Atlantic Revolutions
Caleb Bouchard, Dylan Gindt, Angelo Difede, Drew Redman
American Revolution
Symptoms Appear:
- Acts forced by parliament such as the stamp and tea acts were imposed on the colonists, upsetting them because they lacked representation in the British parliament.
- KIng George was neglectful of the colonies only using them as another source to exploit raw materials from.
- These two situations combined, and after being left to becoming used to self-rule, and were angered by Britain who decided to tighten restraints on them.
Fever Rises:
- The anger of the citizens began to increase in the colonies when the Boston Massacre occurred in 1770. This killing of five civilians by the British was a spark in the occurring problems between the colonies and Britain. Also another factor that angered the citizens was the lack of representation in parliament. Since they were on the other side of the world, they had no say in the parliament's decisions. Due to this, the parliament took advantage of it, and exploited the colonies.
- There were multiple acts by the British government to tighten its reigns on the colonies. Due to this, the colonies began to dislike what was happening through their acts such as the Stamp, Sugar, and Tea Acts. The colonies broke in 1773 due to the tea act when the Boston Tea Party occurred.
- The creation of the declaration of independence severed the ties of the colonies to Britain.
- The articles of confederation were created in 1781 which was a rough draft of the the constitution which was replaced by the real one later in 1783.
- The colonies did not receive fair governing and had no representatives in British parliament.
- The British government failed to maintain control of the colonies because the colonists had no say in what parliament was doing to them.
- Radicals show violence to the opposition through warfare such as the famous turning point of the Battle of Saratoga.
- The colonists ended opposition with the British with the surrender of general Cornwallis and his troops during the battle of Yorktown.
- People found stability within the documents of the new found nation such as the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Checks and Balances system.
- Radical ideas go away. The colonists find closure in the Treaty of Paris where the British fully recognizes them as an independent nation.
- George Washington was chosen as the new leader of the United States after doing an exemplary job in leading the colonies against Britain in the war
American Revolution x Brinton's Model
Thematic Conditions
Political:
- Policies enacted by the parliament were one of the main sources that effected them in a revolution beginning because when this occurred, it gave the colonists a primary source to be angry about.
- The British Government exploited the colonies by using the mercantilist system in which they forced the colonies to sell them raw materials, and for the colonies to only be allowed to by back finished goods from Britain. An example of this is cotton from the colonies being sent to the new world, and then the finished clothing being sent back for them to buy at a higher price, so Britain gets a large profit.
- This matches the model because all the criteria was able to be filled within the model. A clear explanation with new forms of government, rebellion, angered citizens, and the downfall of the old system all had occurred during the American Revolution. This is considered to be revolutionary, but not as revolutionary such as the French revolution because they were fighting for pre-existing freedoms in danger of being infringed upon by the British, rather than new liberties altogether.
Latin American Revolution
Symptoms Appear:
- In similar fashion to the American Revolution the Spanish Monarchy attempted to exercise greater control over the colonies by imposing heavier taxes and tariffs upon them.
- The citizens became unhappy for example, in Mexico hunger and extremely high food prices led to peasant uprising however, revolts were controlled and creole leaders were careful not to let them get too big as they learned from other revolutions how fast rebellions can turn into war for example the French Revolution. Due to this, progress in this revolution were slower in other areas compared to other revolutions.
Fever Rises:
- King Joao left Brazil to his son Pedro upon his return to Portugal following Napoleon's defeat. Pedro was convinced by the Brazilian party to step up and become the king of Brazil.
- The Cry of Hidalgo begins an uprising in Mexico in which Mexicans began to attack the peninsulares and creoles. This movement was eventually suppressed, and Miguel Hidalgo, the leader, was eventually captured and executed.
- Father Morelos led a revolution in Mexico and declared independence in Mexico in 1813. He died though in 1815, and when that happened the revolution died out with it.
- Spain's liberal rule caused the Mexican elites to switch to the Creole side in 1822 Mexicans won against the Spanish and became independent.
Terror Sweeps:
- People in spanish colonies were influenced by the Enlightenment and the American and French revolutions, and among these people was a growing dislike of Spain's restrictions over economic matters. There were restrictions on trading with foreigners as well, and also growing crops.
- Each individual colony such as Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina all had a leader during the revolution that helped them unify and rebel as their own colon to fight for their independence. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was one of the Mexican leaders of the revolution, and Jose de San Martin was a rising leader in the Argentina revolution. Hidalgo y Costilla were missionaries who led the rebellion after the Mexican citizens were starving due to the overpriced foods which were hurting them.
- In 1810 Mexico moved more towards their independence when hunger struck them. This was due to the high prices in food which the people could not afford. Miguel Hidalgo and José Morelos began a rebellion against the land owners, and they created an army to defeat them.
Convalescence Reached:
- The people began to look for stability after the revolution because they needed the government to rely on and to have a dependent leader that wasn't doing to be like their original one. Their own new governments were dependent on how each state chose to rule.
- The wars and bloody skirmishes stopped occurring after they were given their freedom to be their own states free of Spain in which the leader changed frequently.
- There was no single leader chosen after the revolution because when the revolution ended, the Latin American colonies didn't become one unified group like in North America, they became their own separate states with their own representative governments.
Latin American x Brinton's Model
Thematic Conditions
Economic:
- The economic factor that drove this revolution the most was the way that the government exploited these colonies like in the North American Colonies. In Mexico food prices were extremely high, so people couldn't even afford the food that they needed to survive, so people were starving.
- The Spanish government had caused more problems that angered the colonists due to the differing privileges of various social classes. Some had more rights than others which angered the colonists greatly and encouraged a steamrolling rebellion from them.
Contemporary Example: Venezuela
- Economy in Venezuela is based solely on oil production, therefore, whenever the price of oil goes down, the country's economy tanks. For example, in 1998 and already this year, the economy has suffered due to the drop of prices worldwide in the oil market.
- The government of Venezuela has been corrupted for along time (Hugo Chavez), for the first time in 22 years has had a voice in congress.
- They desire to overthrow the president and end oppression, but need more time to do so.