The Beginning of the Revolutionary Era

By the end of the 7 years war, Great Britain had become the world’s greatest colonial power. They controlled Canada and the lands east of the Mississippi.
British policymakers sought to obtain new revenues from the thirteen American colonies to pay for expenses the British army had incurred in defending the colonists.
The Americans wanted equal representation when the British wanted a parliament that controlled everything.

The War for Independence

Britain was much stronger and powerful but the Americans won the war and their independence.
The Americans were led by George Washington.
Their army felt like a bunch of amateurs. The assistance of the French in the supply of weapons and arms was a great help to the colonies.
Finally, in 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed and the Americans were recognized as independent.

A New Nation

They did not want a strong central government and instead made a government with 3 branches, the one we still have today, named the branches, legislative, judicial, and executive. They made the bill of rights in 1788.

Bill of Rights

The year 1789 witnessed two far-reaching events, the beginning of a new United States of America and the eruption of the French Revolution. There is a connection between the two as books, magazines, and newspapers showed this as an era of significant changes.
To many Europeans, it proved that the liberal political ideas of the Enlightenment were not the vapid utterances of intellectuals. America had created a new social contract, embodied it in a written constitution, and made the concepts of liberty and representative government a reality.

Background and the French Revolution

Before the Revolution, French society was grounded in the inequality of rights or the idea of privilege.
The population of 27 million was divided, as it had been since the Middle Ages, into legal categories known as the three orders or estates.
The First Estate consisted of the clergy and numbered about 130,000 people. Approximately 10 percent of the land.
The Second Estate was the nobility, composed of no more than 350,000 people who nevertheless owned about 25 to 30 percent of the land. They held many positions in the government, the military, and the law courts.
The Third Estate, the commoners of society, constituted the overwhelming majority of the French population. They were divided by vast differences in occupation, level of education, and wealth. They were the peasants (75-80% of the population).

Problems

The monarchy had a bad harvest in 1787 and 1788, and it resulted in depression and food shortages.
Many girls and women in the country were without shoes. The poverty in this time struck the roots of the nation. There was also a financial crisis and there was a drastic shortage of money after the revolution.

A New Constitution

By 1791, the National Assembly had completed a new constitution that established a limited constitutional monarchy.
There was still a monarch, but he enjoyed few powers not subject to review by the new Legislative Assembly. There was some opposition at first but it soon worked out and they had a french author.

Equality

Women continued to play an active role in this radical phase of the French Revolution. They fought for their rights and stood up when something was wrong. A lot of the time prices were rigged and women stood up to that to fix it.
Early in the French Revolution, the desire for equality led to a discussion of what to do about slavery.
A club called Friends of the Blacks advocated the abolition of slavery.
French planters in the West Indies, who profited greatly from the use of slaves on their sugar plantations, opposed the abolition of slavery in the French colonies.
When the National Convention came into power, the issue was revisited, and on February 4, 1794, guided by ideals of equality, the government abolished slavery in the colonies.

The Age of Napoleon

Napoleon dominated French and European history from 1799-1815.
Napoleon was born in Corsica in 1769, only a few months after France had annexed the island. Napoleon’s military education led to his commission in 1785 as a lieutenant.
For the next seven years, Napoleon spent a lot of his time reading the works of the philosophes, especially Rousseau, and educating himself in military matters. The French Revolution and the European war that followed broadened his sights and presented him with new opportunities.
Napoleon rose quickly through the ranks. In 1792, he became a captain and in the following year performed so well as an artillery commander in the capture of Toulon that he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1794.
Napoleon made peace with the oldest and most implacable enemy of the Revolution, the Catholic Church. Napoleon himself was a rationalist who regarded religion at most as a convenience.
In Egypt, he called himself a Muslim; in France, a Catholic. But Napoleon saw the necessity to come to terms with the Catholic Church in order to stabilize his regime.

