Revolution

The Velvet Revolution

Revolution is a term that generally refers to a fundamental change in the character of a nation's government. Such a change may or may not be violent. Revolution may also occur in other areas, including cultural, eco­nomic, and social activities. People who work to replace an old system with a new one are called revolutionaries.

Kinds of revolution. A political revolution may change various ways of life in a country, or it may have no effect outside the government. For example, the Russian Revolution of 1917 not only deposed the czar but also began major social changes, such as the elimination of private property. On the other hand, the American Revolution (1775-1783) changed a political system without causing basic social changes.

Some revolutions last for many years. The Chinese Communists fought for 22 years before defeating the Nationalist Chinese government in 1949. This revolution involved widespread guerrilla warfare, a popular form of combat among modern revolutionaries. See China Guerrilla warfare.

Some political movements that appear to be revolutions do no more than change a country's rulers. Many Latin-American  political uprisings have replaced dictator without making fundamental changes in governmental system. Political scientists call such movements rebellions rather than revolutions. However, a rebellion sometimes leads to a political or social revolution. See Coup d’etat; Junta.

Many revolutions involve illegal uprisings, but some occur after a legal transfer of power within the existing. For example, Adolf Hitler took power as dictator of Germany soon after the country's president had appointed him chancellor.

Some of history's most widespread revolutions did not have political beginnings. The Industrial Revolution of the 1700’s and early 1800's changed the basic nature of Western society from rural to urban (see Industrial Revolution). The invention of the telephone, and other advances in technology and communications during the late 1800’s and the 1900's, have also caused revolutions in industry and everyday life.

Causes of revolution. Most revolutions occur because serious problems have caused widespread dissatisfaction with an existing system. Poverty and injustice under cruel, corrupt, or incapable rulers may contribute to revolution. But in most cases, social problems alone do not cause revolutions. They lead to despair rather than a willingness to fight for something better. Revolutions need strong leaders who can use unsatisfactory conditions to unite people under a programme that promises improvements.

Many revolutions occur after rulers begin to lose confidence in themselves and yield to various demands from their rivals. Such compromises by rulers, or rapidly improving social conditions, create a revolution of rising expectations as people begin to see hope for a better life. If changes do not keep pace with their expectations, the people lose faith in their rulers and start listening to revolutionary leaders. The French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian Revolution both began after the rulers agreed to the people's demands for representative assemblies. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 occurred after the government released some of its strongest opponents from prison.

Not all revolutions have led to improved conditions. Some revolutionaries have worked for change only to gain political power for themselves. A number of conservative rulers have called themselves revolutionaries simply to convince the public that they support social and economic changes. See also French Revolution; Revolution of 1848; American Revolution; Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (History); Terrorism.

Revolution of 1848 involved a series of uprisings in France, Germany, and the Austrian Empire, including parts of Italy. Causes of the revolution included demands for constitutional government; increasing nation­alism among Germans, Italians, Hungarians, and Czechs; and peasant opposition to the manorial system in parts of Germany and in the Austrian Empire (see Manorialism).

The revolution began in France in February 1848 as a protest against voting restrictions, political corruption, and poor economic conditions. Soon afterward, the French king, Louis Philippe, abdicated. Liberal politi­cians then set up a new government called the Second Republic.

The revolution quickly spread to the Austrian Empire and Germany. In the Austrian Empire, students and workers rioted in Vienna. Elsewhere in the empire, Hun­garian and Czech nationalists rebelled against Austrian authority. In addition, Italians tried to drive their Aus­trian rulers from northern Italy. In Germany, liberal up­risings swept through the German Confederation, which consisted of Prussia and 38 other independent states. Workers in German cities demanded social reform. Rep­resentatives of various parts of Germany assembled in Frankfurt to try to unify the separate states into a single nation.

The Revolution of 1848 quickly failed. In France, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been elected president, declared himself emperor. Protests by French workers were brutally put down. In the Austrian Empire, troops crushed the nationalist uprisings and defeated the Ital­ian rebels. In Germany, monarchies became more firmly established in the major German states. In addition, the assembly at Frankfurt broke up without achieving Ger­man unity.

