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The Enlightenment Thinkers developed new ideas about how the government should work and what are considered to be the natural rights of the people throughout Europe.
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The Social Contract was written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau believed that the social contract was an agreement between the government and society, where citizens gave up some of their natural freedoms in exchange for protection. He was one of the most controversial Enlightenment thinkers and believed that in their natural state people were good, but were corrupted by the evils of society. He believed that people were too limited by society and put his confidence in the "general will".
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A meeting of the Estates-General was called for the first time in 175 years to discuss King Louis XVI's plan to tax the French nobility. The Estates-General was composed of the three social classes. The 1st Estate which was religious leaders, the 2nd Estate which was nobility, and the 3rd Estate which was everyone else. Each Estate was allowed one vote. However the Bourgeoisie believed that this went against the Enlightenment principals of government.
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The citizens of France believed that the Enlightenment principals of government were being violated. They also wanted more of say in the way the country was ran. They created the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen and the National Assembly. They royal family was executed and eventually the Directory was created to lead France.
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Members of the 3rd Estate formed the National Assembly. They wanted more of a say in the government and wanted to create fairer laws. King Louis XVI and the other Estates locked the 3rd Estate out of the meeting hall. Members of the 3rd Estate retaliated by breaking into an abandoned Tennis Court. They pledged to stay there until a new constitution was developed for France. There pledge became known as the Tennis Court Oath.
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King Louis XVI was concerned for the safety of his family and himself. He no longer trusted his army and instead hired the Swiss Guard, a group of soldiers. The Paris citizens thought the Guard was there to kill them and stormed the Bastille, an old prison, to look for gunpowder and other supplies to protect themselves. Throughout the rest of the summer 2nd Estate members were killed by 3rd Estate peasants, in what was known as the Great Fear.
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The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was created with the thoughts of many Enlightenment thinkers, the most notable being the idea that the government exists to protect the rights of citizens. The French also took inspiration from the Declaration of Independence of the United States. The Declaration ended with the words, "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" which mean Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood. These words are the slogan of the French Revolution.
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The Haitian Revolution took place on the island of Haiti formerly known as Saint Domingue. The slaves revolted against the French colonists after hearing about the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. The island became free of french troops after they implemented the Scorched Earth policy and Haiti became the first independent nation of free slaves.
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When the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen was published in France, there were 500,000 slaves, ex-slaves, runaway slaves, and free blacks on St. Domingue. When the free blacks got word of the Declaration they liked they idea of equality written in it, but had no idea how to take advantage of it. Whereas when the slaves heard about the document they revolted against the 32,000 french colonists. They were led by Dutty Boukman and burned sugar plantations, processing facilities, and homes.
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The Vindication of the Rights of Women was written by Mary Wollstonecraft. Her main philosophy was that women deserved the same natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Although she agreed that the first job of a women was to her family. In her book she argued that boys and girls should receive an equal education. She disagreed with the idea men were intellectually better than women.
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Radical leaders such as Robespierre were questioning whether France even needed a king. The royal family attempted to escape, but were captured and brought back to Paris when King Louis XVI was recognized due to the fact that his face was on the France currency. King Louis XVI was considered a traitor to the revolution and was no longer trusted to carry out a constitutional monarchy, he and his family were thrown in prison. Radical leaders took control and King Louis XVI was tried and executed.
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Robespierre played a large role in the Region of Terror. He led the Committee of Public Safety, which dealt with opposition to the revolution and encourage young citizens to enlist in the war against other countries opposed to the revolutionaries actions. During the Region of Terror thousands of french citizens were executed for being "enemies of the revolution" even with little or no proof. Robespierre also formally rejected religion and churches became known as Temples of Reason.
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People grew tired of the bloodshed in France and arrested and executed Robespierre, who had torn up the Constitution and broke up the National Assembly. A group of moderates drafted a new constitution for France. Then a new group was established to lead France, they were five men called the Directory. They set up elite schools, made peace with Spain and Prussia, continued war with Austria and England, helped the french economy recover, and overcame many other challenges.
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The War of Knives took place between Toussaint L'Ouverture and Andre Rigaud and their followers for control of the island St. Domingue. Two years before the two men had worked together to drive the English off the island. L'Ouverture's group consisted of poorer former slaves while Rigaud's followers were mainly wealthier and well-educated former slaves. The war lasted for a year, and ended with L'Ouverture, and his English help, defeating Rigaud who then went into exile.
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After Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory, his power was confirmed the Constitution of the Year VIII. The Constitution established the Consulate, a new form of government. The new government was composed of three parliamentary assembles, and the executive power was held by three consuls. Although the person with all the power was the first consul, Napoleon himself. The constitution was put to a public vote and according to the released results had 99% of the people in favor of it.
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After winning control of St. Domingue, L'Ouverture created a new constitution. In this constitution he outlawed slavery and gave equal rights to all citizens. However he also outlawed voodoo, which was the religion of most of the island's people. He also made made himself the leader for life, which angered the people who saw this as another form of slavery. They excused him of using them for french benefit and began to rebel against L'Ouverture
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After Jean-Jacques Dessalines helped the french capture L'Ouverture, he then joined forces with all the groups on the island to abolish slavery and get rid of french control. He used a scorched earth policy, where they burned everything of use to the french, to get the them to leave the island. Napoleon pulled his troops from the Western Hemisphere and Dessalines proclaimed St. Domingue to to be the first independent nation of former slaves. He abolished slavery and gave everyone natural rights.
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The revolutions began as people were unhappy with their status in the complex society, developed by the Spanish. They rebelled to end slavery and improve conditions for all Mexicans. Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin were prominent figures in driving the Spanish out.
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The first Mexicans to push for independence from Spain were the creoles, people born in the Americas to peninsulares. Many of them were merchants who were unable to make much money for themselves because of the mercantilism policy. They were angry with their second class status. They knew the words of the Enlightenment thinkers and had watched North America win independence from England. When Napoleon invaded Spain they saw an opportunity to push for independence, led by Father Miguel Hidalgo.
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Simon Bolivar took advantage of Napoleon's invasion of Spain to lead revolutions in South America. He first started a revolution in his home country of Venezuela in 1810, but was stopped by conservative peninsulares and Spanish leaders. He entered Merida in 1813 by leading troops through the marshy lowlands and over the Andres Mountains after gaining more support.
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The Battle of Chacabuco was won by South America patriots who beat Spanish Royalists. This victory began the process of removing the Spanish from Chile. San Martin played a big part in the victory and managed to surprise the Spanish by traveling over the Andres Mountains, to help Bernardo O'Higgins.
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The Battle of Boyaca took place near Bogota and the victory freed New Granada, Colombia, from Spanish control. During the battle Francisco de Paula Santander cut off the Spanish at the bridge over the Boyaca River. While Simon Bolivar attacked the rest of the Spanish army and captured the commander and a large number of prisoners.
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Peru was eventually freed by Bolivar, earning him the nickname the "the liberator". Simon Bolivar had joined forces with Jose de San Martin as he moved further south. San Martin was able to enter Pisco, a Peruvian port in 1820 by leading a fleet from Chile. From there he was able to enter Lima. San Martin then handed control of his troops to Bolivar for the final victories against Spain.
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Gran Colombia formed in South America, it was led by Simon Bolivar. It fought to unite the present-day regions of Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, as well as parts of Peru and Brazil. Bolivar wanted to have a democratic federation of independent republics, but was unsuccessful and led a centralized regime and later made himself a dictator. In 1830 he was defeated by the failure of his government idea and resigned, and a year later the Gran Colombia was abolished.
