AP World History Unit 5 study guide

1.Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792

• Mary Wollstonecraft was pissed off after the revolutions in the US and France because they did nothing to improve the status and privileges of women

• This document was written as a rebuttal to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who wrote that women were inferior to men in capability and intelligence. Mary Wollstonecraft wrote that the reason women perform worse than men is that they are not given the same education and job opportunities as their male counterparts. So in the document, Mary Wollstonecraft advocates for women’s suffrage(right to vote), education, and the right to employment outside of the home.

2. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, 1789

• An important document to the french revolution. Said that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” The declaration later became the preamble of the French constitution of 1791.

• The document contains the ideas and theories of John Lock(popular sovereignty: the government's power to rule comes from the citizens, citizens’ right to rebel against a government that no longer serves their interests, all men are created equal). 

• The declaration of the rights of man is an example of how enlightenment ideas helped inspire reforms and revolutions around the atlantic ocean

3. Simón Bolívar, “Proclamation of 1813”. Venezuela had declared its independence from Spain in 1811, but Spain regained control of the country by July of 1812. Simón Bolívar fled to New Granada—present-day Colombia—to continue the fight against Spain. Chosen to lead an army to drive the Spanish from Venezuela, Bolívar issued this proclamation in June 1813

• Simon Bolivar’s goal was to truly liberate Venezuela and to return them to their former constitution.

• Simon Bolivar received inspiration from other revolutions that happened in the United States, France and Haiti and used the enlightenment ideas of John Locke in his proclamation.

• He also expressed some concerns about Latin America fragmenting into many different nations due to regional differences and societal divides along class, racial, and cultural lines.

4.Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence

• Ideas of John Locke: 

  • Equality of all people

  • Popular sovereignty( the power of the government comes from the people who get to pick their rulers)

  • The government has the responsibility of protecting and serving the interests of the governed(social contract)

  • Citizens have the right to rebel against the government if their interests are no longer being served(the social contract is violated).

  • Republican Government: people have the right to choose who represents them in government.

• The declaration of independence signified the first of the revolutions in the Atlantic world and showed how enlightenment ideas led to the questioning of existing government systems.

• Although the declaration of Independence claimed that “All men are created equal,” this did not immediately apply to women, people of color, slaves, and to a lesser extent,  poor people. These people were not offered the same liberties as the wealthy white landowners who led the revolution and held the majority of the governing power in the new nation.

5. Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, 1789

• This document was a parody of the 1789 “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”  used as a prominent document in the French revolution. Olympe de Gouges replaced all instances where “man” was mentioned with “woman.” 

• This served as an example of how women during the french revolution fought for reforms in existing gender roles. However, the french revolutionaries were unwilling to offer any political rights to women, even though they had eliminated class restrictions , granted religious freedom to jews and protestants, and abolished slavery

• The French revolution opened up the question of womens’ rights for consideration and laid the foundations for modern feminism.

6. Seneca Falls Convention, Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, 1848

• launched the woman suffrage movement in the United States.

7. Filipino nationalist José Rizal, Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not)

• The Atlantic revolutions gave rise to nationalism. As opposed to being loyal to your local clan, village, or region, people were loyal to their nation and fellow citizens.

• Enlightenment ideas claimed that sovereignty lay with “the people,” who had to unite to dictate the inner workings of their government.

8. The Haitian Declaration of Independence, 1804

• Free blacks were given rights by the French revolutionaries, but the governor of Haiti refused to give rights to the free blacks. The free blacks are inspired by the writing of Marat and Locke and stage a rebellion that fails. The free blacks stage another rebellion with the help of the slaves and succeed in taking control of Haiti and liberating themselves from slavery.

• The Haitian revolution resulted in social upheaval: “the lowest order of society --slaves-- became equal, free, and independent citizens”

• All Haitian citizens were defined as “black” and legally equal regardless of color or class. Haiti became the second independent state in the western hemisphere and went against the prevalent preferences of lighter skin in the Atlantic world.

• Economically: a large amount of Haiti’s plantations were destroyed during the revolution. As whites fled or were killed, wealth was redistributed to former slaves and free blacks and Haiti became a nation of small scale farmers with a very small exporting sector.

