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The Social Contract was created by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and it argued against monarchs and how much power they have. It said that the people of the country and the king of the country should have the same power over the country. This would probably inspire the 3rd estate to revolt against the king.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Contract] -
King Louis XVI was a very weak king in the character aspect. He lacked self-confidence, and he became king during a time where his family was falling into enormous debt, so he wasn't a very good king. This would push the citizens of the 3rd estate to eventually revolt.
[https://www.biography.com/royalty/louis-xvi] -
The 2nd estate (the nobility) were furious about the looming threat of them having to pay hire taxes, so they called a meeting of the Estates-General. The Estates-General was a meeting where representatives from each estate would come together to discuss and vote upon the way France was ruled. Each estate would have one vote. However, the 1st and 2nd estates would normally vote together, outnumbering the 3rd estate. This would infuriate the 3rd estate, leading to the Tennis Court Oath.
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The Tennis Court Oath was an oath taken by the 3rd estate during their meeting. The Tennis Court Oath was an oath that said that all who took it would be unable to leave the meeting until they had created a new constitution for France. It was called the Tennis Court Oath because the 3rd estate was locked out of the meeting hall, so they had to hold their meeting in an abandoned tennis court. This made the 1st and 2nd estates fearful, so they raised military forces to repel the 3rd estate.
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The Bastille was an old prison in France. The 3rd estate stormed the Bastille because they were looking for gunpowder and supplies to protect themselves from the Swiss Guard. They wanted to protect themselves because they feared that the Swiss Guard were raised to kill them. This eventually led to cause the Great Fear, a period of terror and murder.
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The Great Fear took place in the summer of 1789, and it was a period of killing. During the Great Fear, peasants across France revolted and killed 2nd estate members, who were the nobility of France. This threw the country into a panic, hence the name "the Great Fear." This set a precedent for what would continue to happen during the revolution.
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The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was created by the 3rd estate while they were under the Tennis Court Oath. The Declaration was modeled after the Declaration of Independence, and it followed some philosophies from the Enlightenment. The main idea of the Declaration was that it allow every citizen to be equal.
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The slaves of Haiti that were at the northern plantations of St. Domingue decided to revolt against their "masters" when the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was published. The rebellion struck terror in the white people, so they began killing slaves to stop the spread of the rebellion.
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King Louis XVI was executed during the French Revolution, and it sent the supporters of the revolution into a frenzy. They executed him because they deemed him as being unfit to rule a constitutional monarchy. This would upset many people in Europe, sending France into an even more violent state and starting the Reign of Terror. This event was a large contributor to the end of the revolution.
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The Reign of Terror was a period during the French Revolution that was full of senseless violence and fear. Thousands of French citizens were executed for being "enemies of the revolution," often with almost no evidence. Religion was also thrown aside, stripping people of faith. This period of time showed the people of the revolution that Robespierre, the one who orchestrated the Reign of Terror, was not a useful asset to the revolution.
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The Directory was a group of five people that was created by a new constitution that was drafted at the end of the French Revolution. The Directory acted as a ruling group, and they tried their hardest to fix all the mistakes that King Louis XVI made during his reign. The formation of this group would end the French Revolution.
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In 1799, L'Ouverture and the rebelling slaves battled against Rigaud and his freed slaves. This conflict was known as the War of Knives, and it lasted over a year. At the end of the war, L'Ouverture defeated Rigaud with help from the English and banished him.
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After the Reign of Terror ended, the people of France decided to create a new constitution. This constitution would finish the revolution and put a group of five people in charge of making the major decisions for the country.
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Toussaint L'Ouverture created a new constitution after he defeated and exiled Rigaud. This constitution would outlaw slavery and give every citizen equal rights. However, this constitution also outlawed voodoo, which was the religion of the island, and proclaimed L'Ouverture as the Governor of the island for life. This angered many people, leading to another great battle.
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During the second war/battle, L'Ouverture teamed up with the French to win. However, the French wanted to put slavery back in place. In an attempt to end the revolution, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of L'Ouverture's top generals, organized a plan to capture L'Ouverture. The plan worked, but it didn't end the revolution.
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Dessalines was eventually able to repel Napoleon and the French. After doing so, he declared Haiti's independence. He abolished slavery, gave everyone natural rights, restored the name of Haiti, made it so that whites couldn't own land, and stopped trade with Europe and the U.S. This ended the revolution.
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Mexico began their push for independence in 1810, but they never gained independence until 1824. In 1820, the king of Spain was forced by liberals to sign a new constitution. This scared Augustin de Iturbide, so he joined the revolution and overthrew the royal minister. With that, Mexico was able to establish independence.
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Simon Bolivar, nicknamed "the Liberator," was a large contributor to the push for freedom in many South American countries. He began his attempts in Venezuela and failed, causing him to decide to attack the Spanish from the Andes Mountains.
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By 1821, Simon had driven the Spanish out of Caracas, Venezuela. After that, he moved down south to free Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Bolivia was named after him, and these deeds earned him the title "the Liberator." These victories would cause him to continue to drive put the Spanish in South America.
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During Simon Bolivar's freedom tour, Gran Colombia was freed by him.