Revolutions Lesson

​The Revolutions

​Latin American Revolution https://youtu.be/ZBw35Ze3bg8

Haitian Revolution https://youtu.be/5A_o-nU5s2U

Open Ended

Describe the key differences in the Revolutions in Latin America and in Haiti?

​How did Napoleon rise to power?

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769 on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. When he was nine years old, his parents sent him to military school. In 1785, he finished school and became an artillery officer. When the revolution broke out, Napoleon joined the army of the new government.

In 1795, Napoleon led soldiers against French royalists who were attacking the National Convention. For this, he was thought of as the savior of the French republic.

By 1799, the unsettled French government had lost the people’s support. In a bold move, Napoleon used troops to seize control of the government. This was a coup d’état, or a sudden takeover of power. Napoleon then assumed dictatorial powers.

​Napoleon made several changes that

were meant to build on the Revolution’s

good ideas:

● He made tax collection more fair and

orderly. As a result, the government

could count on a steady supply of

money.

● He removed dishonest government

workers.

●He started lycées—new public schools

for ordinary citizens.

● He gave the church back some of its

power. He signed a concordat, or

agreement, with the pope. This gave

him the support of the organized

church.

● He wrote a new set of laws, called the

Napoleonic Code, which gave all

French citizens the same rights.

However, the new laws took away

many individual rights won during the

Revolution. For example, they limited

free speech and restored slavery in

French colonies.

​Napoleon had hoped to make his empire larger in both Europe and the New World. In 1801, he had sent soldiers to retake the island of present-day Haiti. Slaves in that colony had seized power during a civil war. But his troops failed. Napoleon then gave up on his New World plans. In 1803, he sold the largest part of France’s North American land—the huge Louisiana Territory—to the United States. Napoleon had been stopped in the Americas. So he then moved to add to his power in Europe. In 1804, he made himself emperor of France. He took control of the Austrian Netherlands, parts of Italy, and Switzerland. Napoleon’s only loss during this time was to the British navy in the Battle of Trafalgar. This loss kept him from conquering Britain.

​Napoleon’s third mistake was perhaps his worst. In 1812, he tried to conquer Russia, far to the east. He entered Russia with more than 400,000 soldiers. As the Russians retreated, however, they followed a scorched-earth policy. They burned their fields and killed their livestock so Napoleon’s armies could not eat what they left behind.

Although the French got as far as Moscow, winter was coming. Napoleon was forced to order his soldiers to head back. On the way home, bitter cold, hunger, and Russian attacks killed thousands. Thousands more deserted. By the time Napoleon’s army left Russian territory, only 10,000 of his soldiers were able to fight.

​What other defeats did Napoleon suffer?

Other leaders saw that Napoleon was now weaker. Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria joined forces and attacked France. Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig, in Germany, in 1813. In 1814, Napoleon gave up his throne and was exiled, or sent away, to the tiny island of Elba off the Italian coast.

Louis XVIII took the throne in Paris. But he quickly became unpopular. The peasants feared the new king would undo the land reforms of the Revolution.

​News of Louis XVIII’s trouble was all Napoleon needed to try to regain his empire. In March 1815, he escaped from Elba and boldly returned to France. He took power and raised another army.

The rest of the European powers raised armies to fight against Napoleon. Led by the Duke of Wellington, they defeated Napoleon in his final battle near a Belgian town called Waterloo. This defeat ended Napoleon’s last attempt at power, which was called the Hundred Days. He was then sent to the far-off island of St. Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean. He died there in 1821.

Multiple Choice

Who overthrew The Directory in a coup d'etat?

• Robespierre

• King Louis

• Jean Valjean

• Napoleon Bonaparte

Multiple Choice

How did Napoleon end the chaos of the French Revolution?

• He continued to use the guillotine against his enemies

• He worked with the Directory to bring peace

• He stabilized the country with his new policies

• He decreased the size of the military

​Terms & Names

Declaration of Independence Document declaring American independence from Britain Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of Independence

William Blackstone English lawyer whose ideas are reflected in the Declaration

checks and balances System in which each branch of government checks, or limits, the power of the other two branches

federal system System of government in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Bill of Rights First ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution; protections of basic rights for individuals

​• Causes:

– As British citizens, the colonists were not treated as full citizens and had limited representation in Parliament.

The French and Indian War (Seven Years War) had resulted in large debts and the imposition of taxes on the

colonists to pay for the cost of the war.

– The economic system of mercantilism also resulted in colonial resentment, as colonial trade was limited, and

natural resources were exploited for Britain’s economic gain.

​• Characteristics:

– It was an uprising against an imperial power.

– It set up a democratic-republican form of government based on Enlightenment ideas.

– Religion did not play a major role in the American Revolution. However, ideas on the separation of church and state and religious toleration were written into the U.S. Constitution.

– The Continental Army (American) relied on its alliance with France and their knowledge of the geography and terrain to defeat the British army.

​• Consequences:

– The colonists set up a democratic-republican form of government based on the Enlightenment ideas of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, individual rights, separation of powers, and popular sovereignty.

– While the colonies achieved their independence from Great Britain and were politically successful, the

American Revolution failed to establish equality for all citizens and did not end slavery, and thus is not

considered a social revolution.

– It inspired future revolutions in France and Latin America.

Open Ended

What is one thing that both the American Revolution and the French Revolutions had in common?