9. Simón Bolívar, Letter from Jamaica , 1815

• Simon Bolivar complains about the bourbon reforms issued by Spain to strengthen their control over their colonies.

  • He complains about the mistreatment of Spanish Creoles and how they were treated like 2nd class citizens.

  • He complains about the established creole leaders in the colonies were being replaced with spaniards 

  • He complained about the mercantilist system of Spain that limited interactions between the Spanish colonies in the new world.

• Simon Bolivar received inspiration from other revolutions that happened in the United States, France and Haiti and used the enlightenment ideas of John Locke in his letter.

10. Thomas Skidmore, United States historian, excerpt from academic book, Brazil: Five Centuries of Change,1999

• Brazil won independence without a major war or conflict

  • The Portuguese king was exiled to Brazil after an invasion by Napoleon. 

  • The king liked being in Brazil so much that he was reluctant to return to Portugal after Napoleon was removed. 

  • When he returns to Portugal, he allows his son(in Brazil) to take control of Brazil and secede from the Portuguese empire.

• After the Haitian revolution, Brazil took the center stage as the world’s leading producer of sugar, which increased the flow of slaves into the region.

11. Anthimos, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem [then part of the Ottoman  Empire], Paternal Instruction, leaflet printed in Greek for distribution among Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire, 1798

12. György Bessenyei, Hungarian writer, “Oration on the Subject Matter of the Nation,” essay published in 1817

• Revolutionary ideas from the french revolution were spread to the rest of Europe through occupation and conquest by Napoleon. However, the occupied peoples did not like French presence in their lands. This led to the development of nationalism, which played a larger role in the 20th century.

13. British Abolition Teapot, by Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, c. 1760. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

• The institution of slavery’s downfall was facilitated by the industrial revolution.

  • As a result of the industrial revolution, workers were paid according to their labor and had many opportunities to rise in the ranks of their business. This notion improves the ambition of workers who hoped to better their financial circumstances. This led to slavery being phased out in the northern US in favor of the system brought about by the industrial revolution which fostered intrinsically motivated workers. This led to rapid economic development in the north and caused the southern economy to lag behind.

  • Many British people saw slavery as morally wrong, economically inefficient, and politically unwise.

14. Abbé Sieyes, French political writer, What is the Third Estate?, January 1789

• The third estate consisted of 95% of the population of France

• The document asserts that “we[the 3rd estate] are france” in opposition to the king’s prior statement that “I am France.” 

• This document pumped up the people of France, reinforced revolutionary ideals, and further motivated people of the 3rd estate to take to the streets in rebellion of the oppressive French government:

  • This document led to developments like the Tennis Court oath, the storming to the Bastille, the proliferation of “Popular sovereignty” in france(led to other revolutionary ideas) which demanded that 1 person have 1 vote in the affairs of the nation to amend th oppression of the third estate by the elites that previously held most of France’s political power despite only being less than 5% of the population.

15. Excerpt from Tennis Court Oath, Paris 1789

• After the estates general, the third estate had many issues regarding representation. 

• The 3rd estate begins calling themselves the National Assembly and met in a tennis court near the palace of versailles where they 

• The oath was a revolutionary act and an assertion that political authority derived from the people and their representatives rather than from the monarchy. Their solidarity forced Louis XVI to order the clergy and the nobility to join the Third Estate in the National Assembly to give the illusion that he controlled the National Assembly. This protest led to an increase  in the power of the third estate in the assembly general and every proceeding government body.

• The tennis Court oath was foreshadowed by and drew considerably from the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence. It led to other revolutionary activities like the Storming of the Bastille, Abolition of feudalism, the storming of the palace of versailles and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

16. Painting by François-René Moreau, titled Announcement of Independence, painted in 1844 showing Brazilian independence.

• Brazil won independence without a major war or conflict

  • The Portuguese king was exiled to Brazil after an invasion by Napoleon. 

  • The king liked being in Brazil so much that he was reluctant to return to Portugal after Napoleon was removed. 

