REVOLUTIONS - HIST123

When was the American Revolution?

1775-1783

What percentage of people lived under slavery at the time of the AR?

20%

Who were the two first Presidents of the US?

George Washington and John Adams

When was the French Revolution?

1789-1799

What were the structural causes of the American Revolution?

Colonial diversity, tradition of self-government, Enlightenment ideals, relative autonomy, absence of aristocracy/peasant class, slavery entrenched, suspicion of British interference.

What were the short-term triggers of AR?

Debt after Seven Years’ War, Proclamation Line (1763), Sugar Act (1764), Stamp Act (1765), Townshend Acts (1767), Boston Massacre (1770), Tea Party (1773), Intolerable Acts (1774).

Why was the Seven Years’ War important?

Britain gained territory but debt led to new taxes; France lost Canada; colonial resentment grew.

What role did Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’ (1776) play?

Popularised independence, radicalised colonists, framed monarchy as illegitimate.

What was the significance of the Declaration of Independence (1776)? AR

Asserted natural rights, listed grievances against King George III, declared US independent.

What were Britain’s main disadvantages in the war? AR

Long supply lines, global distractions, underestimated American persistence, overestimated Loyalists, unpopular behaviour of troops.

Turning points of the war (AR)

Saratoga (1777) → French alliance; Yorktown (1781) → Cornwallis surrendered.

What did the Treaty of Paris (1783) establish? (AR)

Britain recognised US independence, ceded territory to Mississippi, but kept Canada and Caribbean.

What were the Articles of Confederation (1781) AR?

Weak central government, “league of friendship,” limited enforcement power.

How did the US Constitution (1787) resolve weaknesses?

Stronger federal govt, separation of powers, Great Compromise (House & Senate), 3/5 Compromise on slavery, later Bill of Rights.

How did the Revolution affect different groups? (AR)

Women → “Republican motherhood”; Enslaved people → some gained freedom (Dunmore’s Proclamation), slavery entrenched in South; Native Americans → land ceded without consent; Loyalists → persecuted, many fled to Canada/Caribbean.

Structural causes of the French Revolution

Social inequality (Three Estates), Enlightenment ideas, fiscal crisis, weak monarchy, debt from wars.

Short-term triggers that sparked in 1789 (FR)

Bread shortages, Estates-General deadlock, National Assembly formed, Storming of Bastille (July 14, 1789).

What did the Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) proclaim?

Liberty, equality, fraternity, sovereignty of the people, universal rights.

Why was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) divisive?

Nationalised Church, clergy had to swear loyalty to state, split Catholics.

What was the Flight to Varennes (1791)?

Louis XVI attempted to flee Paris, destroyed credibility of monarchy.

What marked the shift from monarchy to republic in 1792?

Storming of Tuileries, abolition of monarchy, proclamation of republic.

Reign of Terror (1793-94)

Rule by Committee of Public Safety under Robespierre, mass executions, suppression of dissent, dechristianisation.

What ended the Terror?

Robespierre’s execution (1794) → Thermidorian Reaction, more moderate politics.

What was the Directory (1795-99)?

5-man executive, corruption, instability, reliant on military, overthrown by Napoleon.

What role did the Sans-culottes play?

Radical urban poor pushing for price controls, direct democracy, and political action.

How were women involved in the French Revolution?

Led protests (e.g. Women’s March on Versailles), political clubs, Olympe de Gouges wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman, later executed.

How did the French Revolution affect slavery?

Slavery abolished in 1794 in colonies (later reinstated by Napoleon).

What were the international consequences of the FR?

Spread of revolutionary ideas, wars with Austria/Prussia/Britain, rise of nationalism, Napoleonic Wars.

Key historiographical interpretations of FR

Marxist (class struggle, bourgeois revolution), Revisionist (political culture & ideas), Post-revisionist (blend of causes).

What colony was Saint-Domingue and why important?

French Caribbean colony; richest in world due to sugar and coffee exports.

What was the demographic breakdown? HR

Whites (30k), free people of colour (28k), enslaved Africans (450k)

What role did Vodou play? HR

Provided spiritual unity and communication for the 1791 uprising.

Who was Vincent Ogé? HR

Free man of colour who led 1790 revolt for equal rights; executed.

What sparked the 1791 uprising? HR

Vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman; enslaved launched revolt in northern plantations.

Why did France abolish slavery in 1794? HR

To secure loyalty of enslaved during wars with Britain and Spain.

Who was Toussaint Louverture? HR

Former slave turned general; defeated European armies; Governor-for-Life in 1801.

What did Louverture’s 1801 Constitution do? HR

Abolished slavery permanently, established Louverture as governor-for-life, nominal French link.

What was Napoleon’s policy toward Haiti? HR

Tried to reimpose slavery and colonial rule (1802 expedition).

What happened to Toussaint in 1803? HR

Captured by French, died in prison in France.

Who declared independence in 1804? HR

Jean-Jacques Dessalines, renamed colony ‘Haiti.’

What was the Battle of Vertières 1803? HR

Final defeat of French troops, securing Haitian independence

Why did Dessalines order massacres of whites? HR

To prevent the return of slavery and reassert Black sovereignty

How did the Haitian Revolution affect Napoleon’s empire? HR

Abandoned American ambitions —> Louisiana Purchase 1803

What was Haiti’s international status after 1804?

Isolated, seen as threat to slave societies; faced reparations and exclusion.

Why is the Haitian Revolution called the ‘unthinkable revolution?’

Trouillot: Western historians ignored it because a successful slave revolt challenged racist assumptions.

When was the Haitian Revolution?

1791-1804

When was the French Revolution?

1789-1799