Understanding Western Society
Printed Page 576

Introduction for Chapter 19

19

REVOLUTIONS IN POLITICS

1775–1815

>What led to the great revolutions of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and how did these revolutions change over time? Chapter 19 examines the great wave of revolution that rocked both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in the last decades of the eighteenth century. The revolutionary era began in North America in 1775. Then, in 1789, France became the leading revolutionary nation. It established first a constitutional monarchy, then a radical republic, and finally a new empire under Napoleon that would last until 1815. Inspired both by the ideals of the Revolution on the continent and by their own experiences and desires, the slaves of Saint-Domingue rose up in 1791. Their rebellion would eventually lead to the creation of the new independent nation of Haiti in 1804. In Europe and its colonies abroad, the age of modern politics was born.

LearningCurve

After reading the chapter, use LearningCurve to retain what you’ve read.

image
Life in Revolutionary France. On the eve of the French Revolution, angry crowds like this one gathered in Paris to protest the high-handed actions of the royal government. (Musée de la Ville de Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library)

> CHAPTER CHRONOLOGY

1775–1783 1793–1794
American Revolution Robespierre’s Reign of Terror
1786–1789 1794
Height of French monarchy’s financial crisis Robespierre deposed and executed; France abolishes slavery in all territories
1789 1794–1799
Ratification of U.S. Constitution; storming of the Bastille; feudalism abolished in France Thermidorian reaction
1789–1799 1799–1815
French Revolution Napoleonic era
1790 1804
Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France Haitian republic declares independence
1791 1812
Slave insurrection in Saint-Domingue Napoleon invades Russia
1792 1814–1815
Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman – Napoleon defeated and exiled
1793
Execution of Louis XVI