  • When he returns to Portugal, he allows his son(in Brazil) to take control of Brazil and secede from the Portuguese empire.

Reading Notes: 

• Scientific Revolution: intellectual and cultural transformation b/t 16th and 18th centuries

  • Knowledge was now rational (not just relying on external authority of Bible, church, and old philosophers) 

  • Challenged ancient social hierarchies + political systems 

  • Used to legitimize gender and racial inequalities

• Example of important discoveries: Nicolaus Copernicus: wrote On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres

  • Said that sun was in the middle of solar system (earth was no longer unique or at the center of God’s attention)

• European Enlightenment: applied principles of Scientific Revolution to human affairs + was noted for its commitment to open-mindedness and inquiry

  • Many took aim at arbitrary governments, “the divine right of kings”, and the aristocratic privileges of european society

  • John Locke: offered principles for constructing a constitutional government (contract b/t rulers and ruled that was created by human ingenuity rather than divinely prescribed)

  • Central theme of Enlightenment: progress (said that human society was not fixed by tradition but could be changed, and improved, by human action guided by reason)

American Revolution:

• Struggle for independence from oppressive British rule

  • This struggle was launched w/ Declaration of Independence (1776)

• Originated in an effort to preserve existing liberties instead of w/ purpose of creating new ones

• 17th and 8th centuries: british colonies in North American enjoyed a considerable degree of local autonomy (british gov was caught up w its own internal conflicts and European wars)

• English settlers had developed societies w/ clear and visible class distinctions 

  • No legal distinctions differentiated commoners + aristocracy like in france

    • Less poverty + more economy opportunities + fewer social differences than classes in europe

• American Revolution grew from british gov’s effort to tighten its control over the colonies + extract more revenue from them (bc of britain’s struggle w france draining its treasury)

  • Colonists became infuriated bc these measures would challenge their economic interests

  • Armed w ideas from the Enlightenment, they went to war w/ aid from French

• Revolution = accelerated democratic tendencies of colonial societies

  • Political authority remained mostly in hands of existing elites

  • Property requirements for voting = lowered 

  • White men of modest means (like farmers) were elected to state legislatures

  • Eroded power of traditional gentlemen

French Revolution: 

• Upheaval of French society that overthrew the monarchy, ended the legal privileges of the nobility, and for a time outlawed the Catholic Church. 

• Proceeded in stages, becoming increasingly radical and violent until the period known as the Terror (1793 to 1794) → became more conservative after (under Napoleon)

• French gov was on brink of bankruptcy + had long sought reforms that would modernize the tax system and make it more equitable

• Louis XVI (the French king) called the Estates General into session

  • (made up of male representatives of three “estates”/ legal orders of prerevolutionary france: clergy, nobility, and commoners)

• Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen: said that men are born and remain free + equal in rights (later becomes preamble in the french constitution)

• Driven by sharp conflicts within French society

  • Nobility resisted monarchy’s efforts to subject them to new taxes

  • Educated middle-class men (e.g. doctors + lawyers) were growing in numbers and wealth & were offended by remaining privileges of aristocracy (from which they were now excluded)

  • Ordinary urban men and women (whose incomes had declined for a generation) were hit hard by inflation + widespread unemployment

  • Peasants were subject to hated dues imposed by landlords, taxes from the state, obligations to the church, etc.

• First 5 years of revolution: more violent + far-reaching than American counterpart

• Initial efforts to establish a constitutional monarchy + promote harmony among classes gave way to more radical measures (internal resistance + foreign opposition produced a fear that the revolution might be overturned)

• National Assembly: ended legal privileges + eliminated feudalism

• French perceived themselves to be starting from scratch + looked to the future

  • Country became a republic (first time in history) + briefly passed universal male suffrage, but was never implemented

• Raised question of female political equality

  • French women were active in the major events of the revolution (e..g took part in the storming of Bastille)

  • Bastille: prison that symbolized oppressive old regime

• Women’s political demands: lack of education, male competition in female trades, prevalence of prostitution, & rapidly rising price of bread and soap

• Napoleon: credited w/ taming the revolution in the face of growing disenchantment w/ more radical features and w/ social conflicts it generated

  • Preserved many of its more moderate elements (e.g. civil equality, religious freedom, etc.)

