Quiz I Atlantic Revolutions

The Seven Years War (Intro)

• Starts in North America

  • In north America, known as French and Indian war

  • European name: Seven Years War

  • We use the European name bc it reflects the global nature

  • Seven Years War is catalyst for the Age of Revolutions

  • A lot of what destabilizes the relationship btw Europe and colonies was the costs of this war

  • For the main players involved, the costs destabilize the acne, Great Britain, and the Thirteen American Colonies

  • A lot of fighting over Indian land, Indian trade in North America; it’s European powers fighting over lands that are inhabited War in Europe is a big component of this conflict.

  • In India, there’s also conflict

  • The Indian Empire was incredibly lucrative -> the French and the Dutch have a presence

  • War spreads to caribbean, etc.

  • Becomes a global conflict, and arelally exprnsive one

  • Britain allred with Prussia

The Price of Empire

The Price of Empire

• the price of empire is initial not necessarily about the expenditure spent to defend the empire, but more so about making it more profitable

• Britain is going to try in the wake of this war to cut costs and make the colonies more profitable

• Their doing wha tyou would expect, profit and minimizing costs

Economic Causes:

• one of many

• Britain comes out with 132 million pounds

• Britain is trying to make colonies more profitable for mother country

  • Saying colonies need to fund more of their expense

  • Need to shift some of those expenses (e.g. manning forts on the frontier); Brits will supply soldiers

  • Spanish, French both reject North America; France does have some non-coastal fur trade thing

  • No natural supply of gold and silver

  • 2/3 of teh gmoney supply was government paper momenyt, but only 1/3 gold, silves, and notes

  • Have to rely on paper money for most people

  • Franklin becomes very wealthy off of government contracts

  • Used leaves as anti-counterfieting devic

1. Eliminate Paper. Money

• steep wartime inflation (paper moeny drops in worth)

• Colonies forced to fund the war using paper money

• It's nothing the colonies have done wrong besides trying to fund the war

• British merchant/creditors worried about losing money -> don't want ot be on depreciating colonial money

  • This group lobbied Parilament to pass the Currency Act of 1764

  • Banned new paper money that was legal tander

  • Deflation is way worse than inflation because it shuts the economy down

  • Forced to rely on gold and silver (not enough)

  • People can't pat their debts/they can't pay their taxes

  • Could not pay their debts or taxes

  • Led to massive property foreclosure

    • Sherriff or constable then has to go and sell your property

    • Also can't convert farm, cows, etc. to get cash bc there's no cash

#2) Enforce Mercantlism

• colonies supposed to bring money to mother country (Britian) ex. mercantlism

• Contain trade within the British Empire

• Not only are you suppose to sell things to the British, but buy British exclusively

• Send raw materials to Britain -> where Britain converts raw materials into good -> colonies buy those goods

• One of the big raw materials is pig iron (which is raw iron), then it would be sent furances to purify

• Called pig iron because there's main trough and then little pigs

• Iron refined in Britain, sent back to the colonies

• On the way back, belgian blocks used to weight things down after unloading. That's why the streets in Fells Point are Belgian Blocks

• Trade imbalance btw colonies and British empire

• Gold only flows one way, from the colonies to Mother Country

• Mercantism strictly enforced did not work. A lot of people began smuggling in gold & silver, such as John Hancock, Britain previously looked away. Now Britain decides to enforce these rules.

• Britain also enacts Sugar Act 1765, which were used to further enforce mercantlism

• Enforced by Vice Admarility Courts (Naval officer deciding your fate, not jurt of your peers)

• Colonies later complained that they were treated as if they were very rich (like India, Jamica) despite being ppoor

• No money anymore bc no paper money, and no silver and gold bc no smuggling

• British catch John Hancock

• Britain viewed Americans as unruly children -> claim they were iresponsible with money, losing their privelege to print it

3. New Specie Taxes (Gold and Silver)

• specie menas hard taxes (gold and silver)

• To pay cost of colonial defesnse

• Mainly for Biritish soldeirs/forts on the frontier, ships, and later protecting British administators
  Examples of Specie Taxes (Taxes in gold and silver):

  • Stamp Act (1765)

  • Townshend Act (1767)

Britain is like taxes are light; colonies infurated by the fact they don't have any money to pay

• Colonies argue paying will make money scarcity worse

• British policies helped create a post war depression that was the main initial cause of Revolution

• All rights, theoretical ideas derived from economic argument

Ideological Origins

• Britain and colonists have fundamentally different views about rights of colonies,other country

• Conflict is created by severaly unclear system of British government that led to colonists and British officials having different ideas about colonial/constitutional rights
  Colonies claimed rights under

1. British Constitution

2. Colonial Charters -> when each colony was formed it had a charter with the crown. The King has a deal with the people who found it about what their rights are

3. The ideology of "republicanism"

Big problem:

• Britian doesn't have a written constituion (Still doesn't). Britain did have a bill of rights

• Instead, constitutional rights and powers were worked out through practice and custom

• What you can do over a long stretch of time is that the custom becomes a right

• Rights as Englishmen or British Colonies menat that whatever custom and practice said they were

• Lots of gray area,

• Lots of overlappign claims: Parilamanet, Corwn, colonial charters

• Britain and the colonies have vastly different ideals about constitutional power and rights

  • Britain says Parilament is supreme

  • Colonists say wait a minute they have production
    Colonists believed British actions after the Seven Years War violated their customary constitutional powers and right

• Colonists saw these things mercantlism, paper money, smuggling is now customary righ

• Colonist believed Britain had stayed hands off for so long it was now a right

• Believes lawas were unconstituional because they were removing customary rights

• Believed they were vialition of their constitutional rights/rights as Englishmen

• Vioolating our rights including no taxation without representation

• British didn't want all colonies to have representation in Parilament

• Collonies also believed Briatin was violating their collonial charters

• Some fo theose charters also gave a lot of leeway; left a lot of decision-making poweras colonial affairs

  • Sometimes that's demcoratic, sometimes not

    • Conneticut and Rhode Island,

    • Taking away both customary and charter rights

Republicanism

• the ideology of republicanism was used by the Americans to argue that British we're opressing them

• Repbulicanism was set of ideals that had growna s Parilment rose tos upremacy in deciding English law

  • William Conqueror units various Kingdom

  • King initally absolute

  • The King runs into aristocrats, leads to House of Lords

    • Then welathy, but not aristorcratic, people form House of Commons

• Under the Stuart rule: KIng > Parilemnet

• Hanover rule (the Georges) after Glorious Revolution: Parilemnt > king; Glorious rvolution doesn't work because Cromwell beomes parilmentary dictator, later disposed; Hanover binds with Scotland, Hanoverian monarchy leads to Parilment being supreme over Kign

  • All this couched in language of rpeublicanism

• movement in this direction toward democratizing; repbulcianism warns that concentration fo wealth and political power -> politcial power begets economic power and vice versa. Stuarts through star chamber (courts) to reward their allies

• Argues you need to spread out both poltical and economic power

• American colonist argue that British promoting tyranny by concentrating economic and political power in the hands of a wealthy few (in Britain) at the expense of the many (in the colonies)

The Empire Strikes Back

• American feel their rights and eocnomic power are being stripped away from them

• Crackdown seen as violation of their rights

Pattern:

1. Britain imposes law and efnorcement (right now it's just Vice Admarility)

2. Colonies resist

3. Britain repeals taxes

4. But increases enfrocement with more troops and tigheter control (and demanded colonies to pay the costs)

Crisis #1: Stamp Act Revolts

• Just sent Stamp Collectors (usually Americans with royal appointments) -> rewarded with percent of taxes they collect

• They cut out these stamps out and put them on

1. legal couments

2. ship papers

3. Newspaper

4. Playing Cards

American saw Stamp Act as making cash scarcity worse and punishing troubled debtors

• because debtors who were being sued had to pay for stamps for the court documents

Stamp Act:

• pretty easy to chase down one guy

• usually back and forth between GB & colonies

• Flashpoint tends to be when Britain imposes taxes

• Not because Americans were anti-tax, but more so bc they were upset about tax

• INcreasingly troops at ports to enforce the laws of mercantilism

• As far as widespread protest, it's about taxes bc it's something they can affect

• That's the place where protest can be efffective

• Just because they were protesting tax, don't take the American Revolution just to be an anti-tax protest

• People were upset about stamp act in particular bc they were already facing foreclosure, court costs, and now they were getting taxed on paper

  • Stamp Act is never enforced in America bc the mass uprisings are so potent that they get stamp commisioners to resign their acts

1767 Townshend Acts

• Taxes on luxury items (in part bc colonists were so upset at the stamp tax, which targeted the poor)

• Taxes on paper (used by papers), glass, paint, lead (used to hold windows in place), tea (considered an elite beverage)

• Colonies are still upset by this because even these new, progressive taxes would get rid of the money

  • Colonies convinced they need paper money or new ways to get gold and silver
    But what people are really mad about is enforcement

• Britain ramps up enforcement after Americans scared off Stamp collectors from Stamp Acts

  • Expand and increase power of Vice-Admirality Courts

  • Stronger enforcement of mercantilism, anti-smuggling laws

  • Even more custom officials, make it harder for colonists to evade

  • Send more British troops (that colonists pay for)

  • All of the big ports up and down the coast are where there ar emore troops

  • Flashpoint is largely over the troops, series of seaport riots; bunch of fights btw colonists and British soldiers

    • A lot of this younger men who work in the trades (minly maritime)

    • Working class anger towards British soldiers (who are also working class)

    • One of these custom officials gets into fight a with Boston kid, kills him

    • Parliament repeals Townshend Act same day as Boston Massacre

    • Not the Boston massacre, that causes it, rather seaport massacres

• Boston Massacre starts with custom officials worried there's going to be attack on the custom's office -> British soldiers are placed outside

• British soldiers allowed to look for additional work -> one looks for work at ropehouse makers, who told him to clean his shithouse -> gets into fight with the guys from ropemakers

• British officer in charge says not to shoot, Bostonians telling them to shoot, somehow in the chaos someone shoots, leads to chain reaction

• Paul Revere makes the victims look like white, gentry, actually working class, mixed race

• In response, Parliament repealed Townshend Act (except one on tea) but keeping troops/enforcement

Crisis #3: Tea Parties and the Coercive Acts

• How did a law taking a tax off tea spark the crisis lead to war?

