unit 5 heimler cram
5.1 The Enlightenment
Unit 5: The Enlightenment (1750-1900)
Introduction
Unit 5 focuses on the period from 1750 to 1900, highlighting various revolutions worldwide.
The Enlightenment provides the ideological foundation for these revolutions.
Defining the Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that applied rationalism and empiricism to understand the natural world and human relationships.
Rationalism: Reason is the most reliable source of true knowledge.
Empiricism: True knowledge is gained through the senses and rigorous experimentation.
The Scientific Revolution's Influence
The Enlightenment was an extension of the Scientific Revolution (16th-17th centuries).
During the Scientific Revolution, scientists used reason to understand the world, moving away from biblical and religious authority.
This led to scientific breakthroughs in understanding the cosmos and the human body.
Questioning Religion
The Enlightenment questioned the role of religion in public life, particularly in Europe, where Christianity had significant state power.
Christianity, as a revealed religion, was viewed as resistant to questioning its commands.
The Enlightenment shifted authority from external (God) to internal (individual reason).
New Ways of Relating to the Divine
Deism: Belief in a God who created all things but does not intervene in the created order.
Atheism: Complete rejection of religious belief and the notion of a divine being.
New Political Ideas
Individualism: The individual human is the most basic element of society, and individual progress is key.
Natural Rights: Humans are born with rights that cannot be infringed upon by governments.
John Locke: Natural rights of life, liberty, and property are endowed by God and cannot be taken away by a monarch.
Social Contract: Human societies must form governments to protect natural rights. If a government becomes tyrannical, the people have the right to overthrow it and establish a new one.
Effects of Enlightenment Ideas
Ideological context for major revolutions:
American Revolution
French Revolution
Haitian Revolution
Latin American Revolutions
Emphasis on rejecting established traditions and advocating for new political power structures.
These revolutions led to the intensification of nationalism across the world.
Nationalism: A sense of commonality among people based on shared language, religion, social customs, and a desire for territory.
Expansion of Suffrage:
Suffrage: The right to vote.
Post-American Revolution: Initially, only landed white males could vote.
19th Century: Laws expanded suffrage to all white males, then to black males.
Enlightenment ideas like liberty and equality played a role in this expansion.
Abolition of Slavery:
Enlightenment thinkers criticized slavery for disregarding natural rights, especially liberty.
Great Britain abolished slavery in 1807.
Britain's wealth from the Industrial Revolution also made abolition economically viable.
Slave Rebellions: The Great Jamaica Revolt in 1831 influenced Britain's decision.
End of Serfdom:
Serfdom: Peasants bound in coerced labor.
Serfs became unnecessary with the transition to industrial economies.
Peasant revolts induced state leaders in England, France, and Russia to end serfdom.
Increasing calls for Women's Suffrage:
Women in Europe and the United States did not share in the revolutionary harvest of liberty, especially in terms of voting rights.
Emergence of a feminist movement demanding equality, including voting rights.
Olympe de Gouges: Criticized the French Constitution in "The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen" for excluding women.
Seneca Falls Convention (1848): Women organized to call for a constitutional amendment recognizing women's right to vote.
5.2 — Nationalism and Revolutions
Causes of Revolutions
Nationalism:
A sense of commonality among people based on shared language, religion, and social customs.
Linked to a desire for territory.
New development during this period, as empires previously incorporated diverse peoples.
The idea that people sharing culture, history, and ethnicity should rule themselves grew stronger.
States fostered unity by injecting nationalist themes into schools, public rituals, and military service.
Example: Russian leaders required the use of the Russian language to unify diverse ethnicities.
This backfired in places like Ukraine, Poland, and Finland, where it created counter-nationalism due to distinct languages.
Discontent with Monarchist and Imperial Rule:
Rejection of authority was widespread.
Safavid Empire: Harsh new taxes led to rebellion and weakening of the state, eventually leading to its end in the early 18th century.
Wahhabi Movement: Sought to reform Islam in the Ottoman Empire and contributed to its decline.
New Ideologies and Systems of Government:
Enlightenment thinkers (Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu) conceived new governmental structures.
Popular sovereignty: Power to govern is in the hands of the people.
Government should be characterized by democracy.
Liberalism: Economic and political ideology emphasizing civil rights, representative government, protection of private property, and economic freedom.
Major Atlantic Revolutions
Inspired by democratic ideals.
American Revolution (1776)
British colonies in North America developed independently due to distance from Britain.
After the Seven Years' War, Britain imposed new taxes on the colonies to pay for war debts.
Causes: New taxes, curtailment of freedoms, and adoption of Enlightenment principles.
Declaration of Independence: Emphasized popular sovereignty, natural rights, and the social contract.
With the help of France, the Americans won the war, and the United States was born in 1783.
Provided a template for overthrowing oppressive power and establishing a republican government.
French Revolution (1789)
French soldiers returning from the American Revolution were influenced by democratic ideals.
Louis XVI attempted to tighten control and raise taxes, leading to rebellion and the establishment of a republic.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen: Championed natural rights and popular sovereignty.
Haitian Revolution (1791)
Haiti was a French colony and the most prosperous colony in the world.
Enslaved black population, led by Toussaint Louverture, revolted after hearing about French revolutionaries calling for liberty and equality.
Haitians defeated the French and established the second republic in the Western Hemisphere and the first black government in the region.
Latin American Revolutions
Spanish and Portuguese colonies were influenced by Enlightenment ideas and resented increasing imperial control.
