The Age of Revolutions

1. The Age of Revolutions Was the American Revolution a revolution?

2. What is a Revolution? • a sudden, complete or marked change in something • a sudden, radical, or complete change • a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something • activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation • EXs

3. Flow of History:What major European movements would lead to the Age of Revolutions? • Protestant Reformation & ensuing religious disunity • Enlightenment/Age of Reason • Birth of Capitalism (& a Middle Class) • Colonialism in the New World

4. Rights Gained by English Citizens • Magna Carta (1215) • English Civil War (1642-1649) • Glorious Revolution (1688) • English Bill of Rights (1689) • The English colonists in America had come to expect these rights along with a certain amount of economic freedom

5. The American Revolution • Why did it start? • What were the major values of the American Revolution? • What major figures do you know from the American Revolution? • What major events are associated with the American Revolution? • Were the Revolting Colonists justified in their actions? Why or Why not?

6. French & Indian War (1754-1763) • In 1754 France & Great Britain fought on American soil over their North American colonies. • Britain protected their American colonists from Indian attacks and their French neighbors in Canada. • During this war, France was defeated by Britain, and was forced to surrender Canada to Britain. • This gave British colonists in the Americas freedom from fear of the French and the hope of westward expansion towards the Ohio River Valley

8. British opinion on American Colonies • During the French & Indian wars the British government had run up a massive debt • The British knew they had to pay this debt and thought the colonists in America were responsible for helping

9. Colonial Objections • The colonists felt that these new taxes had been imposed without their consent, violating their rights as English subjects • No one thought that the colonists could be represented in Parliament in London • Instead, the colonists favored greater self-government while the British Parliament felt it should be able to exercise its control over its colonies.

10. Reasons for Independence mindset • The Glorious Revolution of 1688 had demonstrated to the colonists that English subjects could be justified in overthrowing an oppressive ruler. • John Locke and many other Enlightenment philosophers were read and studied fervently by many of the American revolutionary leaders. • The writings of Enlightenment philosophers made many colonists believe it was unjust for the British government to tax them without considering their views • The cry “taxation without representation is tyranny” rang throughout the colonies • They began to believe a better form of government could be created.

11. Escalation: Tea Party • To prevent unrest, the British government sent in more troops. • They gave up on many taxes, but insisted the colonists pay a duty (tax) on tea to help the struggling East India Company. • A group of colonists disguised as Native Americans, climbed on board a ship carrying some of this tea, and dumped it into Boston Harbor. • The British responded by closing the harbor

13. The final straw • Colonists sent representatives to Philadelphia to discuss the growing problem. • In 1775, violence finally erupted near Boston between British troops and colonial volunteers. • From Massachusetts, the war quickly spread to the other colonies. • Thomas Paine published a pamphlet, called Common Sense, which applied reason to the problem • Paine argued that it was reasonable for the colonies, so far from England and on a land mass so much larger and more plentiful than England, to become independent • In 1776 the colonist declared their Independence

15. American Revolution reverberates in Europe • Many Enlightenment reformers in Europe supported the American Revolution, seeing it as the realization of their own ideas. • Volunteers like Marquis de Lafayette from France and Casmir Pulaski from Poland traveled to America to assist the colonists • They also persuaded the French to ally with the colonists against Britain. The French were eager for revenge after their defeat by the British in 1763 • The colonists won their Independence in 1783

17. Constitutional Convention • The first American constitution, “The Articles of Confederation”, was far too weak. • The Americans sent representatives to a Constitutional Convention in 1787 to create a strong national government that would still be protected against growing too powerful or becoming abusive. • The founders of this constitution utilized the best ideas of many Enlightenment philosophers in an attempt to strike the perfect balance

18. US Constitution • This constitution created a system where power as shared between the national and state governments • The three different government powers—legislative, executive, and judicial—were separated into different branches of government as advocated by Baron de Montesquieu • Each of these branches were given several ways to check the other branches from abuses in power (checks & balances) • Later, a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to include protections of individual liberties for citizens • Bill of Rights PPT