  • Tea Act takes a tax off of tea

  • Tea ACT is NOT a coercive act

• Colonist were angered by Tea Act because it gave monopoly to the large, private British company (East India Company)

  • Prior to Seven Years War, East India Company has its own presence in India; during Seven Years War they face a lot of French, Dutch funded rebellion; Britain trying to turn tea trade over in colonies to give East India Company a break

  • Violates republicanism

  • Gentry/working class alliance

  • Get on the ship, dump tea often disguised as Mohawak Indians or with darkened faces

• In repsonse, Britain passed a series of laws that the colonist called "intolerable" or "corercive"

• British officials are firm on not backing down

Laws:
#1) Boston Port Act

• Closed Boston harbor until tea is paid for

• British post ships outside the port say no one can come in or leave, will get shot/blown up
  #2) Massachusetts Government act

• British ignored colonial charact

• turn many elected position into ones appointed by royal governor or king

• banned town meetings ecept for one a year

• Gave royal governor power to suspend the assembly

• Suspended in Oct. 1774 by Governor Thomas Gage

• Exactly what republicanism warned against: concentration of economic, political power in violation of British constitutional rights and colonial charters
  #3) Administration of Justice Act

• Allowed moving trials of British officials/soldeirs out of MA (sometimes to England) if it was thought local juries would be unfair

• Colonists called the "Murder Act" bc they could "get away with murder" under the system
  #4) The Quartering Act

• First one was in 1765

• New one gave governors more power to enforce

• Never as bas as suggested

  • It said that the colonists would pay for barracks and until those were built they would have to put them up in taverns, empty solutions

  • Took away a stipulation said that they had to feed British soliders
    #5) The Quebec Act

• made western leands (in the Ohio valley) claimed by colonies part of Quebec

• Each colony expanded westward Conneticut and Pennsylvania overlapping claims -> leads to shooting wars in 1780s

• Shot at the gentry bc a lot of land speculators were gentry

• Britain in essence, saying stick it, follow Ohio river down

• Angered speculators and ordinary colonists alike

• Was more tolerant of Catholics, which angered Protestnats

• Becomes a big thing of conspiracy theory of people trying to get papal "America"

• This is what ends up beign a huge thing

ID: Organizing Indepnedence

Think abotu the differences btw gentry/working-class, central dynamic we will examine in all of our revolutions; division over what should replace the old order

• Very decentralized in terms of communication, organization
  Organized in three different layers:

• Locally:

  • The gentry (local merchants, people who own saw mills, etc.) and the crowd (mainly farmers)

  • As the resistance ramps up -> ordinary people take control

    • Early on, founders trying to contain the protests

    • Founders very fond of British Empire

    • Very much trying to keep the lid on it; founding gentry are backing their way on it

    • There are some (like Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, etc.) more radical --> but generally elite (like John Adams) were incredibly conservative

    • Want to create up America monarchies

    • George Wahsington tried to create monarchy after revolution and dictatiorship during the war

• Within the colonies:

  • To coordinate at colonial level, requires the gentry (bc of their money) to coordinate with other people

  • Gentry here to represent opposition but also to keep a lid on it
    Inter-colonial efforts:

• Then, they also have to coordinate in Philly, NYC, etc. for contiential congress (elite of elite)

• When war breaks out everything kinda goes haywire; how do we fight war and push for peace

• Gentry pushed into war, independence, revolution, by ordinary people

• Popular pressure forced them to take steps they didn't wqant tot ake

• A lot of tension here

We see these tensions our 3 crisies:

1. Stamp Act Revolts

• gentry urging them not to attack stamp collectors
  #2) The sea port riots (boston massacre)

• urging them not to attack
  #3) response to the coervice act

• ordinary people wanting to mobilize miltia; gentry urging not

Republicanism

• republicanism and democracy were used interchangeably

• Monarchy: most of the power in House of Lords & King can stop what the House of Commons wants to do

  • Ruled through patronage, self-interest, and coercion

• Republic: governed by the people, through pariotism, civic virtue, and persuasion

  • we talked abotu republicanism is the imperial context, warning about both economic and political concentrations of power -> seeing these as forever linked throughout history, economic power begets political power which begets economic power in vicious cycle
    - Leads to tyranny

    • American colonists arguing that they are the poor many, ex. Tea Act

    • See this as violation of economic ideals

    • We have royal governemtne where we are colony within monarchy -> once you throw it open, where ordianry people begin saying they need to spread power both at home and in Britain

      • Those are debates where a lot of the revolution matters

      • Part of the debates behind constituion and state government

    • We're talking about debate largely btw white men

      • Only white women in NJ
        Key concepts of republicanism:

    • virtue

    • independence

    • equality

    What does virtue mean in the 18th century?

    • goes back to Greek and Roman times

    • The ability to put the interest of the whole ahead of one's own self-interest

    • Opposite is monarchy and aristocray

    • Republicanism and democracy were the same thing

    • Voters and leaders need to think about the public good, not their own interests

    • Public really refers to white men

    Elites:

    • argue only wealthy, well born, well-educated capable of virtue

    • Ordinary people are too selfish, uneducated, corrupt, sinful to be virtuous

    • Citing thousands of year of philosphy

    Ordinary whites:

    • ordinary white men capnale of virtue (in the north sometimes it's just men are capable of virtue)

    • Elites are self-interested (look at current laws)

    Independence (which made virtue possible)

    • argue that to be politically independent one had to be economically

    • Had to own property and especially land

    • In terms of political independence, not under anyone's economic control -- Not "dependents"

    Dependents defined as:

    • tenant farmers

    • women through coverture (your rights to property become your husband's)

    • Indentured servants/enslaved persons

    • those indebted to gentry

    Idea being:

    • only those economically independent should be able to vote

    • Since dependents could be swayed by husbands, masters, landlords, etc.

    This was the sytstem already in place:

    • gender and race restrictions: just white men can vote, some religious votes

    • property requirements for voting

    • Higher property for office holding

    • Around the time of the revolution, land was fairly spread out (extraordianry in comparison to Europe)

    • 2/3 of white men owned land

    • 50-75% of white men could vote

    • Just 15% of adult white men could vote in Britain

    • Difference in Independence
      With Revolution, elite say:

    • don't expand electorate

    • Keep property requirements for office hodling and voting

    • Trying to keep the status quo as much as possible

    • Frequently citing philosphy and history

    • "The most flourishing commonwealths that ever existed, Athens and Rome, were RUINED by allowing this right [to vote] to people without property"

    • Internally saying that poor will come after you if you give them power

    John Adams:
    " Men in general in every society, who are wholly desitute of property, are also too little acquainted with public affairs to form a right judgement, and too dependent on other [...]"

    Independence:
    White Revolution, ordinary white men say:
    -expand vote to all white men
    Prevent women, enslaved people, and non-whites (Native people) from voting to stop corruption

    Ordinary white men:
    "Every member o fsociert has a right to give his consent"

    Equality

    • politcal equality was related to economic equality

    • Equality protects against tyranny, spreading power out (both economic and political), acts as a check against tyranny, making harder or wealthy few to dominate politics/economy

      • Economic and political power will concentrate

    Equality
    For elite:
    - Equality among the "haves," people who already have it
    - Don't expand the electorte, who could run for office
    - Also don't make wealth more equal
    - But also don't make it more unequal
    - Just ensure political equality among those hwo already economically independent

    For ordinary white men:

    • In Northern states, they're allowing Black men to vote bc such a small % of population, not worried about

    • White men argue that they need to spread poltiical and economic power

    • Protecte political equality by promoting economic equality

    • Enact policies that prevent concentrations of wealth and that uplift ordinary white men

    • Place cap on the top from gaining more, create safety net for middling, white men

    • Argue that's what makes America special

    • Similar to Adam Smith

Revolutionary War

It's not unusual to define the Revolution as the war, not often thought about anlaycially

• Need to have armies to fight wars -> often means elite have to give conecession to ordinary people

• At the end of war, elites trying to grab power back -> take control and roll back the revolution

• How does ware open things up?

  • Many of the people argue that they need concession to vote
    Elite Concession include (some) of these:

    • Voting rights

    • Declartaitons of Rights

    • Supremacy of stateasemblies

    • Somewhat more progressive taxation:

      • Everyone used to pay same amount of tax, regardless of whether you were poor or rich; a lot of elites evaded taxes

      • A lot of ordinary people wanted people to be charged percent

      • peopel angry at the burden

    • The democratic militia

      • At star of war, gentry tried to impose an elite-led milita

      • Not happy with exemptions for the wealth and wherethey don't have to serve

      • Wanted equality with officers

      • Same uniforms: hunting shirts

      • Vote on regulations and discipline

      • Increase pay for non-officers *

      • end of elite military exemptions for genrry

      • Market Regulations

        • Wanted price controls

        • Stiff penalties for hoarding and profiteering
          Confistition of Sale of Loyalists Estates

    • Elite worried about confiscation because they worried about this as larger threat to private property

  • In the South, it becomes fight for freedom get a slave
    Rewards to ordinary soldiers

    • Freedom for Northern enslaved people willing to fight in the Continental Army

    • By war's end 10% of Reviolutionary Army in rhe North are free

  • Slave Runawats:

  • 
    

  • Slaves run away to the British

  • Revolutionary War was the biggest slave revolt

  *Pennnsylvania milita officer to paymaster:

  • "Pray captain, how many men do you command?

  • "not one"

  • "how do you have such heavy accounts"

  • "I command none, but commanded by none"

Coercive Acts:

Suffolk Resolves, 1774

• Calls for Americans being able to nullify for any British Law

• Called for military preparation

• One Ameircan called it "a complete declartation of war against Great Britain"

• This happens in Spetemeveber 1774 becuaser there was a rumor British had bombed Boston

• Had whole network of spreading information (like the rider network that was set off a chain reaction) for ordinary peopel

• Network springs to action based on rumor that wasn't true

• rider to Rhode Island, Conneeticut, western MA

• Militia captain -> goes into lovalmeeting house -> forced gentry to give up their showes if they werne't going to fight

• Pushed on the gentry, forced on the gentry

• IN Conneticut minister opposed marching, especially on sabbath, people forced his registration

• 30,000 people mobilized to take arms and march for Boston Congress passed Suffolk Resolves ->

• British ofifcals (Joseph Reed0 to Lord Dartmouth -> American writing to Brit, gentry not wanting revolution

• In eahc case, people led and gentry followed

• Genrry backed way into Revolution, many in order to retain political, economic, and social control)

1776 State Consitutions

• a lot fo debates around republicanism going on during the war

• how far away it went towards republicanism, and away from monarchism

• Comprorises btw those who wanted to move in a more republican/democratic direction and those who wanted to retain monarchical/aristiorcatic features of old government

  • Ex. in Virginia, they proposed monarchy (strong executive), gets laughed @, then proposed artistocracy (strong sentates)

Common features:

• Most fearful of re-creating kings/colonial governors, msot states refused to give governors veto power

• oNlyt in MA, SC< and NY

• Even here vetoes could be over-ridden by 2/3 of assembly

• Elites wanted King's veto, absolute veto

Common features:

• anti-monarchical (weak governors) but

• Most included senates to give "aristocry" a check on "democracy"

• Almost all featured some kind of declaration of rights (precursors to the Bill of Rights)

• Each state worked out its own balance of power between "aristocarcy" and "Democracy"

Pensylvania Constituion of 1776

• Quaker government refused to support war and independence and was overthrown by the Revolution

• generally passes govenroship down through the Penns name

• Old top elite doesn't participate -> more ordinary people come in to create this education

• Create a constituion, 90% of adult males can vote (even Blaack men)

• Institute secret ballots -> to protect thos ehwo voted aginst those they were depednet to

• Few checks on democracy in stat elegislature: powerful unicameral assembly, weak executive (no veto)

• Thomas paine in Common Sense: tradutuinal divided govenrment gives rich too much power to check "the poepl" and threaten liberty

• Argues govenro and sentate represent the rich where as only house of assembly represnts "the people"

• Senates are the home of artisocracy

• Different branches represent wealth and power

Pennsylvania Model of Government

• President is Supreme Executive Council -> it's a whole group of people. No veto, can only advise

• House of Assembly held all the power

• Ben Franklin "Best Government" is like PA

How do you make sure ordinary people can served?

