Political upheavals across the Atlantic, notably the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions.
Influence of the Enlightenment on Political Government
Critique of Tyrannical Government:
Phrasing: Society described as “in chains”, “enslaved”, “under the yoke”.
Direct challenge to divine-right monarchies.
Rousseau’s Social Contract:
Concept of Natural liberty vs Civil liberty.
Who Does the Enlightenment Leave Out?
Women not included in Enlightenment thoughts.
Key Figures:
Mary Wollstonecraft: Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792.
Olympe de Gouges: Author of The Declaration of the Rights of the Woman and the Citizen, 1791.
Olympe de Gouges’ Preamble (1791)
Significant Claims:
“The tocsin of reason is heard throughout the universe: Know your rights (…) The Revolution will be achieved only when all women are convinced of their deplorable lot and of the rights that they have lost in society. Madame, support so fine a cause, defend this unfortunate sex…"
Critique of men's exceptionalism: “Man alone has made a foolish principle of his exceptionalism…"
Advocacy for equality: “What laws, then, remain to be made in order to extirpate vice to its roots? That of sharing wealth between men and women, along with public administration.”
Emphasizes Liberty, property, security, and especially resistance to oppression.
View of marriage: “Marriage is the tomb of trust and of love.”
Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792)
Key Quotes:
Describes husbands: “Husbands, as well as their helpmates, are often only overgrown children…"
Critique of gender roles leading women to be “confined then in cages like the feathered race…"
Advocacy for female dignity: “It is time to effect a revolution in female manners…"
Educational Responsibilities: “A double duty devolves on [the woman]: to educate [her children] in the character of both father and mother…"
Who Does the Enlightenment Leave Out? (Contd.)
Some Enlightenment thinkers express anti-slavery sentiments, yet the era primarily neglects the experiences and rights of people of color.
Immanuel Kant’s Views:
Claims of racial superiority: “Humanity exists in its greatest perfection in the white race… The yellow Indians have a smaller amount of Talent… The Negroes are lower…"
Views on education: “The white race possesses all incentives and talents in itself… The race of Negroes can be educated, but only as slaves…"
Count of Buffon’s Natural History (1749–67)
Monogenist View:
Belief that different racial groups belong to the same species; racial differences arise from evolutionary changes.
Implication: The closer someone resembles a white European, the less they have “degenerated” from the preferred form.
Voltaire: Treatise on Tolerance (1763)
Polygenist View:
Belief that racial groups have separate origins; white people considered “superior” to other races.
Notable Quotes: “White people are superior to Negroes, just like Negroes are superior to monkeys…"
Engagement in colonial commerce and the concept of racial capitalism.
The First Atlantic Revolution: The American Independence War
Spread of Enlightenment Ideals:
Role of the Republic of Letters and significant figures such as Benjamin Franklin.
Mention of the Mapping the Republic of Letters project at Stanford University.
Contestation of British Colonial Rule
Key Events:
End of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) led to increased tensions.
Taxation Acts:
Sugar Act (1764) - tax on sugar and molasses.
Townshend Acts (1767) - tax on imported items.
Quartering Act (1765) - required housing for British troops.
Stamp Act (1765) - tax on legal documents and publications.
Tea Act - led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773, protesting “taxation without representation”.
Disguised as Mohawk to associate with natives and define an American identity.
Continental Congress and the Olive Branch Petition
Formation of the Continental Congress (1774):
Aimed to coordinate resistance against British policies.
Olive Branch Petition (July 1775) as a final attempt at reconciliation.
Military Strategies in the Revolution
Washington’s Approaches:
Disciplined the military and employed guerrilla tactics against British forces.
Challenges: Approx. 20% of American colonists were loyalists.
The American Constitution (1787)
Preamble:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”
Bill of Rights (1791):
Designed “to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers.”
Enlightenment Principles:
Emphasis on contractual theory of government (Consent of the governed) and individual rights.
French Revolution and Political Symbolism
Caricatures (1789) depicting nobility and clergy atop the Third Estate, illustrating class oppression.
Shift from Religion in France
Adoption of Deism, Cult of Reason, and cult of the Supreme Being during the Revolution.
All banned by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.
French Republican Calendar (1793)
Replacement of Saint's names with objects or labor-related terms (e.g., turnip’s day).
Aimed to replace religious references with allusions to nature and work.
French Estate Generals (Les Etats Généraux)
Representation of the three social orders disproportionately represented, leading to tensions.
Tennis Court Oath and the Storming of the Bastille
Tennis Court Oath (June 1789) and Storming of the Bastille (July 1789):
Highly symbolic acts against the monarchy's absolute power.
Women's March on Versailles
Dates: October 5th and 6th, 1789:
Women demanding action against food scarcity and high prices.
Establishment of revolutionary symbols such as the flag and anthem.
Spread of the Revolution to Saint-Domingue
Demographics:
30,000 White French planters.
28,000 Free people of color.
465,000 Enslaved Africans.
Notion of Maroons (runaway slaves forming communities in the mountains).
Advertisements for Runaway Slaves
Example from Barbados Mercury:
Detailed descriptions of runaway slaves including physical attributes and previous employment.
Struggle of Free People of Color
Agostino Brunia’s Oil Painting (1789):
Representing free people of color petitioning for rights denied post the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
Participation in the American War of Independence, approx. 500 sent.
Slave Uprising (1791-1792)
Leadership of Boukman, a Voodoo priest, organized revolts.
Estimates of 12,000 to 100,000 slaves involved.
Toussaint Louverture’s leadership and military discipline.
Key Events:
1792: Equality granted to free people of color.
1794: Slavery abolished amidst the fight for Republican ideals.
Haitian Constitution (1801)
Major Points:
Proclamation that slavery cannot exist in Haiti; all men born there live freely.
Eligibility for public positions based solely on virtues and talents rather than skin color.
Equitable treatment under the law, regardless of punishment or protection.
Struggle Against French Troops
1801-1804: Ongoing combat against French forces led by General Leclerc.
Louverture’s imprisonment in France.
1802: Attempt to reimpose slavery.
1804: Defeat of French, Haiti's declaration of independence led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines.
In 1822, Haiti invaded Spanish Santo Domingo, ending slavery.
Conclusion: The Age of Revolutions
Awakening of ideas surrounding national citizenship.
Influences across Latin America leading to emancipation from the Spanish Empire and quests for independence.