Step 4: Put It All Together

Now, take a step back and try to explain the big picture. Remember to use specific examples from the chapter in your answers.

Click here to download the exercise for Step 4 in MS Word.

THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS BEGINS

  • How did social, economic, ideological, and fiscal problems combine to spark the age of revolutions?
  • How did the relative social and political equality enjoyed by white inhabitants of the British North American colonies shape the American Revolution?
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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

  • What role did the poor people of France play in shaping the French Revolution? At what points did they take control of events from elite and middle-class leaders?
  • How was violence used as a political tool during the period of the Second Revolution? What justifications were offered for its use? In your opinion, how valid were these justifications?
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THE NAPOLEONIC ERA AND THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION

  • Should Napoleon be considered a “revolutionary”? Why or why not?
  • How did the people of Saint-Domingue react to the news of revolution in France? How would you explain their reaction? How did the French Revolution contribute to increasing social and political tensions in Saint-Domingue?
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LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

  • What was revolutionary about the age of revolution? How did the states that emerged out of the eighteenth-century revolutions differ from the states that predominated in previous centuries?
  • In what sense did the age of revolution mark the beginning of modern politics in Europe and the Americas?
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