• No property requirements for office holding: all (Christian) white men eligivle for any office (Catholics allowed; previous Quakers only allowed Protestant)

• more offices elected rather than appointed

• Rotation of office (term limits) -> prevented career politicans

• Pay the representatives -> under previous system, only wealthy could stomach the unpaid position

• Transparency (open halls, printed debates, review of laws)

• You know what your representatives said

Opposite is Maryland Constitution of 1776:

• in part bc they were fearful of what happened Pennsylvania

• in part bc Charles Caroll under pressure from his son to compromise so they could maintain power

• Kept propery requirements for voting: 1/3 of adult white men still could not vote (continued Ban on Black voting)

• No secret blaloot: still voice vote, in front of representatives of gentry (very coercive sytem) -> most people don't vote in colonial power

• Keep most poistins appointed

• Powerful Senate

Modeling this after British government

• put emphasis on senate as check on governemtnt
  Maryland Constitution of 1776:

• Wealthiest 10% eligible assmebly

• Welathies 7% for Senate

• Welahties 5% for Governor

• Trying to keep power among slaveholders

• No veto tho
  -Oppostiion from those who though Constitution was not democratic enough
  Anee Arundel County Miilitia:

• pushed for more democratic constituion

Not-So-Revolutionary War

• War makes a revolution more likely bc it destabalize the status quo, power vaccumm

• Need popular support so elites have to make concessions to get people to fihgt

• The problems of war and chaos of war make elites prone to counter revolution

• New elites want to perserve the gain the power that the old elite once held

• Often bc of suspension of civil liberties and greater state power during the war -> elites want to preserve that
  #1) Limit on Civil Rights

• Persecution of Loyalist, neutrals, disaffected, religious dissenters

• Quakers were suspect as were Marylanders who didn't want to participate bc there was little in new Constitutioon for them

• Quakers in Pennsylvania work out a deal, run prison camps & hospitals

• Lot of persecution of Quakers in Maryland

• Hyper patriotism takes hold during the war; any one who is not a fervent supporter of the Revolution becomes

• Large number of people, especially int he Southern categories who fit into (see highlighted category)

• Worries about elites and slavery and need to lock it tdown

#2 ) Eltist Army

• problems with democratic militia led to elite attempts to make Contiental Army liek Europena Army

  • Enlisted men and officers have huge disparity

  • Strict discipline

  • The mythological army of the '76 (citizen soldiers) doesn't last long

  • Works well in '75 because Brits had peace keeping force

  • Start losing once Britain sends full imperial force

  • & then army shifts from citizen soldiers into army of poor people (immigrants, 10% Black soldiers, poorer people)

  • Rigid hierarchy and chain of command

    • Phrase "officer and gentlemen" means that officers should be gentlemen

    • Strict discipline (whippings, floggings, even executions etc.) common

    • Soldiers who thought they were fighting for republicanism now in this very elitist organization

  • Officer/elisted tension and conflict lead to several mutiny

  • In the South, rather than give enslaved Southerners freedom for fighting in army, Southern colonies offered White recruits, slaves captured from Loyalist plantations as bounties for signing up

  • Rhode Island has a Black regiment

  • Idea in the south shot down, toyed with for a few minutes

  • In part bc they didn't want slave mutiny, Southern regiments

  • Instead southern, perspective could be summed up with "fight for freedom, get a slave"

3. Economic Hardships

• Money Troubles: very little gold and silver, repeat fo the paper money issue from the French & Indian (Seven Years War)

• Even worse because its harder to collect taxes because the war ravages basically all of the colonies

• One of the first acts of the revolutionary government was to print money

• One printed in May 1775 (war fought in April 1775)

• Some Mason symbology even at the beginning (not a sign of conspiracy cough Dan Brown)

• Shift toward the Spanish dollar bc they're shifting away from the Sterling -> adopts that denomination as their own

• Massive inflation

• Terrible supply problems

  • Very hard for farmers to provide for troops when

• Army pay and recruiting problems

  • In some cases, Army went one to two years without pay (both for officers and enlisted)

British blockade:

• cut exports by 80-90% -> trying to starve the colonies into submission

• (limited imports) trying to prevent shipments of tobacco, rice, indigo going out

• Shipping these goods out -> using funds to buy weapons

• Had some faster ships than British that could try and escape the blockade; some American ships could capture merchant vessels, but still didn't want to mess with the Brits

Homefront as a battlefield:

• armies marching through farms, going through killing pigs, eating corn

Labor shortages:

• Fathers, sons, field hands at war

• lot of runaway slaves (30K-40K)
  Deaths from war or diseare:

• disease more deadly -> often the death is from sepisis form bullets not the actual thing

• 35K - 50K

• As many as 2/3 of runaway of slaves die

• Smallpox epidemic

• British put a lot of enslaved persons into small ships, forts in concentrated spaces worsened spread

4. Calls for a wartime dictatiorship

• Washington's paper and Hamilton's papers reveal for dictatorship (Hamilton is aide-de-camp/second brain for Washington)

• These documents were among the papers (many of the people died believed monarchism would come back one day, believed it would be hereditary monarchism)

• They kept these documents believing they would have been eventually vindicated

  "The Necessity of appoint General Washington, sole dictator of America, is again talked of as the only means under God by which we can be saved from destruvtion"

  • Phillip Schulyer of this conviction as well

  • Phillip Schuyler was a huge authoraitan

• In 1780, Washington called for wartime dictatorship with himself as dictator and three-man committee to be "vested with all the powers which Congress have" that he would hand pick (all NY aristocrats)

• Including Schulyer -> Washington + 3 NYers would have held all the powers of Congress

• Congress rejected this

  • Romans used to do this -> elected monarchy for a year

  • Oliver Cromwell warning sign against this bc Parliament did this and then Cromwell didn't want to give this

• Washington and supporters tried to pressure states to approve a dictatorship -> leaning on people to create

• Hartford Converntion: New England and NY sent delegates to this convention

  • Philip Schulyer (Alexander Hamilton's father-in-law): "Some are for appointing a dicatator with a vice dictator in each state"

• At the end of the revolution, Washington says there's no way for dictatorship, not bc he doesn't believe in it, but because he knows it would damage the

• Schuyler and Hamilton egg him on

• Congress rejects it again

• Delegates booed over it

#5) The Newburgh Conspiracy

• Army officers threaten mutiny or coup to secure pension of half-pay for life (like British army officers)

• Those who had been pushing for a wartime dictatorship used it to try to secure greater powers from Congress

• Governeur Morris to John Jay:

• "They have Swords in their Hands" and would force "the People to accept a great increase in powers of Congress "The people were so "Wearied with the War" that their "Acquiesce may be depend on the absolute certainty" "You and I my friend know by experience that when a few men of sense and spirit get together and declare that they are the authority" those who were "of a different opinion may easily be convinced of their mistake by that powerful argument: the halter" -> in essence saying we take power and crack down on those people who disagree

  • Halter = noose

  • Edited, excluded last bolded part, by nationalist historians

• Washington quashes it

• Washington wanted a more monarchical government, but not by force

• Believed any attempt to change government without the consent of Congress would fail and destroy nation with a civil war

• Makes his surrender of army and two terms from Washington more significant

• Jefferson, to critique, once he had power didn't oel it back

• All this leads to counter-revolution attempting to roll back democratic gains of the Revolution and create stronger national government

• Many of the leading founders wanted to creat an American verison of (elected) monarchy

• Wanted taxes, diplomacy, internaitonal affairs, to be decided at national level

• Wanted weak state government (only crime, etc.)

Return of the King

Why did some of the leading founders hope to turn the US into a home-grown form of monarchy?

• The worst parts of our governments comes from concession to the monarchissts

Leading monarchists:

• George Washingotn

• John Adams

• Alexander Hamiltion

• Robert Morris ("Te Financier")

• James Wilson

• Gouverneru Morris

• John Jay

• Henry Knox

• ... and James Madison (who later tried to cover it up after he changed his mind)

• It's not their Constitution, they may have written it but it came form their opposition

• During the war, many of the leading founders (NOT the majority) laid out a monarchical plan of government they envisioned for peacetime

• Want to establish at the end of the war

• This government is not republican

• It's a direct challenge to republicanism
  Republicans belived:

• held together by patriotism and civic virtue (put others ahead of themselves)

• Republicans put together by persuasion rather than coercion (whoever had the best idea (and could convince) got to govenr)

Moniarchal:

• Held together through patronage, self-interest, and corruption

• Enforced through coercion

• The King & aristocrats wants to profit oof government

• Self-interest infused into government

• King will buy your vote and sway

• The King called it corruption as did his supporters

• Saw it as necessary part of the system

Lots of different monarchies:

• Hereditary vs. elective (Poland)

  • Hereditary is Disney version

  • Poland, Rome are elected

• Absolute (France)

  • More complicated than it sounds

• Mixed/Limited Constituion (England)

  • Consists of Monarchy, aristocracy, democracy in the form King, House of Lords, ouse of Commons (in that ordere)

  • ^ (aristocratic) Philosopher and historians at the time all argued this was the best way as absolute monarchies end up in tyranny but democracy was

• Thomas Paine is revolutionary in getting rid of the aristorcary, monarchism/the founding gentry go against this

• Colonists were raised that a Mixed/limited/constitutional monarchy (England) was a best form of government in the world ever

• Many elites forced into this, led to republicanism

• John Adams hates Thomas Paine

• Others gave up on republicanism in 1776 when the war started going badly and wartime problems accumulate despite previouslyt uspporting it

John Adam's 9-month republicanism

• Initially calling for British King to pick American King

• Has short window of believing republicanism might work after declaration of indepnednece

• Then reverts to monarchy

• These men wanted a return to some kind of monarchical government

• Believed republics (democracy) would always fail eventually
  Believed mixed-monarchy was far better than absolute or despotism

  • Wanted people to have some input in government, but still had aristocracy to minimize their powers in a British-style "free" government

• George Washington knew that mixed-monarchy was VERY unpopular with majority of Congress and "the people" sot hey would have to move in stages

• They were convinced the U.S. would end up as some kind of monarchy. Most died believing that it was only a matter of time. Which is why Washington/Hamilton keep these papers

  • Madison burns some of the papers but changes other bc he needs the one (debts and wife style)

• Alexander Hamilton said the plan was to take parts "form despotic society"

• Opponents at the time called the plan a move of the minority to rule "the majority in ways that were contract to compacts of civil society"

IDS: 1780s Popular Threat

• How did ordinary Americans try to reclaim heir vision of the Revolution and threaten the interests and ideal s of the "founding fathers"?

• Ordinary Americans are upset

"why sleep our rulers? have we not appointed them to watch over our rights and out liberties and out interest, and are they not suffering us into bondage? Have we not expended our blood and our treasure to expel from the land a set of invaders who sought to rule over us as taskmasters, and shall we now become bondsmen to people of our own country?"

• want war debt/IOUs to paid off at market rate, not the face value

• Want taxes to be paid in paeper moeny

Popular politics:

• rely on government papre rmoen

• Long term, low interest government loans for small farmers

• Revoke bank charters

• Debt arbitration and stay laws to prevent mass property foreclosure (allow)

• Pay off war debt at market levels ($7 rather than $100, with 6% interest paid on $7)

• War debt speculators will still make money, but not a killing

Some successes:

• 7 (out of 13) state printed paper money

• 5 created farm loan programs

• Most passed stay laws (putting a pause), debt relief

• PA revoked bank charter (gave limited liability)

• RI passed whole roster of pro-debtor reforms

LIMITS: political system was mostly in the hand sof the elite who mostly got their way or watere-down reforms

Popular protest:

• when formal politics failed ordinary American protested in exactly the way theey had during the 1760s and 1770s

• shut down tax collection

Massachusetts Regulation ("Shay Rebellion")

• People need to regulate government bc elites were being bad, anti-republican leaders

• People shut down courts across the state

• Elite mobilized to open them by force

• Could not get support from Congress or other states

• Elite and sons hired poor of Boston and all marched to put down "rebellion"

Their protests:

• bring taxes to standstill across the nations

  • only 1/3 collected

• Popular politics and protests convinced much of the elite that the republic was on the verge of failing

• Believed the federal govenrment needed massive monarchical reforms

• Wanted to accumulate power in the federal government

ID: A Monarchy or a Republic?

