Course Syllabus
Welcome to HIST362: Modern Revolutions
Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.
Course Description
Explore political and social revolutions and modern independence movements by studying the causes of these social upheavals and how they have shaped our modern world.
Course Introduction
How do we define revolution? In 1970, the Chinese leader Zhou Enlai said that the outcome of the French Revolution was unclear – 200 years is too soon to determine its long-term effects! Revolutions are complex and nuanced and can shift the global balance in fundamental ways – from England's Civil War in the 1600s to the United States, France, Haiti, Russia, China, and the modern independence movements in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. In this course, we explore the causes of revolution, analyze the ideologies that inspired the revolutionaries, examine the use of violence, and consider how historical revolutions have shaped contemporary politics. Our exploration includes reading and evaluating critical historical sources. Most revolutionaries rose to protest a failure of Thomas Hobbes' Social Contract. These instigators felt their government no longer served the needs of its people or had become unresponsive and oppressive.
The protesters use different methods – from relatively peaceful civil disobedience in India to extreme violence in France, Russia, China, and Cambodia to subversive terrorist tactics against colonialism in the United States, Latin America, Vietnam, and the modern Middle East. Although the jury is still out, several revolutions created stable representative governments, such as India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Did China and Russia create stable governments, or did the autocratic leaders simply stifle discontent? As Zhou Enlai said, history will decide. Many countries elected or appointed a series of failed leaders who prompted counter-revolutionaries to rise in civil war and subsequent revolution. This occurred in France, Haiti, Latin America, and the Middle East. Many of the revolutions we study in this course were direct responses to colonialism and European imperialism, such as in the United States, Haiti, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, India, and the Middle East. Revolutions come in many forms: political, social, agricultural, and scientific. We begin by examining the nature of political revolution and how pre-revolutionary Europe and the Enlightenment have shaped modern revolutions. We will also explore European colonialism and imperialism since the oppression the foreign powers caused prompted revolutionaries to rebel in search of independence. By the end of this course, you will be able to discuss the nature of political revolution, identify commonalities and differences among these events, and understand how they individually and collectively transformed the modern world.
This course includes the following units:
- Unit 1: The Nature of Revolution
- Unit 2: The American Revolution
- Unit 3: The French Revolution and Its Legacy
- Unit 4: Revolution in Haiti, Mexico, Latin America, and the Philippines
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Provide a concise historical narrative of each of the revolutions presented in the course;
- Compare the origins and causes of each revolution;
- Compare the goals and ideals of the revolutionaries in various modern revolutions;
- Discuss how various world revolutions have affected the rights of women and members of the working class;
- Discuss the patterns and dynamics of revolutionary violence, and how revolutionaries used nonviolent tactics against oppressive regimes;
- Describe connections between revolutionary ideologies and revolutionary events;
- Analyze the impact of each revolution on modern politics;
- Describe competing theoretical models of revolutionary change; and
- Review the ideas presented in primary historical documents.
Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.
Course Materials
This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.
All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course at this link.
Some parts of this course may have been created or reviewed with the support of artificial intelligence (AI). To make sure you receive accurate, high-quality, and academically sound learning materials, all AI-assisted content is carefully checked and approved by Saylor Academy's faculty and subject matter experts.
Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score
Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the final exam.
Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam, you will not complete this course or receive a certificate of completion. You can attempt the exam as many times as you want.
There are end-of-unit assessments in this course that are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take them as many times as you want until you understand the concepts they cover.
You can see all of these assessments at this link.
Continuing Education Credits
The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays the program hours you completed and continuing education credits (CEUs). CEUs document successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 3.9 CEUs.
Tips for Success
HIST362: Modern Revolutions is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.
Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:
- Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
- Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.
Technical Requirements
This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.
To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don't have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require you to log in.
For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.
Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App
You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
Fees
This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and a free course completion certificate.