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Chapter 19 - The Era of French Revolution and Napoleon

The Beginning of the Revolutionary Era

By the end of the 7 years war, Great Britain had become the world’s greatest colonial power. They controlled Canada and the lands east of the Mississippi.
British policymakers sought to obtain new revenues from the thirteen American colonies to pay for expenses the British army had incurred in defending the colonists.
The Americans wanted equal representation when the British wanted a parliament that controlled everything.

The War for Independence

Britain was much stronger and powerful but the Americans won the war and their independence.
The Americans were led by George Washington.
Their army felt like a bunch of amateurs. The assistance of the French in the supply of weapons and arms was a great help to the colonies.
Finally, in 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed and the Americans were recognized as independent.

A New Nation

They did not want a strong central government and instead made a government with 3 branches, the one we still have today, named the branches, legislative, judicial, and executive. They made the bill of rights in 1788.

Bill of Rights

The year 1789 witnessed two far-reaching events, the beginning of a new United States of America and the eruption of the French Revolution. There is a connection between the two as books, magazines, and newspapers showed this as an era of significant changes.
To many Europeans, it proved that the liberal political ideas of the Enlightenment were not the vapid utterances of intellectuals. America had created a new social contract, embodied it in a written constitution, and made the concepts of liberty and representative government a reality.

Background and the French Revolution

Before the Revolution, French society was grounded in the inequality of rights or the idea of privilege.
The population of 27 million was divided, as it had been since the Middle Ages, into legal categories known as the three orders or estates.
The First Estate consisted of the clergy and numbered about 130,000 people. Approximately 10 percent of the land.
The Second Estate was the nobility, composed of no more than 350,000 people who nevertheless owned about 25 to 30 percent of the land. They held many positions in the government, the military, and the law courts.
The Third Estate, the commoners of society, constituted the overwhelming majority of the French population. They were divided by vast differences in occupation, level of education, and wealth. They were the peasants (75-80% of the population).

Problems

The monarchy had a bad harvest in 1787 and 1788, and it resulted in depression and food shortages.
Many girls and women in the country were without shoes. The poverty in this time struck the roots of the nation. There was also a financial crisis and there was a drastic shortage of money after the revolution.

A New Constitution

By 1791, the National Assembly had completed a new constitution that established a limited constitutional monarchy.
There was still a monarch, but he enjoyed few powers not subject to review by the new Legislative Assembly. There was some opposition at first but it soon worked out and they had a french author.

Equality

Women continued to play an active role in this radical phase of the French Revolution. They fought for their rights and stood up when something was wrong. A lot of the time prices were rigged and women stood up to that to fix it.
Early in the French Revolution, the desire for equality led to a discussion of what to do about slavery.
A club called Friends of the Blacks advocated the abolition of slavery.
French planters in the West Indies, who profited greatly from the use of slaves on their sugar plantations, opposed the abolition of slavery in the French colonies.
When the National Convention came into power, the issue was revisited, and on February 4, 1794, guided by ideals of equality, the government abolished slavery in the colonies.

The Age of Napoleon

Napoleon dominated French and European history from 1799-1815.
Napoleon was born in Corsica in 1769, only a few months after France had annexed the island. Napoleon’s military education led to his commission in 1785 as a lieutenant.
For the next seven years, Napoleon spent a lot of his time reading the works of the philosophes, especially Rousseau, and educating himself in military matters. The French Revolution and the European war that followed broadened his sights and presented him with new opportunities.
Napoleon rose quickly through the ranks. In 1792, he became a captain and in the following year performed so well as an artillery commander in the capture of Toulon that he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1794.
Napoleon made peace with the oldest and most implacable enemy of the Revolution, the Catholic Church. Napoleon himself was a rationalist who regarded religion at most as a convenience.
In Egypt, he called himself a Muslim; in France, a Catholic. But Napoleon saw the necessity to come to terms with the Catholic Church in order to stabilize his regime.