The battle over the US Constitution was between:
#1) a faction that wanted the US to head back toward monarchy (minority)
#2) a faction that wanted a not-so-democratic republic (majority)

The Monarchists' Logic:

• the republic was failing and would end in dictatorship

• To avoid that fate, needed to bring the United States as close as they could to a British-style mixed-monarchy, with an elected lifetime executive rather than a hereditary one

  • ultimately fearful of Oliver Cromwell/Julius Cesar

• Washington is very consistent: wants monarchy, but doesn't want civil war -> wants to get as close to it in the monarchy

George Washington:
"I confess however that my opinion of public virtue is so far changed that I have my doubts whether any system without the means of coercion in the Sovereign, will enforce obedience to Ordinances of a General; without which, everything else fails."

• In their minds, a monarchical government was needed to prevent the nation from becoming an even more authoritarian dictatorship

• They thought by becoming more British monarchial, they would save US from becoming a dictatorship

• There's a bunch of stuff they agree about:

• want government with independent branches (legislative, executive, and judiciary)

• General agreement on courts with lifetime appointments

• Not so much debate over the courts during Convention

• Don't imagine judiciary being so powerful (21st century), most terrified, some monarchists in favor

• All think states were too democratic:

  • By today's standards they were not very democratic, even Maryland

• Supremacy of national government over the states

• All believe federal law should supercede state law

• Give greater powers to Congress to tax (imports), regulate trtaade, and potect national security

Edmund Randolph, VA:

• The goa of convention was "to restrain if possible, the futry of democracy?"

Divisions:

• Big states vs small states

  • Population vs. equal represtation

  • Big states wanted it to be decide big population also want that for the Senate
    Small states want equal representation

• North vs. South over slavery and trade (tariffs)

• North backed on anti-slavery measures

• South back downs on anti-tarriffs, South import-export economy, North eventually manufacutring

• Slaves counted as 3/5ths of a person for taxation and representation (Madison)

Monarchist vs Republicna:

• How much power US would have over states?

• How much power would the president (monarchical branch) and senate have over the House of Representatives (democratic branch)

Monarchists vs Republicans

• in some ways mirrors the big state vs small state

• more monarchists from VA, PA (despite Ben Franklin & George Mason)

Monarchists on state power
-wanted national government with complete autonomy

Republicans on state power"
[-wanted states to retain consideranle autonomy in confederated system
Wanted to give states greater checks on the federal government (impeachment, )

Results on state power: Republicans win, but do not get all the checks they wanted

Result s on Federal vs. State power:

• Republicans win, but do not get all the checks they wanted the states to have over the federal government

• Fundamental debate about came out of monarchical minority, republican majority

• A bunch of monarchical features left in the constitution

• Federalists want states to be administrative units of federal government

• Republicans want the states to have more ability to check the federal government (they don't get all of this power)

Monarchists on presidency:

• Washington, Hamilton, Governeur Morris, James Madison

• Presidents were under their plan "on good behiavor" : a lifetime term (or very long one

• No impeachment (or very high barrier) → this idea proposed after lifetime presidency is rejected

  • Republicans very strongly against that

  • Instead Monarchists push for very high barrier for impeachment → leads to system we have

• Wanted veto with no over-ride

  • Republicans very strongly against this akin to monarchy

Republicans on presidency:

• thought it was a terrible idea to have one person as the executive, so they purposed a plural executive (like an executive council)

• Wanted short term with re-election (but term limits) or their preferred option was one seven-year term, with no re-eelcction

• Wanted very low bar for impeachment (even allowing the majority of governors to impeach)

• Wanted no veto or veto that could be over-ridden early

  • knew that King in England only had to threaten it

Results for the Presidency:

• Republican win but strong monarchical

• 4 years, no limits on re-election

• Electoral college (monarchical: not direct election by the people)

• The electoral college was proposed by monarchists

• Wanted land restrictions

• President chosen by electors

• Proposed as an idea of American monarchy

• Failed @ convention, but still included

Results for the Presidency:

• Veto but overridden with 2/3 vote of Congress

• Weak impeachment (no real checks on president)

  • Wanted Senate to never convict president (akin to House of Lords and King)

• Nearly unlimited pardon power

  • People @ the time thought this was really stupid

  • President could ask accomplice to commit crime and pardon them

  • George Mason argued in convention that President would lose the election -> try to overturn

Monarchists on Senate:

• wanted Senate "on good behavior" (Or very long term)

• Wanted property requiremets (to favor only gentry who served)

• Wanted Senate > House

Republicans on the Senate:

• short terms

• Term limits

• fewer powers than the House

• Wanted House to be more powerful to enact check

Results for the senate:

• Republicans win but...

• 6 year term (Republicans didn't like this)

• No term limits (Republicans didn't want this bc they wanted rotation office)

• Senate was check on the house

After Republicans go home, GA and SC delegates (who previously aligned with Republicans) agree with Monarchists that there wouldn't be restrictions on slave imports in exchange for monarchical elements in the governemnt

Monarchists on a bill of rights:

• no bill of tights

• Called unnecessary

Republicans on a bill of rights:

• Bill of right is needed

• The opponents of the constitution (republicans) made this the cost of ratification (to assuage fears over monarchism)

At the end of the Constitution:

At the end of the Convention:

• "What have we got? A monarchy or republic?" (Reporter)

• "A republic if you can keep it" (B. Franklin)

#addimage

White Man's Democracy

• Argument is really about white man's democracy

• What did ordinary white men get out of the Revolution?

  • Increased political rights

  • Decreased economic power (independence)

• Revolution was democratizing in some ways, yes, absolutely -> moves towards more democratization -> initially that's only for white men

Incereased polictical rights:

• more white men could vote

• Trend towards universal white male suffrage (even removing property requirements, leads to institution of gender (NJ), racial restriction (North))

• secret ballot in some place

• Enshrinement of bill of rights

• Trend will be toward expanding political rights for white men (from Jefferson to Jackson)

Decreased Economic Independence:

• Postwar concentrations of wealth

  • created by exactly gentry policies

  • US doesn't reach pre-1776 levels of income until around 1810 (when democratic reforms were enacted -> after elites make change following popular pressure/fears of losing office)

  • 30 year depression/recession

Urban concentration:
1780: the lowest 90% held over 56% property
1789:: only 33%
1795: only 18%

• people who had property lost property

Rural concentration of wealth:

• 1780: typical western Pennsylvania farmer owned 100-acres

• 1795: typical western Pennsylvania farmer owned 50-acres, in one county majority of farmers landless

Frontier concentration of wealth:

• only got worse:
  in Illinois, by 1830, speculators held 70% of land

• 2/3 of farmers were squatters

• 70% would move within decade

• Very, very hard life

For ordinary white men, the Revolution:

1. Opens up new political rights and powers (somewhat)

2. Reduces their economic independnence and standing
   Could have been a lot worse if republicanism hadn't won out over monarchism @ Constitutional Conventiion

Monarchical Corruption

• elite embracing the view that philosophy, history that mixed monarchy was the best form of government, blame democracy for these issues

• Makes perfect sense

• How do they try to do this??

• Tried to do this the old-fashioned way: patronage, self-interest, and corruption

• Corruption wasn't viewed pejoratively, just how things work in a monarchy

• Like European monarchs built and maintained kingdoms

  • Give money, land, power, privilege to the aristocracy to buy and keep their loyalty

  • You buy off people you need to buy off to get it to work

  • It is venal and self-interested

  • The glue that held everything together was corruption

• American monarchists way the same thing

• This is natural, normal

Robert Morris: self interest over patriotism and civil virtue:

• The goal was to "unite the several states more closely together in one general money connection" and to "attach many powerful individuals to the cause of our country by the strong principle of self-love and the intermediate self of private interest." "We shall only have to appeal to the interest of mankind, which in most cases will do more than their patriotism"

• Rejection of republicanism, despite Cold War scholars claiming the opposite

• Robert Morris said that money will acquire influence → authority-> open purses of the people

• Goal was drawing by degrees the bands of authority together and establishing the power of government over a people impatient of control

• Had to move towards monarchism one step at a time

How does Morris do this:
#1) Create private banks

• much more like investment banking than traditional bank

• previously government had played leading role with money and credit

• Paper money is 2/3rd

• Governments also trying to get money to working class

  • Land-loan programs for small farmers (at time when most people were farmers)

  • you give land as colleratal, get small loan

  • Ex. land bank in Pennnsylvania

• Printed paper money (Congress, states)

• Gentry came to believe that it was dangerous for "the people" (Democratic governments) to control decision about money and credit

• In part bc of fears over wartime inflation, currency collapse

• Much of the money printed by Congress, remainder by states

• Congress keeps printing money to fund, but very hard to collect taxes to reign it in bc home front's a battlefield

• Gentry were mad bc they were creditors (received depreciating paper money)

• Loan programs created competition

• Wanted tight money (deflation) and limit competition

• Don't want to be competing with small farmers for lands

Their solution:

• kill government paper money

• Kill government loan programs for small farmers

• Remove government power over money and credit

• Give power to (new) private banks

• It's a system that benefitted the gentry

  • They wanted capital exclusively for the gentry

  • First banks did not loan to ordinary customers

  • Director of banks even loaned to themselves

  • Gentry could get more money

What happens?

• Economic collapse (deflation)

  • Paper money was 2/3 of money supply

  • Now gone

  • Bank currencies did not serve as a replacement until the 1810s

  • Don't even recover until Thomas Jefferson's second trm

  • This is the first Great Depression

  • Created by these elite policies

  • Bank currencies -> each bank had it's own money

  • The economy collapses

  • High interest rates (10-20%) per mont

• There's no money around

• People who had access to these lands could buy up farm land extremely easily

• Harder to purchase new land

• Redeeming the war debt

• Paper money funded 80% of war costs, rest was:

  • Foreign loans

  • War bonds/IOUs given to

    • Soldiers

    • Citizens

Army had to get crops, horse, cows, etc. and gave them IOUs

• Supposed to pay 6% interest rate → Congress gave another IOU for the interest

• These things were never worth what they said they were

Redeeming the War Debt:

• Gentry bought war bounds/IOUs low and wanted to sell high

  • $100 certificate or IOU for $7-$12

  • 6% interest per year (but could not collect)

• Had to sell it to the gentry

• If you were a soldier and got an IOU, seperate table with speculators/officers to get the debt

• Elite held nearly all the (domestic) war debt of war bonds, army certificate, and IOUs:
  Massachuetts:

• 73% of the debt was held by 188 people
  Pennsylvaniea:

• 96% held by 434 people
  Maryland:

• 93% held by 124 people

• All of this skewed (family members buying on behalf), 12 people in Maryland own it in relaity

How do they get this money:

• ordinary folk through taxes collected by government

• Face value: paid 7, want 100, plus 6 every year as interest → that's what the gentry want

• Want it collected in gold silver

Put it all together:

• Elite gets paid by:

  • Getting government tot enact new taxes on ordinary people in gold and silver

  • Getting government to ban paper money

• This is the exact same thing Britain did during the 1760s and the 1770s

• BIG Irony: gentry enacts the SAME policies they had fought a Revolution to prevent!

What's the rsult:

• depression

• Mass harship

• Greatest transfer of wealth in American history form the American public to the elite

• why don't we tell this story? Contradicts American nationalism

• We have sold this version

ID Revolution for the Enslaved

Two question:
Was there a Revolution for enslave people in the North?

