Revolution

From 1775 to 1848 there were many revolutions throughout the world. Some fought for their personal liberties, while others sought to end slavery within their nations. What inspired these revolutions? What did they have in common? Which ones were successful? Let's answer those questions and more!

Revolutions: A Definition

Revolutions happen when the functions and roles of a government are quickly and drastically changed. This means one form of government was rapidly replaced with another. They tended to have a few things in common. They are caused when elites aren't pleased, when the state is in crisis, when the masses are frustrated, and when people have shared motivations.

Before we can look at different revolutions, their impacts, and inspirations, we first must look at the people who inspired them. Many revolutions were inspired by the political philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. We won't be able to look at all of them, but let's tackle three of the most influential.

Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher who wrote the Leviathan. He believed that people were naturally greedy and evil. The government needed to control them or else they would commit crimes.

John Locke. Source: Wikimedia.

John Locke, another Englishman, wrote the Two Treaties on Government. He believed that people were naturally good and that they had the right to life, liberty, and property. The government was meant to protect and serve the people, not the other way around. If a government didn't serve the people, then the people could revolt.

The last philosopher that we are going to look at is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This French philosopher believed that everyone was equal. Each person should abide by the rules that they created for themselves. Society would function because everyone would be orderly. Rousseau wrote about these ideals in the Social Construct.

Revolution Timeline

The above chart is a timeline of some important revolutions of the modern era.

Revolution Examples in History

Now that we know what a revolution is and who inspired them. Let's take a closer look at two examples of successful revolutions, then one that failed. The successful revolutions will be the Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution, and the Haitian Revolution. One unsuccessful revolution example will be the French Revolution.

The Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, or the English Revolution, was a major contributor to modern England's system of government. In 1688, Parliament was tired of Catholic rulers. At this point, England was a Protestant nation, but it had a few of Catholic rulers after Charles I married a French, Catholic princess.

In 1688, King James II, a Catholic, led England. James II had a Protestant daughter named Mary II. Parliament invited Mary's husband, William of Orange, to take the throne. William successfully drove James II from England. Before his coronation, Parliament had William and Mary sign the Declaration of Rights.

Mary II and William of Orange.

The declaration specified the rights of the English people. Some of those rights included that the people would elect the legislative body, the king wasn't above the law, and English monarchs had to be Protestant. This was the first revolution in modern history.

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the first revolution in modern history and sparked many others. The French and Indian War was called the Seven Years' War in Europe. It was fought between the French, partnered with some indigenous people of North America, and the English, plus the American colonists.

American Revolution. Source: Wikimedia.

The English and the colonists won the war and pushed the French further North into the Ohio Valley. The English had even more land to expand the American colonies into. The problem was that the English wanted to make up for the capital lost in the war. Since the war was fought for the colonists, who better to pay it off than the colonists?

George Grenville then Charles Townsend passed legislation for the English royalty that levied new taxes against the colonists. Some of these included the Revenue Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and the Tea Act (1773). The colonists didn't have representation in Parliament, which meant that they were taxed without representation.

Inspired by Enlightenment philosophers, the elites of the colonists revolted. The elites, like Thomas Jefferson, had the funds to assist in sponsoring the Revolution and the education to understand the Enlightenment thinkers. Philosophies from the Enlightenment were often reserved for the rich who could afford education.

When the colonists won the war, they created the new country of America. The American government had to be created from the ground up. In some aspects, it was similar to the British government. The new American government was also inspired by Enlightenment thinkers, like John Locke.

Haitian Revolution

Saint Domingue, today called Haiti, was a French colony. The other half of the island was called Santo Domingo and was owned by the Spanish. The colonies created profits by cultivating sugar and coffee. These goods were grown and processed by enslaved people.

The French enslavers were especially cruel to the enslaved Black people. This cruelty and the French Revolution made the enslaved people decide to revolt. The island had enslaved Black people and Free People of Color. The Free People of Color were considered free, but they didn't have the same rights as the white people on Saint Domingue. The enslaved people joined forces with the Free People of Color to revolt against their white oppressors.

Haitian Revolution. Source: Wikimedia.

The Haitian Revolution was the only successful revolt of enslaved people. It was the first successful Latin American revolution and the second colonized country to gain independence. After the formerly enslaved people won the revolution, they renamed the island Haiti. Haiti was the first nation to outlaw slavery.

Failed Revolutions

Failed revolutions might make one think that the revolution didn't accomplish anything, but this isn't true. A failed revolution might inspire another revolution. What makes a revolution a failure is when it doesn't change the government for the long-term. Let's take a closer look at the French Revolution.

French Revolution

According to English historian Simon Schama, the French Revolution was a failure.¹ The French monarchy had massive war debts from the War of Spanish Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American Revolution. The king needed to raise funds, but the wealthy nobles refused to have spending restrictions. Due to drought and a poor harvest, France suffered from famine. The king called an Estates General, which had the ability to grant the king certain legislative powers.

Each Estate got one vote, that sounds fair, right? Nope! The First and Second Estates, both smaller than the Third, would work to vote together against the Third Estate. Even though the Third Estate represented the majority of the French population, their vote was the smallest.

When the king called the Estates General, the Third Estate felt that the First and Second would team up against them again. The Third Estate was blocked from re-entering the assembly, they left to form their own constitution. On the tennis court, the Third Estate became the National Assembly, and thus was the start of the revolution.

The National Assembly would go on to create the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was partially inspired by Rousseau. It recognized the natural rights of men, but wasn't intended to include enslaved people. When the Rights of Man declared the rights of men, it referred to white men.

French Revolution, Source: Wikimedia.

The National Assembly wouldn't last, and many of its new legislation would die away once Napoleon Bonaparte took power. This is the reason that many historians, like Shama, consider the French Revolution to be a failure. Unlike the Haitian and American revolutions, the French Revolution didn't establish a lasting government.

Revolutions

Revolutions began for different reasons. Some were started because the elite was displeased with the government. Others came from the mass frustration of the commoners. State crises, like the over-taxation of the poor, could inspire a revolution. Most revolutionaries had a shared motive.

While they had some similar characteristics, each one was different. They were inspired by Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau. The American Revolution was an inspiration for the French Revolution, which went on to inspire the Haitian Revolution. Revolutions, both successful and unsuccessful, changed the course of world history.