However, one major goal of the revolution was achieved—the ending of the manorial system in Ger­many and the Austrian Empire. Also as a result of the revolution, European rulers became more sensitive to the demands of nationalists and began experimenting with more liberal forms of government. See also Austria (Metternich and revolution); France (The revolutions of 1830 and 1848); Germany (The Revo­lution of 1848); Italy (Italy united).

American Revolution (1775-1783)

The Boston Massacre took place on March 5,1770, when British soldiers fired into a mob, killing five Americans. Patriot propaganda like this engraving by Paul Revere called the incident a massacre to stir up feeling against the British government.

British propaganda showed unruly colonists forcing a tax col­lector they had tarred and feathered to drink scalding tea. The colonists in the background are dumping British tea overboard.

Clashes at Lexington and Concord opened the American Revolution. In March 1776, the British evacuated Boston. This map locates major battles and troop movements in and around Boston.

The Battle of Bunker Hill was the first major battle of the American Revolution. The British sol­diers expected an easy victory but were twice driven back by American musketfire from the hilltop fortifications. The Americans then ran out of gunpowder and were driven from the hill.

British propaganda showed unruly colonists forcing a tax col­lector they had tarred and feathered to drink scalding tea. The colonists in the background are dumping British tea overboard.

The Boston Massacre took place on March 5,1770, when British soldiers fired into a mob, killing five Americans. Patriot propaganda like this engraving by Paul Revere called the incident a massacre to stir up feeling against the British government

Artillery took part in attacks and defence. Cannons fired slowly because soldiers had to swab the barrel after each round as these British gunners demonstrate.

A rifle fired more accurately than a musket and was han­dled skilfully by American frontiersmen. The sharp­shooter above takes aim at a British officer.

A bayonet fastened to a musket was used in hand-to- hand combat. A German soldier hired by the British, left, clashes with an American infantryman, right.

Britain's surrender at Saratoga on Oct. 17, 1777, marked a turning point in the war. In this painting, defeated General John Burgoyne, left, offers his sword to General Horatio Gates

The siege of Yorktown in October 1781 was the last major battle of the American Revolution. Britain began peace talks with the Americans several months after its defeat at Yorktown.

American Revolution (1775-1783) led to the birth of new nation—the United States. The revolution, which is also called the American Revolutionary War, was fought between Great Britain and its 13 colonies that lay along the Atlantic Ocean in North America. The colonies were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. The war began on April 19,1775, when British soldiers and American revolutionaries clashed at the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord. The war lasted eight years. On Sept. 3,1783, Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris, which recognized U.S. inde­pendence.

The American Revolution stood as an example to peo­ples in many lands who later fought to gain their free­dom. In 1836, the American author Ralph Waldo Emer­son referred to the first shot fired by the patriots at Con­cord as "the shot heard round the world."

Background and causes of the war

Great Britain's power in North America was at its height in 1763, only 12 years before the American Revo­lution began. Britain had just defeated France in the Seven Years' War. The treaty that ended the war gave Britain almost all of France's territory in North America. That territory stretched from the Appalachian Moun­tains in the east to the Mississippi River and included much of Canada. Most American colonists took pride in being part of the British Empire, at that time the world's most powerful empire.

In each colony, voters elected representatives to a legislature. Colonial legislatures passed laws and could tax the people. The governor of a colony could, how­ever, veto any laws passed by the legislature. The king appointed the governor in most colonies.

Great Britain expected the American Colonies to serve its economic interests, and it regulated colonial trade. In general, the colonists accepted British regula­tions. For example, they agreed not to manufacture goods that would compete with British products.

British policy changes. Great Britain had largely neglected the American colonies while it fought France in a series of wars during the 1700's. After the Seven Years' War ended in 1763, Britain sought to strengthen its control over its enlarged American territory. In 1763, Parliament voted to station a standing army in North America. Two years later, in the Quartering Act, it ruled that colonists must provide British troops with living quarters and supplies.

Britain also sought to keep peace in North America by establishing good relations with the Indians. The Indians had already lost a good deal of territory to white set­tlers. In the spring of 1763, an Ottawa Indian chief named Pontiac led an uprising against the colonists along the western frontier. Britain feared a long and bloody Indian war, which it could not afford. To prevent future uprisings, King George III issued the Proclama­tion of 1763. The document reserved lands west of the Appalachians for Indians and forbade white settlements there. Britain sent soldiers to guard the frontier and keep settlers out.