• Somewhat of a revolution but its limited

Paths to Freedom in North:

• War

  • Runaway to the British when they are in NY (British held Hudson until the end of the war)

  • British left NY in 1783 with 5,000 people liberated from slavery

• Revolutionary war was the largest slave revolt in US history prior to civil war

• British ignored Treaty of Paris, left with these enslaved peope

War:

• Freedom for those who fought for the colonies

• The enslaved could be used as substitutes for white owners → enslaved people got their freedom

• States made offer when recruiting shortages were dire → pretty big enslaved population in RI (Brown brothers/university founders ex.) → had their own unit

• About 5,000 African Americans served in Northern state militias; roughly 1/2 and 1/2 British, American

• Immediate Emancipation:
  - MA, VT
  - VT ended in Constitution
  - MA one through Mass. Supreme Court under all men are created equal

Paths to Freedom in North:

• Gradual Emancipation (rest of North)

  • First law in PA (1780) -> banned importation

  • Children of enslaved parents free @ age of 28

  • So those children free in 1808

  • National importation ban in 1810

  • Other states enacted similar laws

  • By 1810, still 30,000 people held in slavery in the "free" North

  • These were mixed attempts to limit Black population (by racist) and end slavery (by progressives)

Was there a Revolution for enslave people in the South?

• Not really (no)

• Runaway: probably 20K to 40K (as high as 100K for estimate)

• 2.3 died or recaptured (over 50% died (in particular from smallpox))

• See British as source of freedom, not the American colonies

• Runaway slave ads all over the place

• One of the good things George Washington did was inoculate against smallpox

Runaway: British

• Britain left South in 1783 with 14K black Americans

• Some go toe England, Caribbean, but most end up with Canada

• Colony in Nova Scotia, infertile land, angry white neighbors

• British decide instead to create colony in Sierra Leone → doesn't go well either

_ Some of those runaways stayed in US

• blend into Southern cities

• Some slaveholders emancipated

• There were also "maroon" communities → came from shipwrecks, Caribbean revolts, on islands, etc. -> strong carriben culture

• Not official freedom from southern colonies

• Southern states → promised white army recruits enslave person captured from a loyalist plantation as a bounty for signing up
  "Fight for freedom, get a slave"

• Many Patriot officers captured slaves → sent them to work on their own plantations

• No effort towards gradual emancipation in South

• Some by Jefferson, but colonist (Liberia)
  Southern Founders justified continuing slavery as a "Necessary Evil"

• it was evil

• But need to continue for economic and social reasons based in racism and white supremacy

• Jefferson lays this out in INCREDIBLY racist language

Revolution for Indians?

What role did Native Americans play in the American Revolution, and what did the Revolution mean for Indian peoples?

• Native people all end up in same postion regardless of where they

Was the ere a revolution for Indians?

• Big change for Indians but not a positive change

Failed neutrality:

• Native American tribes initially tried to remain neutral

• Saw it as a family fight

• Indians to Americans: "We mind nothing but peace... [you should] not come into our country to fight" unless you want to fall

• #addimage

• Failed Neutrality:

• netutraility is impossible bc Bris and Americans make ultimatums

• Native American dependence on European trade goods

• Cherokee: if he was denied European weapons, "I had recourse to the bow & arrow for my subsistence and defense... these weapons my boy understand the use of better than myself"

Civil War:

• most Indians side with Britain bc on paper it looked like Britain was going to win

• British had better economy/trade goods

• Also Americans trying to take land at the sametime

Ends up being Civil War when tribes side with Americans:

• tribes closer to Americans sided with colonies -> largely bc of proximity

• Thinking that they would be neighbors regardless of outcome of war

Divided peoples:

• Iroquois (Oneida and Tuscaroras side with Americans)

• Cherokee (generational divide, younger side with Americans)

• It was also total war

• US also employed brutal techniques on antive Americans (generally except for Loyalist/Patriot divisions), win by any means possible
  Create a war on crops and villages

#addimage

Continuing war after Revolution:

• peace treaty with British until 1783

• Indian wars continue until 1794

• Land lost and reservations for both enemies and allies -> ended up in the same place

Revolution for women?

ID: Revolution for Women?

• Was there a revolution for women?

• Yes and no

• If there was, it was very marginal

• some ways a regression (especially for widows)

• What did women gain new rights?

• What rights did colonial women have (white women)?

  • Phillis Wheatley (and Black women more broadly) more focused on ending slavery

In the past:

• women under coverture (system where women did not have legal rights, property rights; all rights through their husband)

• Divorce was rare in colonial America or banned (extreme cases are adultery, very hard to prove in court) driven out of cultural critique

• No political power

• No real education (were not trained to write (even amongst the gentry), gentry women could read)

Does the rvolution end coverture?

• No. Married women still had few legal rights

• Coverture lasts well into the 19th century, even into 20th century in some palces

• Women's rights doesn't become emeshed into the Revolution

Divorce -> stays the same

• Still bery difficult for women to get a divorce

• But the changes to divorce are fairly minor

The vote?

• although unmarried women in NJ (wealthy women, have enough property, widors0 had the vote for several decades

• Rich widows and single daughter of gentry

• It did not last

• Stats largely in NJ, bc of Quakers, starts out in Quaker counties expand it across the state

• At the same time NJ removes property requirements for all white men (no property requirements), they rewrite to exclude Black people and women

Political Rights?
- Voice opinions (to some extent)
- Participate in political events (like parades)
- Often partisan support for political parities
- Elite women unofficially "lobby" -> one of the ways women gain influence is through gentry women gaining
- Allowed to get involved in "mama bear issues"
- No formal political power

What do women get?

• Republican motherhood

  • Educating the futruee citizens (sons) and future motehers of the republic (daughters)

    • Republic relies on on VIRTUE

    • Mothers instill that into their sons
      Idea of the educated woman:

• women need to be able to read and write

• Was it even related toe the Revolution?

  • This was happening at the same time in monarchies

    • May have been more related to the enlightment

• One of the tangible gains was the rise of female academies

  • Private schools, mostly for daughters of the elite

  • Enables future generations to focus on women's rights

• Rise of the novel

  • More female writers and women readers

  • But all of them have roughly the same plot (main one is the Coquettee): one sister becomes nerdy, doesn't marry is the person the story wants you to revile; other daughter listens to father, marries well (boring guy); last one is in love with bad boys, flirts, gets pregnant, one day walks on the ice, falls through and ides

  • Moral of the story learn something but don't learn too much

• B4 revolution, widows get 1/3rd b4 anyone else, at the end of revolution, creditors get first dibs then widows -> leads to a lot of poverty, prostitution, etc

ID Challenging Monarchy

• some challenges very long-term others very short term

• Criticism of absolute monarchy happens on backdrop of:

• Enlightenment ideals

  • Republican through questioning monarchy and aristocracy

  • Also challenging to authority of church (Volitaire)

    • Challenges the divine right of King

    • Mixed monarchy works for a bunch of different reasons

    • Also challenging the church or that any institution should have that divine power over government

• All of this was based on the example of the American Revolution → sending diplomats to see the US

  • French thought it was too democratic but were amazed by the idea of not having absolute monarchy

  • French diplomats though monarchist plan was ludicrous out

• A lot of the pressure is to shift France as Britain → a lot of Enlightenment philosophers were arguing for Britain as model → wanted mix-monarchy

• Frenac eis stutggling from fianncial crisis frorm Seven Year's War and American Revolution
  All of these factors will raise questions about the wisdom and competency of monarchy, aristroctcy, and the power of churhc -> starting place is to reduce this

1. Ideiological challenge

• part of theis enelightment and republicies

• Philospheies

• mOntesquieu, Rousseau, Diderot

• Create encylopedia for the latter -> becomes revolutionary

• New inteleectualf ocus on the need for leaders to follow public opinoin

• Republican ideals called into question all kind of concentrated power

• ALl of those relations hips involved in fuedalism

Nobles gives money and soldiers King gives nobles land, nobles gives their own land a and protection -> peasants give military service, food, money,

• It is not just questioning monarchy as a system but the whole thing
  #GoogleIt

-Republican ideas called absolute monarchy, feudal patronage, manorialism (idea of lords over serf and peasant)
There's the manor house

• the manor owns the land -> peasants work the land

• Lord owns the ovens, water mill, ahs multiple ways of making money
  #googleit

• also big quesiton of power to the church

2. popular challenge to royal extravagance

• question of how to keep Parisians down once they see Versailles

• How do you keep peasants down once they have

• A lot of empire showcasing a lot of things

  • Plants, orchids, etc.

• Washington wants big donkeys -> called Washington's asses based off of this

Marie Antoinette

• Foreign queen (Austro-Hungarian) married for alliance purposes

• A lot of anger directed towards her over decadency bc she was foreign (was decadent but not more so than other royals)

• Monarchy is spending a lot more than bringing

• It lost the Seven years War → lost trade in North America → take it on the chain, also losses from American Revolution

• Crisis could not solve crisis bc there were limits on his power

• Led to accusations of mismanagement, incompetence, and corruption

4. real govenrmeing challenge:

• complaints that King's policies did not protect hsi subjects

• Real contradiction to the enlightenment ideal that King was the best protector of power

• There as real poverty in France

• Grain deregulation 1763- 1775, 1780s -> France used to have restrictions on how much grain could be sold, advisers (under idea of Adam Smith)

• Let market decide prices and distribution

• Removal of price control and trade restrictions

• They ship a lot of it out of the country bc they're shipping it out of the country ->little grain at home, there's shortages and bad harvests -> skyrocketing prices and famine as result

For example the results of grain regulation 1764-1775, 1890s:

• 1688 peasant spent 50% of income on bread -
  IS THIS RIGHT
  #askprofessor

• 1780: 80% of income on bread

• 1785-1789, cost of living increased 62%, wages increased 22%

• Endswith a bunch of bread riots and "flour war"
  0T hese situations made htings even worse

ID (Not So ) Absolute Monarchy

• French rebelling against absolute monarchy

• But there were limits on it -> those tend to be the problems

Louis XIV sums up absolute monarchy: L'etat, ce'est moi (the state is me)

• aristocracy has power but not formally

  • Estates General could advise but had not really met since 1614

  • Could advise the King but had to be called by the King

• Nobody for the people (no legislature)

King could appoint ministers, had control of finance and economic policy
- But had hand tied in some respect
- King had power over executive agents who governed "generalities" similar to provinces/counties
#addimage
- Paris is the city center, but Versailles is the power center
- French generalities had different

In reality there were a lot of limits on king's power:

• mainly related to taxes, and money

• Bunch of different people with exemptions, mainly to taxes

• King simply could not raise taxes on wealthy people

• The King could only raise taxes on the people

Exemptions (mostly to taxes):

• Clergy

• Nobility (similar to aristocracy)

• Some commoners (some wealthy commoners, merchants)

• (some) generalities

Power for nobility was roughly the same aristocracy

• For those the King had to make deals with people or commonalities, they got exemptions

• Result: taxes fell heaviest on the poor

• Tax burden borne by the peasantry or even by artisans, merchants, etc.

Power of the provinces:

• It wasn't just exemptions that generalities they also had individual autonomies on certain issues, times, deals, regarding degrees of independence for generalities

One of the other limits' on king's power:

• Venal offices

  • King was short of money → so rather than raise money on the public (often in wartimes), easier way -> they relied on the system below

  • Rich people could basically buy your way into the nobility -> or buy a profitable office -> this was people buying

  • 70,000 offices

  • 3,200 judges

• Some of these offices existed b4hand some of them were creator just for patronage

• King can kick you out of that office -> these were contracts under monarchy

• Most independent: judges in "palements" (local government)

  • claiming right to review laws

  • suppressing them meant buying back the office (too expensive)

Other pressure:
Public Opinion:

• growing belief from Enlightenment ideals (republicanism) bolstered by American Revolution that king should heed public opinion

• A lot of debates about republicanism growing (especially as monarchism is not responding to public desire; under this argument, King should respond to people)

• Greater movement to tie the king to public opinion

  • Means listening to grievannce, responding to petitions, accepting criticism

  • Movie wit is about local lord trying to get heard by King court and his wit in doign so

Limits on king's power:

• Although the king had great power absolute monarchy had limited ways of raising revenue given the various limits placed on it

• Structure assured that when crown pushed for new revenue (bc of war) it would create some kind of crisis (either taxes or more venal offices)

France in two wars:

• French & Indian

• American Revolution (which is a global war)

The Great Fear

ID: The Great Fear

• Like the American Revolution, there were leaders who were trying to move things marginally more democratic, but not all the way in on republicanism

• As they're making similar decisions outside Versailles all these things start happening outside Versailles

• National Assembly (1781-1791) as the third estate is negotiating their own body, it comes back

• Although it represented coming together of are evolutionary coalition, it also exposed existing division and created new ones

• When people start coming together they start debating how muh power in nobility/elected body/King

• Third estates tarts to divide

• Third estate (90% of population) and privileged estate (king, clergy, nobility) ->

• Within the third estate (it's primarily along class lines btw commoners, bouregois, etc.)

