HIST103 Study Guide

Unit 7: Revolutions in Europe and North America

7a. Analyze connections between the Scientific Revolution and the politics of the Enlightenment

  • Describe the ideals of the Scientific Revolution and how they influenced the Enlightenment in Europe?
  • How did the beliefs during these periods change the political landscape of Europe?

Before the Protestant Reformation (1517–1648) and the Scientific Revolution (1543-1687) in Europe, the Catholic Church held tremendous political and social power. The Reformation fractured this control. The printing press promoted literacy and individual access to the Bible. The Scientific Revolution encouraged individuals to question common beliefs and test hypotheses using observable facts, logic, and the scientific method.

During the Enlightenment (1685–1815), European philosophers applied this new scientific framework to the political sphere. John Locke (1632–1704), Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), and Voltaire (1694–1778) questioned authority, examined the role and purpose of government, and encouraged citizens to hold their leaders accountable. Concepts such as individual rights, personal liberty, the social contract, and popular sovereignty ignited revolutions across the globe. People no longer existed to aggrandize the state, which should serve and protect the people.

To review, see:


7b. Explain the beliefs and positions of key Enlightenment thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau

  • Describe the main beliefs and positions of the Enlightenment philosophers Thomas Hobbes, Jean Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.

In The Leviathan (1651), Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) argued that human nature is inherently egotistical, power-hungry, and warlike. He said a strong central authority is needed to prevent civil discord and maintain peace. In Hobbes's version of a "social contract", citizens agree to give up certain freedoms in exchange for government protection from other human beings in favor of peace.

John Locke advocated for a limited government and the idea that all men (including monarchs) are equal in the eyes of God. In his book Two Treatises of Government (1689), Locke argued that people prefer to exist in a stable system that respects the individual liberties and rights of all men. He supported the rule of law and Montesquieu's (1689–1755) idea of the need for a separation of powers. No one (including the monarchy) is above the law. Power and authority are reciprocal – the state derives its authority from the people it governs. Its main function is to protect the rights of individuals, including the right to own property. Locke encouraged citizens to protest and overthrow corrupt, abusive, authoritarian governments. The writers of the American Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution adopted many of Locke's ideas about society, justice, and politics. 

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed humans are naturally peaceful. According to the Romanticist philosophical movement, the government should preserve the innate goodness and purity of people. In The Social Contract (1762), Rousseau argued every citizen should help create the laws and govern society. He supported direct democracy.

To review, see:


7c. Explain the political consequences of Enlightenment beliefs and how they played out in different countries

  • What were the political consequences of the Enlightenment?
  • How did the Enlightenment lead to revolutions in the Americas, the Caribbean, and France?
  • How did the revolutions compare to one another?

The Enlightenment philosophers argued that the state derives its power from the consent of the governed. This radical idea led to revolutions around the globe. Thomas Jefferson borrowed heavily from John Locke's Two Treatises of Government when he wrote the Declaration of Independence (1776). The U.S. Constitution (1787) reflects the Enlightenment ideals of a social contract, popular sovereignty, consent of the governed, and individual rights and liberties.

The Enlightenment also inspired The French Revolution (1789–1799), which led to a different result. France was divided into three social castes according to the Estate System – the clergy, the nobility and monarchs, and the commoners. In 1789, the Third Estate rebelled against the disproportionate tax burden they shouldered and the lack of human rights. The National Constituent Assembly wrote The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789). Olympe de Gouges, a French activist, wrote The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen.

However, the revolution soon devolved into mayhem. More than 17,000 people were executed during the Reign of Terror (1793–1794). By 1799, French citizens gave Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) dictatorial powers to end the chaos and violence. Bonaparte declared himself emperor in 1804. However, the new government was a constitutional monarchy (not absolute) when France restored King Louis XIII to power in 1814 after the Napoleonic Wars (1800–1815). Many of the Enlightenment ideals survived and were featured in the many administrative reforms Napoleon implemented.

