slaves, or people of color.
How did France become a church state under Napoleon?
Napoleon brought political stability to a land torn by revolution and war. He made peace with the Roman Catholic church and in 1801 concluded an agreement with the pope. The pact, known as the Concordat, provided that the French state would retain church lands seized during the revolution, but the state agreed to pay clerics' salaries, recognize Roman Catholic Christianity as the preferred faith of France, and extend freedom of religion to Protestant Christians and Jews. This measure won Napoleon a great deal of support from people who supported the political and social goals of the revolution but balked at radicals' efforts to replace Christianity with a cult of reason.
What happened to Napoleon in Russia?
Napoleon's empire began to unravel in 1812, when he decided to invade Russia.
The ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, as reflected in revolutionary documents; including the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, influenced resistance to existing political authority. What did the declaration say?
Reflecting the influence of American revolutionary ideas, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed the equality of all men, declared that sovereignty resided in the people, and asserted individual rights to liberty, property, and security.
The rise & diffusion of Enlightenment thought that questioned established traditions in all areas of life often precede revolutions and rebellions against existing governments. What was the National assembly? How did the National Assembly change France?
On June 17, 1789, after several weeks of fruitless debate, representatives of the third estate took the dramatic step of seceding from the Estates General and proclaiming themselves to be the National Assembly. Between 1789 and 1791 the National Assembly reconfigured French society. Taking "liberty, equality, and fraternity" as its goals, the Assembly abolished the old social order along with the many fees and labor services that peasants owed to their landlords. It dramatically altered the role of the church in French society by seizing church lands, abolishing the first estate, defining clergy as civilians, and requiring clergy to take an oath of loyalty to the state. It also promulgated a constitution that made the king the chief executive official but deprived him of legislative authority.
Enlightenment philosophers applied new ways of understanding the natural world to human relationships. They also critiqued the role that religion played in public life, insisting on reason as opposed to revelation. Others developed new political ideas about the individual, natural rights & the social contract. What did philosophes like Voltaire want? (2)
Philosophes like Voltaire (1694-1778) resented the persecution of religious minorities and the censorship of royal officials, who had the power to prevent printers from publishing works that did not meet the approval of political and religious authorities. Philosophes called for religious toleration and freedom to express their views openly.
American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions including the Haitian Revolution, that facilitated the emergence of independent states. Slave resistance challenged existing authorities in the Americas. What eventually happened in Saint-Domingue?
Slave forces eventually overcame white settlers, gens de coleur, and foreign armies.
American colonial subjects led a series of rebellions including the Haitian Revolution, that facilitated the emergence of independent states. Slave resistance challenged existing authorities in the Americas. How did Enlightenment ideas impact Saint-Domingue?
The American and French revolutions prepared the way for a violent political and social revolution in Saint-Domingue.
Demands for women's suffrage & an emergent feminism challenged political & gender hierarchies. What did Elizabeth Cady Stanton organize? What did she want?
The American feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was an especially prominent figure in the women's rights and slavery abolition movements. In 1840 Stanton went to London to attend an anti-slavery conference but found that the organizers barred women from participation. Infuriated, she returned to the United States and began to build a movement for women's rights. She organized a conference of feminists who met at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. The conference passed twelve resolutions demanding that lawmakers grant women rights equivalent to those enjoyed by men. The resolutions called specifically for women's rights to vote, attend public schools, enter professional occupations, and participate in public affairs.
The rise & diffusion of Enlightenment ideas questioned traditions in all areas of life. What did Napoleon's Civil Code do? (4)
The Civil Code affirmed the political and legal equality of all adult men and established a merit-based society in which individuals qualified for education and employment because of talent rather than birth or social standing. The code protected private property, and Napoleon allowed aristocratic opponents of the revolution to return to France and reclaim some of their lost property. The Civil Code confirmed many of the moderate revolutionary policies of the National Assembly but retracted measures passed by the more radical Convention. The code restored patriarchal authority in the family, for example, by making women and children subservient to male heads of households.
The ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, as reflected in revolutionary documents; including the DOI, influenced resistance to existing political authority. How did the Declaration of Independence reflect Enlightenment ideas?
The Declaration of Independence drew deep inspiration from Enlightenment political thought in justifying the colonies' quest for independence. It echoed John Locke's contractual theory of government in arguing that individuals established governments to secure their rights and in holding that governments derive their power and authority from "the consent of the governed."
The ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, as reflected in revolutionary documents; including the Declaration of Independence, influenced resistance to existing political authority. What was the DOI?
The Declaration of Independence presented a long list of specific abused charged to the British crown and concluded by proclaiming the colonies "Free and Independent States" with "full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do."
Enlightenment ideas influenced many people to challenge notions of social relations, which contributed to the expansion of rights. What rights were extended to women at this time?
The Jacobins granted increased rights to women by permitting them to inherit property and divorce their husbands, although they did not allow women to vote or participate in political affairs.
Enlightenment philosophers applied new ways of understanding the natural world to human relationships. They also critiqued the role that religion played in public life, insisting on reason as opposed to revelation. While restructuring France, what was done to eliminate the influence of Christianity on society?
The Jacobins sought to to eliminate the influence of Christianity in French society by closing churches and forcing priests to take wives. They promoted a new "cult of reason" as a secular alternative to Christianity.
Enlightenment ideas influenced many people to challenge notions of social relations, which contributed to the expansion of rights as seen in expanded suffrage, the abolition of slavery & the end of serfdom. Why was it harder to end slavery than it was to abolish the slave trade?
The abolition of slavery itself was a much bigger challenge than ending the slave trade because owners had property rights in their slaves. Planters and merchant elites strongly resisted efforts to alter the system that provided them with abundant supplies of inexpensive labor.
How were the revolutions in S. America different from the Haitian & French ones?
The creoles desired neither social reform like that promoted by Robespierre nor the establishment of an egalitarian social reform like Haiti. Basically they sought to displace the peninsulares but retain their privileged position in society: political independence on the model of the United States in North America struck them as an attractive alternative to colonial status.
Enlightenment philosophers applied new ways of understanding the natural world to human relationships. They also critiqued the role that religion played in public life, insisting on reason as opposed to revelation. Others developed new political ideas about the individual, natural rights & the social contract. What was the name of Rousseau's book? What did he believe about the individual? (3)
The most prominent advocate of political equality was the French-Swiss thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), who identified with simple working people and deeply resented the privileges enjoyed by elite classes. In his influential book The Social Contract (1792), Rousseau argued that members of a society were collectively the sovereign. In an ideal society all individuals would participate directly in the formulation of policy and the creation of laws. In the absence of royalty, aristocrats, or other privileged elites, the general will of people would carry the day.
The ideological inspiration for economic changes lies in the development of classical liberalism associated with John Stuart Mill. What did he advocate?
The most prominent exponent of early liberalism was John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), an English philosopher, economist, and social reformer. Mill tirelessly promoted the freedom of individuals to pursue their own economic and intellectual interests. He tried to ensure that powerful minorities, such as wealthy businessmen, would not curb the freedoms of the poorly organized majority, but he also argued that it was improper for the majority to impose its will on minorities with different interests and values. He advocated universal suffrage as the most effective way to advance individual freedom, and he called for taxation of business profits and high personal incomes to forestall the organization of wealthy classes into groups that threatened individual liberties.
How did Brazil gain independence?
When Napoleon invaded Portugal in 1807, the royal court fled Lisbon and established a government in exile in Rio de Janeiro. In 1821 the king returned to Portugal, leaving his son Pedro in Brazil as regent. The next year Brazilian creoles called for independence from Portugal, and Pedro agreed to their demands. When the Portuguese Cortes (parliament) tried to curtail his power, Pedro declared Brazil's independence and accepted appointment as Emperor Pedro I (reigned 1822-1834).
Beginning in the 18th century, people around the world developed a new sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs and territory. These newly imagined national communities linked this identity with the borders of the state, while governments used this idea to unite diverse populations. While nationalism was uniting how could it be divisive? To what did it lead?
While it encouraged political leaders to work toward the establishment of national states for their communities, nationalism also had strong potential to stir up conflict between different groups of people. The more nationalists identified with their own national communities, the more they distinguished themselves both from peoples in other lands and from minority groups within their own societies. This divisive potential of nationalism helps to explain the emergence of Zionism.
Beginning in the 18th century, people around the world developed a new sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs and territory. These newly imagined national communities linked this identity with the borders of the state, while governments used this idea to unite diverse populations. What is Zionism?
Zionism is a political movement that holds that the Jewish people constitute a nation and have the right to their own national homeland.