• New division (primarily religious lines)

  • One of the biggest mistakes the revolution makes is to turn France into a secular naton

  • Went after all religion, not just elite

  • he National Assembly is coming together

    • National Assembly (1789-1791) was Third Estate forming a new government when clergy and nobles rejected reforms at Estates-General

    • Fears from bourgeoisie that the revolution would go eventually after the bourgeoisie, not just monarchy, similar to foundign gnetry at the American Rev

    • Bottom-up pressure to push them further

    • This is the coming together of revolutioary coalition but still divisions
      Divisions:

    • between thrid estatee (90% of population ) and privileged estatates (king, clergy, nobility

    • Within Thrid Estate (class lines, boregois vs everybody else, similar to American Revolution)

    • New divisions (primarily religious )

    Big picturre:

    • Class division within 3rd estate pushed national assembly in more radical direction

      • list of grieveances also were against local lords, borgeios/gentyry

    • Divisions caused the Third Estate elite (the bourgeoisie) to attempt to limit the powers of ordinary people

    • French commoners pushed for far-more reaching revolution

      • including popular organizing, protests and violence toward elite leaders to take more dramatic steps than they wanted

      • Similar reactions to misinformation

    • National Assembly created Constitutional monarchy and abolished many of the privileges

    • A big push for mixed monarchy initially, pushed further by pressure from below from cities and the countryside

    • Third estate we see these pressure from below in cities

      • Storming of the Bastille (1789):

        • Bastille was a storming of Royal Army, there are prisoners in the Bastille (some freed during storming) → the main point of storming was securing arms to defend revolutions

        • Symbol of ordinary people taking power from the monarchy

        • Sends shockwaves throughout Europe, France, even to Thomas Jefferson

    • At the same time they did what American Revolutions did, ordinary French people, like ordinary American people, started created militia companies

    • Forming militias becomes a popular thing

    • Attacks on royal offices in Paris and other cities (similar to American attacks on royal administrators)

    Also widespread participation of the women (not in common with the American Revolution largely boycotts, spies (in some cases), raising money (gentry women))

    • Women's March (1789)

    • Bunch of women march with weapons to get the King's to back down so they cede to the National Assembly

    • Thousands of women and National Guard (National Assembly's army, some of the French nobility joined, led by marquis de Lafayette) demand the royal family and National Assembly return to Paris, so the public have more say

      • Marquis de Lafeyette

      • Previously nobility, king, bourgeois initially meeting at Versailles

      • Under pressure from Paris crowd, Louis XVI constitutional monarchy (relucantly)

      • Third Estate elite (includign the National Assembly) gave in beacause they feared the popular power of the borgeios

      • Its not just the city pressuring this pressure also came from the countrty

      Lafayette was hugely popular

      • Joined American Revolution, hugely popular in US (his tour)

      • Started with the French Revolution but as with most people who started the regularly people

    The Great Fear peasant revolts:

    • rumors spread that the king and privileged estate were going to overthrow the Third Estates by hiring foreigners and bands of criminals as an army to ransack and loot them in submission

    • A lot of this is typical fear of city dwellers/foreigners

    • A lot of this is poppycock, but there is a real undertone (missionaries, suppression of rebellion, etc.)

    The Great Fear: peasants revolts

    • in response, peasants rose up against the seigneurial system and noble privilege

      • peasants (anti-noble) fighting other peasants (who were worried about system of nobility being destroyed because of instability or they benefitited off of it)

      • Burned several châteaux, killed several nobles

    #addimage

    • these rumors spread very rapidly through some newspaper, largely word of mouth

    • pressure from below in city and countryside lead to pretty dramatic action

Privileged Estates

Privileged Estates

• the fundamental problem was that this was a failure of France's monarchy

• This starts as a financial problem, like the American Revolution

• The inability of Louis XVI to solve the financial problem, given the constratints, led in part to this issue

• This is not solely about the monarchy, wanted mixed-monarchy reform

• The other main point of grievance were the privileged estates

• They're not just upset with monarchy, also the nobality, clergy and the entitlements they had

• French society was organized int hre "Estates"

• 
  

• Eestates are theee big legal groups

• Note: statistic about population and land ownership are really just guesses -> bc of difficulty with monarchical estimates (especially bc the church/local lords did a lot of the acocunting) and later disruption from the revolution

1. The first estate was the clergy

• There was the lay partish priest, but people were generally upset at the upper ranks of the clergy (leadership): the whole realm from the bishop to the elite nneries,e tc.

• The clergey was roughly 1% of population of 27 million

• Clergy owned 10% of the land, Church holds lot of land given their population

• Clergy were supposed to provide a lot of public services (why they were given tax exemptions)

  #2) Nobility

  • Long standing ancient families who had been in the nobility for generations

  • Lot of castles owned by nobility

  • 2$ of of population, owned 30% of the land

• These two (clergy and nobility), had 3% of population controlled 40% or more of the land

• The king also holds a lot of the property

  #3) Third estates
  *The American Revolution happened all within the equivalent class

  • Everyone else, from poorest peasants to wealthy commoners (merchants/rural gentry)

  • Wealthy commoners were differed from nobility bc they didn't have title

    • Wealthy commoners gained nobility either through marriage or (corupt) business deals with the King

    • Wealthiest 8% of Third Estate referred to "bourgeoiseie" (means wealthy, middle class): wealthy merchants, bankers, lawyers, doctors

      • Equivalent of American gentry, owned 25% of land

    • This is a very important category basically akin to American foundign gentry

    • They could be very wealthy -> could wear nobility clothing (where premitted)

  • Much of the third estate was eastant -> roughly 75-80%

    • Mostly working for the lords

    • Upper part of the peasantry owned 30% of the land

      • Middling to even gentry status

    • There were also skilled craftsmen (were some women, mainly doing needlework/domestic-like labor)

    • People were mainly working fo rrht eifrst two estates

• Clergy was Catholic

• Protestants had few rights in France

• Exempt from taxes

• Allowed to collect tithes from population

• In effect, allowed them to collect tax

• Supposed to be set up under this system bc they were running orphanages, schools, etc.

• The monasteries also produced beer, other boutique goods

• Church responsible for record-keeping, marriages, etc..

• Privileges unequally enjoyed by different clergy

  • Bishops, abbots, and abbesses of monasteries and convents were nobles who libed in decadence

  • Offered some women more opportunities (in nobility) because they had nunneries

  • Parish priest and nuns who ran hospitals and orphanages lived like peasants

  • Under entail and primogeniture, the non-first born sons (and daughters) could go into clergy; would get some allowance from estates; first son got all of it

  • Strong resentment toward elite clergy

  • Sympathy for local clergy (who themselves often resented elite clergy)

    • Bc they had to kick up the money up the chain after keeping small % of the money for their own community

    • Elite often portrayed as fatcats
      Nobility:

• are exempt from most taxes

• had top positions in royal bureaucracy

  • Most monarchs maintained power through this system bc they often feared more so that elite (rather than ordinary people) would revolt against them

  • This was basically a bribe (lucrative offices) to keep them loyal/happy/keep an eye on them

• The other big position was the army and the navy - the officer corp, by law, were nobility

  • The fraternization btw the French and American officer corps -> led to American officer corp adopting more monarchical ideas

  • Same system in Britain

  • If you are the scond son or the thir son was by joining the army, plunder from war could enhance your own state

  • You could do pretty well for yourselves

  • A lot of the elite lived off interest from financial instruments

• Nobility:

• -had special seating in local parish -> ones coolest in the summer and warmest in the winter

• Also keep rabbits and doves (ends up being a really big deal -> the nobility could keep these giant doves that would harm corps, but you couldn't kill them)

  • Just popular at the time, there were deer but that was considered ENglish

Had signeurial (overlord) rights

• Owning land meant that you automatically had land rights

• In Europe, land came with particular political (and other) rights

• land owning came with a bunch of different rights

• Rights were also held by wealth commoners who bought lands that weren't attached tot he estates and these rights as well

  Signeurial (overlord) rights:

  • You could collect dues/taxes from peasants

  • Ran courts (judge, jury, executioner) to handle local disputes

  • Could charge tolls on roads and bridges

  • Could compel loocals to use their grain mills and baking ovens

• All of these privileges were pretty heavily resented, especially the sigenurial lands

• Lands were deemed seigneurial if they were approved by the King

• Revolution would focus on these privileges

• The American Revolution starts with most people being above the French

  • Most people who went to the frontier were looking for land

The Estates-General

The Estates-General

• What starts the revolution: ironically, a progressive tax proposal -> the nobility should pay more bc they benefited from the war

  • This will start the revolution and topple the whole thing

  • This is the story of the calling of the Estates-General which was the first stage of the French Revolution

• Everything backfired for Louis

  • Grain deregulations and free-market reforms had only made problems much worse

• Everything backfired for Lousi, includign appeals to:

  • nobles and clergy

  • local leaders

  • public (this is the one that really backfires)

• Louis XVI knew that the only way to solve the financial crisis was to tax church and nobility

  • Problem? They were piriblieged estates exempt from taxation! They need to willingly be taxed

• Louis XVI tried to persuade them to give up some exemptions for the public good/good of the nation

  • Initially viewed quit positiively

  • In 1787, called an "Assembly of Notables" of clergy and notability to get their support

  • "Assembly of Notables" rejected proposals

  • Ministers tried to cut deals, Notables rejected

  • Trying to whip up public support

  • Starts as squabbling at the top -> then spreads downwards

• Minister tried to bypass Notables by dealing with the parlement (provincial courts, local governments (local nobility))

• Nobles were trying

• Parlements are open to the idea

• Where they trade taxation for greater rights

• Louis wrecked proposed tax deal by demanding that the parlements accept it without debate

  • "It is legal because I wish it "

• When the deal fell through, Louis's ministers dissolve d the parlements (get-tough policy)

  • Huge backlash -> everyone is more angry

• all kinds of riots to protect parlements

• Calls for the creation of provinical legisltures under democratic contol

• Up till now, this is fight a between the notibility -> debate amongst the top of society

• Peasants start get involved with local parlements -> a lot of those calls initially come from bourgeoise, locla lords, later adopted by peasants

• In 1789, Louis is desperate for reorm, Louis called a meeting of the "Estates-General" for the firs time since 1614

• The rule of the estate is that it was a meeting btw tree estates: clergy, nobility, third estate (everyone else)

• Each estate held elections

• Each solicitied grievances of members -> once people start talking it becomes laundry list (Chiser de Doléances (list of grievenances))

• Third estates complained about royal taxes & deregulation and high grain prices

  • Also about the privileges of clergy and nobility and the seigneurial system

  • This is the real genesis of hte French efolution

• The public elects reform-minded delegates from Third Estate, including many who wanted to severely limit monarchy (argue for mixed-monarchy, arguing republics don't work, etc.)