Haitian Revolution: 

• Only fully successful slave rebellion in world history; the uprising in the french caribbean colony of Saint Domingue was sparked by the French Revolution + led to the establishment of an independent state after a long, bloody war

• Saint Domingue: Richest colony in the world (40% of sugar + half of world’s coffee production)

• Majority of colony’s population was the slave labor force (~500,000 people)

• Whites: 40,000 (plantation owners, merchants, and lawyers + petits blancs (poor whites))

• 30,000 gens de couleur libres (people of free color/ mixed-race background)

• To the rich white landowners, the revolution suggested greater autonomy for the colony + fewer economic restrictions on trade, but they resented the demands of the poor whites (who wanted equality of citizenship for all whites)

• To the slaves, the promise of the French Revolution = personal freedom that challenged the entire slave labor system

• Among confusion, brutality, and massacres of 1790s → power gravitated to the slaves (Louverture)

  • Toussaint Louverture (a former slave) + his successor = overcome internal resistance, outmaneuvered foreign powers, and defeated an attempt by Napoleon to reestablish French control

• Renaming to Haiti: symbolic break with Europe + represented an effort to connect w/ native inhabitants 

• Haitian citizens were defined as “black” and legally equal regardless of color or class 

  • Confronted elite preferences for lighter skin even as it disallowed citizenship for most whites

• Economically: plantation system was largely destroyed (whites fled or were killed = private and state lands were redistributed among former slaves and free blacks)

  • Haiti became a nation of small-scale farmers (produced for their own needs instead for commercial purposes)

• Destructiveness + internal divisions of class and race = contributed to Haiti’s poverty + unstable politics

• Napoleon’s defeat in Haiti persuaded him to sell the U.S. the French territories (Louisiana Purchase)

Latin American Revolutions:

• Series of risings in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Latin America that established the independence of new states from European rule but that for the most part retained the privileges of the elites despite efforts at more radical social change by lower classes

• Native-born elites (creoles) in Spanish colonies were offended by Spanish monarchy’s efforts to have greater power over its colonies + impose heavier taxes and tariffs

  • Creole intellectuals = familiar w/ ideas of popular sovereignty, republican gov, and persona liberty from European Enlightenment

  • These conditions at first only led to scattered protests instead of outrage + declarations of independence that occurred in british colonies

• Spanish colonies = more authoritarian fashion + more sharply divided by class

• Whites throughout latin america = outnumbered by native americans, ppl of African descent, and mixed race

  • All inhibited growth of a movement for independence

• Napoleon invaded Spain and Portugal = forced Portuguese royal family into exile in Brazil

  • Latin Americans took action = eventual independence for various states of latin america

• Longer process (almost twice as long as it did in North America)

  • Bc Latin American societies were so divided by class, race, and region

  • Mexico: movement for independence = driven by hunger for land and high food prices + led by two priests 

    • Alarmed by social radicalism of Hidalgo-Morelos rebellion, the creole landowners w/ support of the Church raised an army + crushed the insurgency

    • Later, this alliance of clergy + creole elites brought mexico a more socially controlled independence in 1821

• Entire independence movement took place under the shadow of a great fear (dread of social rebellion from below) 

• Answer to needing support of “the people” = nativism (which cast all of those born in the americas - creoles, indians, mixed-race ppl, free blacks - as americanos, while the enemies were ppl born in portugal or spain)

• Lower classes, native americans, and slaves benefited little from independence

• Women didn’t gain much from the independence struggle, though they had participated by giving + raising money for the cause, disguising themselves as men, serving as cooks, etc.

  • Latin american women continues to be wholly excluded from political life and remained under firm legal control of the men in their families

• Impossible to unite the various Spanish colonies (so no United States of Latin America ever emerged)

• Spanish colonies (took shape in wealthiest areas and among most sophisticated cultures of the Americas) = regarded as the more promising region compared to England's North American territories