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Montesquie publishes book, On the Spirit of Laws
Montesquie believed that Britian had the best government and was the most balanced. Britian had an executive, legislative, and judicial power. Montesquie called this system seperation of powers. He based his book, On the Spirit of Laws, based on this idea that seperation of powers would prevent any individual or group from getting too powerful. This later became known as checks and balances -
America declares independence
The Second Continental Congress made Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence, and issued in on July of 1776. The declaration was based off of the ideas of Enlighenment. The colonists stated King George the Third wasn't respecting their rights, and they therefore break away from the British rule. -
French Revolution
The thrid estate of the system of Old Regime were about 97 percent of the population, and they had little or no rights, and they had to pay over 50 percent of the taxes. Outraged, the third estate named themselves the National Assembly. When rumor flew that King Louis XVI was going to dismiss the National Assembly with force, the National Assembly charged the Bastille, a Paris priosn. They burned the Bastille to the ground and named that day Bastille Day, which is a French national holiday. -
Napoleon overthrows the Directory through coup d'etat
In 1799 the Directory lost its control over France. After Napoleon returned from Egypt, his friends told him to be a political leader. Napoleon and his troops drove out the members of the national legislature. The remaining lawmakers voted to get rid of the Directory and replace it with three consuls. One of the consuls would be Napoleon, and he would soon become the first consul and become a dicator. He suddenly seized power, wich is called a coup d'etat. -
Haiti wins freedom from France
Saint Domingue, or Haiti, was the first Latin American Territory to free itself from Europe. A leader called Toussaint L'Ouverture emerged and freed all enslaved Africans. French troops landed in Haiti and made an agreement with Toussaint that if he stopped the revolution, they would abolish slavery. However, the French accused him of an another uprising so they sent him to a prison. Toussaint' lieutenant J.J Dessalines declared independence. -
Napoleon crowns himself emperor, begins to creat a vast European Empire
After ruling as a dicatator, Napoleon decided to become an emperor. Napoleon wore a purple velvet robe and took the crown from the Pope and placed it upon his head. This proved that Napoleon was stronger than the Chruch because the tradition was that the Church always used to crown emperors. Napoleon wanted to stretch his empire; by 1812, the only countries that were free from his contol were Britian, Portugal, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire. -
Padre Hidalgo calls for Mexican Independence
Padre Hidalgo was a priest in Dolores. He believed in the ideas of Enlightenment. He rang the bell of the church and gathered all the peasants of Dolores. When everyone gathered, he told them to rebel against the Spanish. The ringing of the bell is known as the grito de Dolores. -
Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon escaped Elba, the place where he got exiled to, and went back to France, and became the emperor in a matter of days. After hearing about this, European allies attacked Napoleon. The British army, led by the Duke of Wellington, prepared for a battle in a village called Waterloo in Belgium. Napoleon attacked, and the British kept fighting until afternoon, when the Prussian army came and helped defeat Napoleon. To make sure he never came back, the British exiled Napoleon to St.Helena.
