Democratic Revolutions

1689 England’s Democracy In 1750 most empires were ruled by absolute monarchs England’s system was an exception In 1689 parliament established a constitutional monarchy during the Glorious Revolution (the rich nobles were scared that the king might make and keep England Catholic again) Before the revolution, the King ruled England (absolute monarchy). After the revolution, Parliament ruled England (constitutional monarchy). The monarch operated under the law and in tandem with the parliament England’s style of constitutional monarchy became the style of government all European kings would accept

Magna Carta “Great Charter” 1215 1st document to limit the King’s powers King must respect individual (nobles) rights & liberties Provided for due process of the law and right to a jury trial

English Bill of Rights William & Mary signed it making England a Constitutional Monarchy in 1689 Formal summary of the rights & liberties believed to be essential to the people Forbid excessive bail & cruel & unusual punishment Served as an example for America

Constitutional Monarchy The King/Queen was now limited by the English Constitution. Kings had to share power with Parliament. Ceremonial Monarchy Today, the Prime Minister is the most powerful person in England. She runs Parliament. The Queen is a figurehead. Theresa May

1776 American Revolution The 1st revolution where the enlightenment ideas were tried on a large scale. You know the story: “No taxation without representation” Results: The idea that a group of colonies could overthrow their “oppressors” and establish – on purpose – a representative government based on the Enlightenment inspired revolutionaries around the world. How democratic was the United States? You decide! But, the US had more democratic participation in government than any other nation in the world.

American Declaration of Independence The United States is breaking up with Britain Written by Jefferson in 1776 Based on Locke & the Enlightenment Natural Rights-life, liberty & pursuit of happiness Ended by declaring independence from England Influenced the French Revolution Protect the rights of the people

U.S. Constitution Supremacy of the law – no one is above the law Universal suffrage – all can participate and vote Lasting document Representative government with 3 branches

U.S. Bill of Rights In order to get the US constitution passed, federalists included a Bill of Rights (1787) First 10 amendments to the constitution Protect basic rights such as freedom of speech, press, assembly & religion Influenced by Voltaire, Rousseau & Locke Put Enlightenment ideas into action

1776 French Revolution The French people revolted against their king (not a colonial struggle) “Liberty, equality, fraternity (brotherhood)” They attempted a constitutional monarchy, but king was found guilty of treason and was executed by guillotine

French Declaration of Rights of Man & Citizen 1789 – Reflected ideals of American Dec of Independence Protects the rights of the people – free & equal, life, liberty, property, security & resistance to oppression Guaranteed equal justice freedom of speech and religion “Life, Equality, Fraternity”

French Revolution A “republic” was established But it was radical, as many as 30,000 people died by guillotine because of overenthusiastic revolutionary leaders Those leaders were eventually killed and were replaced by a military dictator who restored order, Napoleon Bonaparte (he took power in a coup ‘ d eta)

Napoleon Bonaparte He claimed to be a child of the enlightenment He did enact reforms such as equality before the law BUT he was not a fan of republics (elected representatives) Napoleon took much of Europe but was ultimately defeated by a coalition of other European nations including Britain & Russia The Congress of Vienna reorganized Europe’s boundaries to include several new nations

The Haitian Revolution 1794-1804 The Haitian Revolution In 1794 cane cutters in Haiti rebelled against their French colonial masters. They were led by former slave Toussaint L’Overture who believed that rights being fought for in France should extend to people in the French colonies. In 1804 Napoleon’s troops were defeated making Haiti the first successful slave revolt and independent nation in Latin America.

Latin American Revolutions By 1830 the success of the Haitian revolution inspired the rest of Latin America’s colonies to rise up against Spanish & Portuguese rule Led by upper-class Creole elites – the most famous was Simon Bolivar (became known as the continent’s “liberator.”) – one by one the colonies gained independence through military victories Creating the decline of Spain as a world power Latin American countries had an enormous social and economic divide between the few elite and the many poor Establishing stable governments was difficult for many of the new Latin American nations, including Mexico and Brazil There was a lack of significant social and economic change for the non-elites

Which inspired the American Revolution … The Enlightenment was inspired by the Greeks & Romans, religion and the English Parliament … Which inspired the American Revolution … The American Revolution inspired the French … The French Revolution catalyzed the people of Haiti … Their success led to the struggle for independence for all of the Americas …