Creole class (European heritage, born in the Americas) resented the peninsulares (European, born in Europe) who held most of the political power.
In 1808, Napoleon's invasion of Spain created political instability in the American colonies, leading to revolution.
Simón Bolívar appealed to colonial subjects with Enlightenment ideals (Letter from Jamaica).
One Latin American colony after another won its independence through protracted wars and formed republican governments.
Other Nationalist Movements
Nationalism led to calls for self-rule and national unification.
Propaganda Movement in the Philippines
Spanish colony with a similar racial hierarchy.
Wealthier Creoles and mestizos traveled to Europe for education, where they absorbed nationalist and Enlightenment ideas.
Published these ideas, leading Spanish authorities to suppress the movement.
The Philippine Revolution broke out at the end of the century.
Unification of Italy and Germany
Italy and Germany were made up of fragmented states.
Nationalism inspired populations to unify under a single government.
Through diplomacy and military tactics, these fragmented regions were unified.
5.3 — Industrial Revolution Begins
The Industrial Revolution: Origins and Defining Factors
Definition of the Industrial Revolution
Transition from agrarian to industrial economies.
Shift from handmade goods to machine-made goods.
Significance of the Industrial Revolution
Changed the world's balance of political power.
Reordered societies.
Made industrial nations wealthy.
Beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain (c. 1750)
Seven factors contributed to its start in Britain:
1. Proximity to Waterways
Great Britain was an island with many rivers and canals.
Enabled efficient transportation of manufactured goods.
2. Geographical Distribution of Coal and Iron
Coal powered the first phase of the Industrial Revolution.
Britain had large coal deposits.
Coal increased efficiency in iron production for bridges, machines, and railroads.
3. Access to Foreign Resources
Britain had a large maritime empire.
Access to raw materials not available on their island (e.g., timber from North America, cotton from India).
4. Improved Agricultural Productivity
Agricultural revolution just before the Industrial Revolution increased food production.
Improved Planting Methods:
Crop rotation maintained soil fertility.
Seed drill increased planting efficiency.
New Foods from the Colombian Exchange
Potato increased caloric intake, especially among the poor.
Increased life expectancy from 37 to 41 years.
Led to a population spike.
5. Rapid Urbanization
Mechanized farming reduced the need for farm labor.
Urban migration to industrial cities seeking jobs.
Quick growth of industrial cities.
6. Legal Protection of Private Property
Laws protected entrepreneurs investing in manufacturing.
Encouraged investment in new businesses.
7. Accumulation of Capital
Wealth from the Atlantic slave trade.
Capitalists invested in startup industrial businesses.
The Factory System
Definition: Goods mass-produced by machines in a single location.
Early factories were powered by moving water (water frame).
Connected to spinning jennies for faster textile production.
Specialization of Labor
Goods previously made by artisans.
Workers became interchangeable, performing repetitive actions.
5.4 — Industrialization Spreads
Spread of Industrialization
The Steam Engine
The development of the steam engine was a key factor in the rapid spread of industrialization.
The steam engine converted fossil fuel into mechanical energy.
Earlier factories were water-powered and had to be built near fast-moving water.
Steam engines allowed factories to be built virtually anywhere, removing geographical restrictions.
Steam engines were also incorporated into ships, enabling faster and more extensive transportation of mass-produced goods, further connecting the world into a global economy.
Factors Influencing the Pace of Industrialization
The degree to which different places possessed factors similar to those in Great Britain (waterways, coal deposits, favorable government policies) determined how quickly they industrialized.
Regions lacking these factors, such as many parts of Eastern and Southern Europe (deficient in coal and waterways) or those hindered by powerful groups like the nobility, industrialized slowly.
The world began to divide into industrialized and non-industrialized nations during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Industrialized nations like Great Britain, France, and the United States increased their share of global manufacturing output and economic wealth.
Countries in the Middle East and Asia, previously significant manufacturing centers, experienced a decline in their global production share. For example, India and Egypt saw decline in textile production and shipbuilding in India and Southeast Asia declined due to British command.
Case Studies of Industrialization
France
France began to industrialize after 1815, following the Napoleonic era.
Industrialization in France was slower than in Britain due to a lack of abundant coal and iron deposits.
Napoleon's construction of the Quenton Canal, connecting Paris with iron and coal fields, laid some groundwork for industrialization.
The government sponsored railroad construction, and textile factories were established by the 1830s, boosting the cotton industry and aiding the silk industry.
The slower pace of industrialization in France mitigated some of the social upheavals experienced in Britain.
United States
After resolving internal conflicts (Civil War), the United States industrialized rapidly.
The US possessed abundant natural resources and had relative political stability.
Rapid population growth, through both natural increase and migration, provided a large market for mass-produced goods.
The US economy became prosperous, leading to a higher standard of living for workers compared to their European counterparts.
Russia
By the end of the 19th century, Russia, under an absolutist czar, recognized the need to industrialize to avoid falling behind.
The czar initiated the adoption of industrial technologies, particularly railroads and steam engines.
The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, from Moscow to the Pacific Ocean, significantly increased trade with eastern states like China and created an interdependent market within Russia.
The top-down approach to industrialization led to harsh conditions for workers, resulting in uprisings and the Russian Revolution of 1905.
Industrialization was state-driven, in response to Russia's developmental lag compared to Western Europe.
Japan
Japan pursued defensive industrialization during the Meiji Restoration to avoid becoming subservient to Western powers.
They adopted Western technology, education, and practices to rapidly become an industrial power in the East.
Within a few decades, Japan became the most powerful state in the region.