The colonists deeply resented the Proclamation of 1763. They felt that Britain had no right to restrict their settlement In addition, many Americans hoped to profit from the purchase of western lands.

The Sugar Act George Grenville became King George's chief cabinet minister in 1763. Grenville was determined to increase Britain's income from the Ameri­can Colonies. At his urging, Parliament passed the Reve­nue Act of 1764, also known as the Sugar Act. The act placed a three-penny tax on each gallon of molasses en­tering the colonies from ports outside the British Em­pire. Several Northern colonies had thriving rum indus­tries that depended on imported molasses. Rum producers angrily protested that the tax would eat up their profits. However, the Stamp Act—an even more un­popular British tax—soon drew the colonists' attention away from the Sugar Act In 1766, Parliament reduced the tax on molasses to a penny a gallon.

The Stamp Act. King George, Prime Minister George Grenville, and Parliament believed the time had come for the colonists to start paying part of the cost of sta­tioning British troops in America. In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. That law extended to the colonies the traditional British tax on newspapers, playing cards, diplomas, and various legal documents.

Rioting broke out in the colonies in protest against the Stamp Act, Angry colonists refused to allow the tax stamps to be sold. Merchants in port cities agreed not to order British goods until Parliament abolished the tax. The colonists believed that the right of taxation be­longed only to the people and their elected representa­tives. They said Parliament had no power to tax them as the colonies had no representatives in that body.

Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766. But at the same time, it passed the Declaratory Act, which stated that the king and Parliament had full legislative authority over the colonies in all matters.

The Townshend Acts. In 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, named after the Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend. One law taxed lead, paint, paper, and tea imports. Another set up a customs agency in Boston to collect the taxes.

The Townshend Acts led to renewed protests in the American Colonies, primarily in the form of a boycott of British goods. In 1770, Parliament withdrew all Towns­hend taxes except the one on tea. It kept the tea tax to demonstrate its right to tax the colonies.

Protests against what the colonists called "taxation without representation" were especially violent in Bos­ton, Massachusetts. On March 5,1770, soldiers and townspeople clashed in a street fight that became known as the Boston Massacre. During the fight, British soldiers fired into a crowd of rioters. Five men died.

The Tea Act. To avoid paying the Townshend tax on tea, colonial merchants smuggled in tea  from the Netherlands

The Tea Act. To avoid paying the Townshend tax on tea, colonial merchants smuggled in tea from the Neth­erlands. The British East India Company had been the chief supplier of tea for the colonies. The smugglings hurt the company financially, and it asked Parliament for help. In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act. It reduced the tax on tea and thereby enabled the East India Company to sell its product below the price of smuggled tea.

The British actions offended the colonists in two ways. They reaffirmed Britain's right to tax the colonists. They also gave the East India Company an unfair advantage in the tea trade. Furious Americans vowed not to use tea and colonial merchants refused to sell it. On the evening of Dec. 16,1773, Bostonians disguised as Indians raided East India Company ships docked in Boston Harbor and dumped their cargoes of tea overboard. The so-called Boston Tea Party enraged King George his ministers.

The Intolerable Acts. Britain responded to the Boston Tea Party in 1774 by passing several laws that became known in America as the Intolerable Acts. One law closed Boston Harbor until Bostonians paid for the destroyed tea. Another law restricted the activities of the Massachusetts legislature and gave added powers to the post of governor of Massachusetts. King George named Lieutenant General Thomas Gage, the commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, to be the new governor. Gage was sent to Boston with troops.

The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Sept. 5 to Oct. 26, 1774. The Congress voted to cut off trade with Britain unless Parliament repealed the intolerable Acts. It also approved resolutions advising the colonies to begin training their citizens for war. None of the delegates called for independence.

At the start of the war, the Americans in each colony were defended by members of their citizen army, the militia. The militiamen came out to fight when the British neared their homes. The Americans soon established a regular military force known as the Continental Army, with George Washington as its commander-in-chief.

