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Montesquieu publishes the book, On the Spirit of Laws
Montesquieu created the separation of powers theory that we use today in our government system. He came up with this idea so that no government could get too powerful and that there'd always be a system of checks and balances. -
America Declares Independence
The people in America became desperate to become independent from Britain. They elected a commitee to draft a document for the Congress to sign and send to Britain. The commitee included Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and John Adams, and the document was the Declaration of Independence. -
French Revolution
The French Revolution began in 1789. During this revolution they revised their constitution several times, and went through many different leaders. One was Robespierre, who was the leader of the Commitee of Public Safety. He sentenced many people who he thought were against him to the guillotine, many of whom were from the Third Estate, the people who the revolution was supposed to be for. -
Napoleon overthrows the Directory in a coup d'etat
The French were in need of a hero, and they found one in Corsican Napoleon Bonaparte. After proving himself as a trusted and brilliant general the French admired him and had little problem with him being their ruler. Napoleon suddenly took over the government. -
Napoleon crowns himself emperor, begins to create a vast European empire
After being succesful with his reforms, Napoleon decided to become emperor. In this ceremony he took the crown from the Pope and placed it on his own head, symbolizing that he is more powerful than the church. His conquests then moved for him to control most of Europe. -
Haiti wins Independence from France
Haiti's revolution was lead by a great general named Toussaint Louverture. Although, he died before Haiti was officially independent. France wanted to keep Haiti under their control for their resources like cotton. This was the only slave revolt to ever be succesful. -
Padre Hidalgo calls for Mexican Independence
Padre Hidalgo was a priest. He was in charge of ringing the bell when it was time for mass. One day he rang the bell at an unusual hour and that was when he called for independence. This was called the Grito de Dolores. -
Napoleon is Defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
The Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Napoleon was going to surprise the British army, but it started to rain so he decided to wait it out. The Duke of Wellington realized this and did his own sneak attack on Napoleon's army. This was a great loss for Napoleon.