• Do away with nobility and clergy privilege

• These are well known people -> being played out in newspapers and print, you know who stands for who

• Clergy and nbality knew this was coming

The Clergy and nobles knew mixed-monarchy reformists:

• Elect delegates dedicating to preserve privielge and opposed to reforms proopose by both king and the Third Estate

• Dig in their heels -> they don't want Third Estate, King reforms

• All of this is played out in the newspaper

• When 3rd estate members relaize the clergy/nobaility would oppose reform, the 3rd Estate leadership (bougeroise) voted to act by themselves

• They declared themselves the National Assembly -> imaging the British govenrment

• When they did this, Louis closed down the meeting hall

• SO instead they met at an indoor tennis court to pledge to create a new governement and Constitution

• They want mixed-monarchy -> then things get driven very far in popular direction

ID: The National Assembly

ID: The National Assembly

• how did the National Assembly remake the government to meet popular demands?

• What were the limits of republican ideals?

• How did the elite maintain control even when making major concessions?

• Elite (king, borgeois, nobility) trying to take control still

• Initially what we see is the first stage is very democratic

• National Assembly gets rid of senate (unicameral legislature), strips the

• French King has less king than British King, US president

• Strip the King of absolute power and absolute veto; could only suspend enactment of laws for several sessions

• If you deny the king absoltue veto (even conditional veto), they can't convive as much

Abolished:

• seigneurial system (system of paying dues to the lord)

• Getting rid of the seigneurial courts (they're taking power away from the local level, power of the lords on the local level → although some this will transform)

• Get rid of title of nobility (and associated privileges)

• All tax exemptions (cry was "equal taxation")

  • kept this vague (not saying if it would be flat or progressive taxation) to keep as many people on board

• Venal offices

  • Trying to get rid of corruption, digging this out from the roots

• Laws requiring government and military officers to be nobles (meant that nobility no longer had exclusive right to these offices)

  • Idea is to move towards merit-based system

• Right to kill doves and rabbits

  • A lot of French imagery of rabbit/doves being killed, even risque

• A lot of small print tying to keep governing power in the borgeiose/Third Estate elite

Elite governance:

• Establish system of voting with property requirements

  • 50% of adult men could vote

• Establish property for office holding

  • Only 72,000 qualified for Assembly (mostly nobles)

  • Wealthiest 0.2% of population

  • For Maryland, top 10% could serve in the Assembly

  • Many of the states did not even have property requirement s to hold office

• Honor debts of Old Regime

  • Like American Revolution, held by members of nobility/borgiosie

• Compensation for Venal Offices and Seigneurial Rights

  • Made sure nobles/bourgeois could get there money back

  • Like American slavery, hard to add more to war debt (except the Americans didn't enact end to slavery because of restitutions)

  • Exploded the debt
    Peasants pay compensations (rents) to landlords rather than seigneurial dues

• No trade unions in urban areas (prevent workers from organizing for higher wages)

  • Not new, King had been doing that b4

• National Assembly also opened new divisions with massive church reforms

• These IDS are linked (later one dealing with religion)

ID: Civil Constitution of the Clergy

ID: Civil Constitution of the Clergy

• how did the National Assembly attempt to reform religion? Why were some features accepted and others extremely divisive?

• eventually becomes attack on Christianity and religion, stark divisions attacks wher eChurhc

• There were longstanding calls for church reform

  • Lot of questions about tithing and where the funds went

  • Extravagance of bishops and abbots vs. lifestyle of parish priest

  • Get the corruption and inequality out of it

  • You have to get the rid of the corruption in the church

    • One cartoon shows fat abbott going itno the press -> coming out thin

  • Also end tax exemptions for the church

  • These are very popular reforms

Religious changes (widely accepted):

• End of tithing

  • Government taking over education, social programs, etc.

• Parish priests now paid salaries by government

  • Church becomes arm of the state

• Start confiscating and selling of church land

  • New government was doing what church was supposed to be doing (poor relief, education)

  • Rich buy most of it

  • Main part of plan to pay off debts of Old Regime

    • Similar to AmRev, when they sold off estates to fund war (and their slaves as bonuses, in the South)

  • And New obligations (compensation for venal offices and signeurial rights)

  • Closing down the beer making factory

• These were widely accepted because the people hated church corruption

Religious changes (divisive)
Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790):
- Nothing b4 this is really controversial
- This is controversial
- Reorganized chruch to bring it in line with new constitution
- Removed power of Pope over church structure
- Makes it in essence not Catholicism because the Pope is god's representative

• Abolished monastic orders (except those devoted to teaching or charity)

  • Get rid of decadent money-making schemes
    New Bottom-Up Church Organization

  • Contrary to typical idea of top-down pope-led church system

  • Local voters elect priests

  • Priests choose bishops

  • Pope had right to be informed of election results

  • Vatican is very against this, grows more so when the Pope denounce this

• In the face of resistance, National Assembly ordered priests to take loyalty oath to the Revolution and new government

  • Only 50% of priesst take the oath

• French & American Revolution freaks out the nobility/monarchies surrounding it almost from the start

• Leads to great internal and external paranoia -> which eventually leads to the teror

• When the pope and Catholics resist the idea of the church being taken over by the government (see below)

• In face of resistance, National Assembly ordered priests to take loyalty oath to the Revolution and new government

• Only 50% of priests

• Division begin to open of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was made worse by other other religious efforts such as:

  • Revolution also gave civic freedom to Protestants

    • The Revolution seemed to become an attack on Catholicism

    • Under the old regime, Protestants were denied many civil and political rights

    • Revolution made Protestants citizens with full civil rights

    • Some Catholics came to see Revolution as a Protestant plot

    • A lot of local violence from Catholics against Protestants

    • Interesting bc some Americans saw it as Catholic plot despite it stripping pope of his power

    • Religious changes generated strong opposition to Revolution

    • Many centers of counter-revolution would be where priests had refused oath (what historians have found)

Levée En Masse

Levée En Masse

• what was the Levée en Masse and how did it expand the Reovlution to ordinary people like the "Sans-Culottes"?

  • Refers to mass conscription of people

  • Everyone is conscripted, militarized turned to war

  • Sans Culottes were the French peasantry, ordinary people

• War is opening/closing of Revolution

• This ID is about opening

• Government realize that they need to expand rights to get people to fight (at least on paper, government never functions as intended in large part because of the war)

• Idea was to get everyone involved in the Revoluton in some way or another

• Idea of revoluton turned to citizenry, idea of everyone being equal (regardless of their title)

• Kind of equality from citizens

• Levée en Masse was the mass conscription that Revolutionary leaders enacted to create a huge army to defend France from foreign invasion and civil war

• The heart of this ID is not about the background but the moment itself and its effect

• The need to recruit a massive army led to increased rights for common people like the Sans-Culottes

• A Ans-Culottes was someone who were normal pants

• Cultorees are facny pants

• Sans-Culottes were French commoners, particularly in cities (especially Paris)

  • Name came from wearing ordinary pants rather than. frilly culottes of gentry or aristocracy

• Real popular backlash against nobility

• There are images of sans-culottes telling the nobility not to wear sans-culoote

• Child representing the republic

• This moment of a mass drafting leads to unprecedented rights and powers for peasants and Sans-Culottes in cities and countryside

• Prior to the Levée En Masse the Revolution was limited to the Bourgeoise(upper part of the Thrid Estate)

Limit to Revolution through 1791:

• Property requirements for voting/office

• Peasants paid compensation for sigenurial rights

• Church lands sold to wealthy Third Estate/noble
  There's still:

• grain shortages

• mass poverty

#generalbackground
War opened new opportunities:

• A lot of the nobility but a bunch of them leave
  Events of 1780 caused many nobles to flee France (along with Louis's siblings)

• When these nobles assemble, their goal is to assemble army (with foreign allies) to put down revolution and retake France

• Right from the start, there is a fear of attack from nobles, eventually causes the Great. Fear

• Because European leaders/kings/king-like figures (monarchies) are worried

• Then 1791, Louis tried to flee France

• Right as war is right on the horizaon

• And he's caught

• Lois is pressured to declare war on Austria (because that's the biggest threat, right on the border)

  • Louis secretly supported

  • Bc either victory in the war would enhance his power or loss would defeat Revolution
    Road to war:

• Louis hindered war preparation

• bc the best case scenario is revolution fialing
  Calls for his removal:

• led by new Revolutionary "Clubs"

• Jacobins (traditionally very democratic, on the left)

• Calls for his execution for treason

• A lot of this targeted Marie Antoinette

• King Louis XVI was portrayed as cuckhold

• Often portrayed as adulterer

• The execution is extreme

• Overthrown of monarchy in 1792 led to French Republic

• The French Revolution was well-designed cultureal and political momveent

• Start to create new festival, like festival of unity and indivisiblity and burning the symbols of tyranny

• Beheading of king starts the Revolution

• Nobility is terrified

• Popular clubs took the lead

• Levée on massee (1793) happens at th the smae time, high point ans begainning of the end:

  "YOung men shall go to battle; married men shall forge arms and transport porvision; women shall make tents and clothes, and hslal serve in hospitals"

• Bc intense fear of Europeans coming after them

• Real strong idea of people needing to band together

That mobilization becomes far more-democratic:

• becoems fight forrights

• There were all different kinds of units

• Each unit had their own unifroms

War opened up revolution:

• all adult men could vote

• Eliminate social disinctions

  • Everyone was a citizens

• Started gradually replaing of noble officeres with commoners (lesser nobles and members of the bogeriois primarily)

War opened up revolution:

• set worker wages to maintain standard of living

• Price controls on grain and "necessities"

• Tangible changes to people lives

• Also put an end to signeurial compenstition

• At seignurial courts, disputes were settled in favor of peasants

War opened up Revolution:

• Confisicated lands of nobles who had fled France

• Broke up church lands and "emigré" estates into smaller parcels so ordinary peasants could purchase them

The height of the French Revolution:

• Ends slavery in France and colonies

  • Direct response to Haitian Revolution

  • Opposed by colonies (by the planters)

  • Would later be rescinded by Napoleon

• Make divorce easier (civil contract)

  • Turn from church to civil contratct

  • Became normal part of life

  • Could be based merely on irreconcilable differences

  • Vast majority of divorces would be filled in this time period

Other changes:

• often credited to Napoleon but started by revolution

• Rename months (to those related to the Revolution)

• Bring metric system

• Transforming of religious function (registration of births, marriage, deaths, etc.) into civil ones

This is the high point but at the same time this is happening war is also closing tigns down

ID: The Terror

ID: The Terror

• what was the terror? How does it limit the Revolution?

• Product of the war

• It was an example of how wars can close of f revolution

• During "The Terror" (1793-1794) the government focused on executions and severe limits on civil rights to protect the Revolution during wartime

• Becomes a either you with the revolution or an enemy of Revolution thing

• Freedoms were never really put into practice and seed s of counterrevolution come from this

• The old government is breaking down

• Combination of Revolutionary leadership and Sans-Culottes enforcement

• In the American Revolution, they replaced the Brtis w/ gentry, who take control of institution, preventing some chaos, had some experience with democracy; French are making it up as they go along

• War is turning political disputes into national security issues

  • Critiquing revolution became a sign of threat

• Suspicion of nobles, priests who had not taken the oath, and devout Catholics who opposed religious change

• New government starts passing laws limiting civil libierties: pseech, assmebly, etc.

