What’s the Significance?
Big Picture Questions
Do revolutions originate in oppression and injustice, in the weakening of political authorities, in new ideas, or in the activities of small groups of determined activists?
“The influence of revolutions endured long after they ended and far beyond where they started.” To what extent does this chapter support or undermine this idea?
Did the Atlantic Revolutions fulfill or betray the goals of those who made them? Consider this question in both short- and long-term perspectives.
Looking Back: To what extent did the Atlantic Revolutions reflect the influence of early modern historical developments (1450–1750)?
Next Steps: For Further Study
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (1991). A now-classic though controversial examination of the process by which national identities were created.
Bonnie S. Anderson, Joyous Greetings: The First International Women’s Movement, 1830–1860 (2000). Describes the beginnings of transatlantic feminism.
David Armitage and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, eds., The Age of Revolutions in Global Context (2010). A recent collection of scholarly essays that seeks to explore revolutions within a global framework.
Laurent Dubois and John Garrigus, Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789–1804 (2006). A brief and up-to-date summary of the Haitian Revolution, combined with a number of documents.
Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution, 1789–1848 (1999). A highly respected survey by a well-known British historian.
Lynn Hunt, ed., The French Revolution and Human Rights (1996). A collection of documents, with a fine introduction by a prominent scholar.
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution,” http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/. A collection of cartoons, paintings, and artifacts illustrating the French Revolution.