The American and French revolutions inspired the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804), where the enslaved people of Saint-Domingue overthrew their masters and French rule. In 1801, Toussaint Louverture wrote a Constitution for the Haitian Republic that created a semi-presidential system and recognized the rights of citizenship for all male citizens. However, nations like the United States refused to grant diplomatic ties or trade relationships with Haiti, which led to widespread poverty that continues to this day.

When the Napoleonic Wars unfolded in Europe, Spain and Portugal lost control of their South American domains. The inefficiency of their governments, the Bourbon Reforms the Spanish Crown imposed during the 1700s, and unique social dynamics encouraged most of the Spanish-American colonies to revolt. By the 1820s, almost all of Central and South America were independent. Starting with Mexico in 1821, revolution spread through Central and South America, and many incorporated the ideals of the Enlightenment into their new constitutions.

To review, see:


7d. Discuss the political context and alignment of Europe after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte

  • How did Napoleon's conquest impact Europe?
  • Explain the importance of the Congress of Vienna and how it led to the rise in nationalism and World War I.

When Napoleon was defeated in 1815, diplomats from France, the United Kingdom, Austria, Russia, and Prussia met during the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) to rearrange the boundaries of Europe's independent states. They adopted a balance-of-power approach to reestablish stability and peace, rejecting many of the Enlightenment's ideas of individual rights and self-determination. However, in 1848, liberal nationalistic movements in Sicily, France, the Germanic and Italian states, and the Austrian Empire protested in a Year of Revolution.

In 1914 a series of entangling alliances the European powers created to maintain the peace would force their hands as they each stumbled into World War I when Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

To review, see:


7e. Connect the revolutions in South America to the Enlightenment and political events in Europe

  • How did the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna contribute to the revolutions in South America?
  • Who was Simón Bolívar?
  • How did Brazil gain its independence?

In the mid-18th century, Philip V and Ferdinand VI of Spain issued the Bourbon Reforms to increase efficiencies and Spanish control in their American colonies. However, it stoked resentment while Napoleon's invasions in Europe weakened their focus on the Americas. The Mexican War for Independence (1810–1820) overthrew the Spanish colonial system in Mexico. Agustín de Iturbide's Plan de Iguala (1821) was a revolutionary proclamation based on the "three guarantees" of independence, religion, and equality.

Simón Bolívar (1783–1830) borrowed from the philosophies of Rousseau and Montesquieu as he led independence movements across the Viceroyalty of New Granada, which spanned today's Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Bolivar served as president of Gran Colombia from 1819–1830 and as dictator of Peru from 1820–1823.

When Napoleon invaded Portugal in 1807, Prince Regent Dom João fled to Rio de Janeiro, declaring it the capital of the Portuguese empire and crowning himself King João VI. When revolution erupted in Brazil in 1820, King João VI returned to Portugal and left his son Dom Pedro to rule in his place. Dom Pedro declared Brazil an independent nation in 1822 and crowned himself emperor. He established a constitutional monarchy with separate branches of government based on the ideals of Montesquieu.

In Argentina, Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, and José de San Martín led similar rebellions against Spanish rule from 1810–1818. The establishment of these new South American nations went virtually unchallenged when Napoleon was defeated in Europe in 1815.

To review, see:


Unit 7 Vocabulary

  • Agustín de Iturbide's Plan de Iguala
  • American Declaration of Independence
  • American Revolution
  • Archduke Franz Ferdinand
  • balance of power
  • Bourbon Reforms
  • Catholic Church
  • Congress of Vienna
  • consent of the governed
  • constitutional monarchy
  • direct democracy
  • Dom Pedro
  • Enlightenment
  • Estate System
  • French Revolution
  • Gavrilo Princip
  • Gran Colombia
  • Haitian Revolution
  • Jean Jacques Rousseau
  • John Locke
  • José de San Martín
  • Juan José Castelli
  • Manuel Belgrano
  • Montesquieu
  • Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Napoleonic Wars
  • National Constituent Assembly
  • Reign of Terror
  • Rio de Janeiro
  • Romanticist
  • Saint-Domingue
  • Scientific Revolution
  • Simón Bolívar
  • The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
  • The Social Contract