• & then the war starts going really badly, France appears to be losing the war in 1792, opposition = treason

• Bc there weren't local governments or bc new government was making stuff up on the fly, the people start enforcing the law

In September Massacres (1792):

• Sans-Culottess killed 2,000 commoners in Paris jail: nobles, preists, nuns, petty criminals

• Just blood baths

• Mainly petty criminals, often for things such as stealing food (crimes of poverty)

Fearing more popular massacre, government took over enforcement:

• Starts committee of public safety (force for perscution)

• The tribunal (new judical arm, pretyy authoritan)

• Lawyer led bt Maximillen Robespierre, idealistic radical at first who then becoems autocratic

  • In his mind, trying to prevent vigilante bloodbath with government bloodmath

• 1793-1794 conflict intenesifed

• Series of Civil Wars

  • In the Vendée (a lot of Catholic priests who refused take oath there)

  • Some royalist, Catholic movmenet

  • 100-200K killed

  • As much as 20-25% of the population

• Robs-Pierre in 1793, created a government policy called "Terror":

  • "let us terrible in order to stop the people from being so"

  • "make Terror the order of the day!"

  • Guiollettene was part of this movement seen as more humane, scientific way of executing people

  • Not always true

• In 1794, "Terror" became govern polict:

  • Mass executions

  • Enemies of Revolution to political opponents (including those against the Terror)

  • 16,500 guillotined

  • 30K-40K executed across France

Of those mass execution:

• Priest, nobles, wealthy comoners (25%)

• Peasants (75%)

  • People turn in people who have they vendetta against

  • A lot of Catholic
    "The Revolution like Saturn is devouring its Children"

• Federalists and UK have horrific view of the Revolution stemming from this

ID: Religious Terror

ID: Religious Terror

• How was the Terror accompanied by religious terror focused on de-Chritinzaization?

• Now Catholicism/Chirtstinatiy demonized

• There's program of dechristianization

• Leaders of the revolution, inspired by enlightment thinking, go more secalr

• War is going to scale back civil liberities and rights

• Attempt to secularize society

• Wanted to shift allegiance from church to Revolution

• Believed there was too much allegiance to Churhc

Part of this was about things we already saw:

• turnign vitral records form religious into civil (marriage, calendar, etc.)

• Elimination of monastic orders (except those ralted to charity)

• Marx who sees religion as geting in the way of progress sees the French Revolution as guidebook

• Attacks on priests

  • Art produced that shows nuns getting attacked

  • Bonfires also got rid of rreligious symbols

• Destruction of churches and religious symbols

• In here they're going into churches and taking all the objects and all these thigns and burning them

• Destruction of church items

• Loyalty is supposed to be Revolution, nothing else above it

As a result by 1794, few churches operating, most priest fleeing or in hiding

• This produces a very strong backlash

• Many Catholics only though of the Revolution as anti-Christian, not just trying to secularize

• The result of this was Thermidor: radical scaling back of the Revolution

• Counterrevolution is a rapid repeal

ID: Thermidor

ID: Thermidor

• What was thermidor?

• How did the new government under the Directory scale back the Revolution?

• We saw the height of the revolution with the more democratic government and the terror

• The height of the Revolution hist more on paper

• Because of the war, the chaos, the terror, it is clearly not a lived experience

• The term "thermidor" generally means a dramatic counter-revolution at the end of the revolution, comes from the French Revolution

• There's a very quick progression from the thermidor -> rise of Napoleon -> etc.

• thermedior is the coutner-revolution, that began to roll back the gains that peaked with the 1793 consittution

• the democratic government outlined doesn't exist in reality in most ways

• The terror becomes an opportunity becomes an opportunity for a lot borgeiois nobles to roll back the rveovlution

• It was the start of a rapid slide from Franceas a democratic republic to an authoratirian republic, to a dictatorship

• France starts out as democratic republic, more in name than reality, -> dicttorship

• Thermidor comes from the name of the month Robespierre was defeated; this begins as an internal coup to stop the Terror

  • Robespierre is the guy who thought the government should kill enemies of the revolution, not the sans-coulettee

• Led to the creation of the Directory (1793-1899) which aimed to draw back civil liberties

• the revolution starts to divide

  • The thermidor starts with the arrest and execution of Robespierre and leaders of the Terror

  • A lot of the directors of the terror were executed

• The real center of this opposition to the terror (was the bourgeois and nobles) who were trying to scale back revolution and return power to themselves
  Their priorities:
  -Defeating Sans-Culottes
  Defeating Royalists
  Protect economic and political gains of elite

• Becomes more class-based commoners vs wealthy people

• Want in essence nobles (without privileges) and rich people to rule

• These bourgeois are going after the Jacobins (and others below them) but also the royalists (who want Louis's son to come back)

• Nobles anb bourgeois had gained a lot of land with seleing of church lands wanted to protect

They did this by creating "The Directory"

• Autocratic government, establish by the 1795 Constitution, that replaced the more democratic one of 1793

1795 Constitution:

• scale back voting rights (rather than universal male suffrage, you know have it being limited than taxpayers)

  • Lower bar than property requirements

  • Aiming to knock out the poorest French peasants (lowest 25%)

  • Similar to American Revolution, places where as much as 50% of people could not vote

1795 Constitution:

• People voted for electors, who selected legislators

• Those electors have high property requirements (and for legislators)

• Similar to how things were in the American system, definitely for president and even most states there were elector

• Only 30,00 men qualified for the legislator (out of 25 million): the wealthiest 0.12 percents

  • 75,000 had qualified under National Assembly, or wealthiest 0.3 percent at the start of the revolution

• 1795 Constitution:

  • Replaced unicamerial assembly with bicameral one

    • Checks on democracy!

  • And then on top of that they consolidated most of the power in the executive branch

    • in 1791, there was weak king

    • in 1793, there was no executive

    • Now there was very powerful executive

      • Less democratic than even the 1791 government

  • Limits on (organized) free speech and assembly

  • Directory is extremely corrupt and autoratically

    • Nullified any election result that they didn't like

    • Only nullify elections where royalists or Jacobins won

    • Targeted both Sans-Culoottes and Royalists

    • Targeted both Sans-Culottes and Royalists

  • Used National Army to put down popular uprisings

    • Against sans-culottes

    • Once it becomes clear that there's a counterrevolution, people start protesting

    • Borgois remove price cotnrols because they're ethe ones exporting

      • Foods rose sometimes 100X

      • famine spreads

    • The protests were for "Bread and 1793 Constitution"

    • Protests against 1795 Constitution

  • We see a similarity to Americans Revolution: take down the monarchist (gold/silver) policies while out of power when in power institute those same policies

  • Used National Army to put down popular uprising

    • Sans-Culottes eventually (forcefully)disarmed

    • Ends up with series of battles

    • Leaders were guillotined or improsioned

    • Broke up the Jacobin Clubs

    • Directly going after political opponents

  • Also used against Royalists and their Catholic Aallies

    • there's the Vendée II (they do the attacks agaisnt Catholics again)

    • Royalist protests against rigged elections

    • Royalists are purgen from Councils and Directory (prohibited/driven out of government)

    • Trying to get rid of Catholics/monarchists and Jacobins all at once

  • To stay in power, this government does things that are popular/price of borgeois and nobles coming to power:

    • Repudiate d2/3 of national debt

    • Devalued the remaining 1/3

    • Removed huge financial burden

      • Opposite of the American Revolution, where gentry tried to consolidate debt for wealth transfer up

    • Also tried to appease Catholics:

      • Eased religious restrictions

      • Stopped overt Catholic/Christian persecution
        Did a few popular things:

    • military victories

      • After losing at the beginning, France creates war machine that performs really well

      • Also benefitted from spoils of war

      • When French go into areas, they try to forment revolution (at least in theory)

      • Revolutionaries don't get the credit, generals like Napoleon get the credit

  • Theermidor was just the first phase of the counter-revolution

  • The Authoritain rift of the Director will lead to the rise of Napoleon and the the end of the French Republic

Rise Of Napoleon

ID: Rise of Napoleon

• How does Napoleon end the French Revolution?

• Starts as general, ends as dictator/emperor of France

• Born to poor noble family on Corsica

• He's the third son so goes into the military

• Educated in Paris

• As part of his education, he meets Benjamin Franklin's son (who's studying in Paris)

• He supports revolution initially Rises through the ranks bc of his talent, but also knows how to self-promote (politics, court politics, marketing really well)

• Initially the famous one with him on horse, was much more benign

  • Modern equivalent of Cesar

• Raises to Brigadier General by 24

• He's the one who takes the dispatches and embellishes them to make him look better

• He's so good at this at one point he's defeated abandoned his army, found his way bakc to Paris but somehow turns into public relation victory

• It is swift, unethical, and authoritarian rise to power

• Ends up a part of coup in 1799 and 30:

  • In 1799, a few Director planned coup to consolidate their power

  • Recruited Napoleon to be their pawn to get the popular army general ont heir side

  • Napoleon outwits made a coup on the coup and takes power

• Creates a group called the Consulate, 1799-1804:

• Aimed at (nominally asssuaging republican fears)

  • New Constitution (1799)

    • Looked somewhat republcian: created 3 parilements that were huge so people feel like they're heard

  • In practice, Napoelon ruled:

    • All power in Consulate (three person consulate, with Napoleon clearly on)

    • Napoleon decides that there should be one person on the consul with more power than the rest, decides it should be him

  • They put this constitution (1799) before the voters:

    • Put before voters: 99.9% voted in favors

    • (Officials were ordered to pad results)

    • Same formula as monarchism: reward allies, punish enemies, corruption is ok

  • Several assassination attempts on him

    • Has another election where 99.8% (rigged again) voted for him to become first consul for life in 1802

    • Anti-Federalist nail narrasictic personality (which Napoleon inhabited) based on Cesear

  • More assassination

    • Questions about whether they were legitimate or staged

  • Declares himself Emperor 1804-1815

Reign of Napoleon

Reign of Napoleon

How did Napoleon roll back the democratic and civil gains of the French Revolution?
What was left of the Revolution with his rise to power?

Rise of dictatoship:

• end of revolutionary democracy

• No declaration of rights

• Control of press

• use of police against political opponents

Centralizing/standardizing government:

• Napoleonic Code of Laws

• Very decentralized legal authority (between local lords, generalities, church (vital records)) before

• Revolution was also trying to standardize the laws

  • Jefferson was trying to do the same thing

• Napeololon gets the credit for finalizing

• Law reflects his biases

  • Really roll back rights for women

  • Reinstitute slavery in the colonies

  • Pull back the de-Christianize effort (not going to promote it either tho)

    • Creates peace with pope

    • Rights for Protestants and Jews

      • Revolution started with protecting Protestants and Napoleon soldified, extended to Jews

  • Wars of Empire

  • huge part of reign of Napoleon

  • To the extent that there are (economic) benefits, comes from these empires

  • Kicks up military machine of France after inheriting it, looking for glory & plunder

  • sets up neo-mercantlaism -> countries conquered/allied, all become economic colonies

    • Either favorable deals (allies)

    • People on the throne that benefit France economic policy (conquered)

  • A lot of the wealth flows into France, how he rules for so long

• Rural prosperity:

  • -Upheld seizures of land from Churhc, Nobles, and EMigres

  • War and empire created markets

  • Brought in gold and silver

  • All these manufactured goods fro France

  • Very favorable terms for French

  • Rise in wages for these countries

  • Rise in wages

  • Propsperity mostly enjoyed by landowners and business owners

  • Creates new nobility

    • Create a bunch of uniforms that are meant to distinguish themselves

    • #addimage

  • Nowhere near old noblility prievlege

  • End with milirary defeat sin 1814

#sidenote
@ end of Glorious Revolution, British Paralment > king

• Bank of England set up to reset

• French Revolution becomes example of all of those philosophers who are arguing that democracy -> authoratiaianr eigme