Britain depended chiefly on professional soldiers who had enlisted for long terms. The British soldiers were known as redcoats because they wore bright red jackets. Britain also hired mercenaries-professional soldiers, from Germany. They were often called Hessians because most of them came from the German state of Hesse-Kassel. The British military force numbered about 50,000 at its peak.

Lexington and Concord. In February 1775, Parlia­ment declared that Massachusetts was in open rebellion in April, General Gage decided to capture or destroy arms and gunpowder stored by the revolutionaries in the town of Concord, near Boston. About 700 British soldiers reached the town of Lexington, on the way to Concord, near dawn on April 19,1775. About 70 minutemen- members of the militia who were highly trained and supposedly prepared to take arms on a min­ute's notice—waited for the British troops in Lexington. The minutemen had been alerted about the redcoats' approach by Paul Revere and other couriers. No one knows who fired the first shot. But 8 minutemen fell dead and 10 more were wounded. One British soldier had been hurt.

The British continued on to Concord, where they searched for hidden arms. One group met minutemen It North Bridge, just outside Concord. In a brief clash, three British soldiers and two minutemen were killed.

The British then turned back to Boston. Along the way, Americans fired at them from behind trees and stone fences. British dead and wounded numbered about 250. American losses came to about 90.

Word spread rapidly that fighting had broken out be­tween British troops and the Americans. Militiamen throughout New England took up arms and gathered outside Boston. Three British officers—Major Generals John Burgoyne, Hienry Clinton, and William Howe—ar­rived with more troops in late May 1775.

Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, British troops led by Howe attacked American fortifications on Breed's Hill, near Boston. The Americans drove back two British charges before they ran out of ammunition. During a third charge, British bayonets forced the Americans to flee. The fighting, usually called the Battle of Bunker Hill, after the name of a nearby hill the Americans originally intended to fortify, was the bloodiest battle of the entire war. More than 1,000 British soldiers and about 400 Americans were killed or wounded.

The evacuation of Boston. In 1775, American troops seized the British posts of Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point, in New York. The two victories provided the Americans with much-needed artillery. In late 1775 and early 1776, the captured artillery was dragged to Boston, where it was used to fortify high ground south of the city. Howe realized that his soldiers could not hold Bos­ton with American cannons pointed at them. In March, the British troops were evacuated to Canada.

The Declaration of Independence. When the Sec­ond Continental Congress opened in May 1775, few del­egates wanted to break ties with the mother country. In July, the Congress approved the Olive Branch Petition, which declared that the colonists were loyal to the king and urged him to remedy their complaints.

George III ignored the petition for reconciliation. On August 23, he declared all the colonies to be in rebel­lion. This action convinced many delegates that a peace­ful settlement of differences with Britain was impossible.

Support for American independence grew. Many people who had been unsure were convinced by read­ing the pamphlet titled Common Sense, by the political writer Thomas Paine. Paine attacked George III as unjust, and he argued brilliantly for the complete independ­ence of the American Colonies. On July 4,1776, the Con­gress adopted the Declaration of Independence, and the United States of America was born.

The Continental Congress provided leadership for the 13 former British colonies during most of the American Revolution. After the Declaration of Independence was adopted, each former colony called itself a state. By March 1781, all 13 states had adopted the Articles of Confederation. It unified the states under a weak central government.

The war continues

After the Americans declared their independence, they had to win it by force. The task proved difficult, partly because the people never fully united behind the war effort. A large number of colonists remained uncon­cerned about the outcome of the war and supported neither side. As many as a third of the people sympa­thized with Britain. They called themselves Loyalists. The revolutionaries called them Tories, after Britain's con­servative Tory Party. The revolutionaries, today referred to in the United States as the patriots, made up less than a third of the population.

Chief battles in the North. British strategy called for crushing the rebellion in the North first. Once New Eng­land was knocked out of the war, Britain expected resist­ance to crumble in the remaining colonies.

Campaign in New York. Immediately after the British evacuated Boston in March 1776, Howe began to plan his return to the American Colonies. In July, he landed on Staten Island in New York Harbor. He was joined by Clinton's men and by Hessian troops.

Howe commanded a total force of more than 45,000 experienced  soldiers and sailors. They faced about 20,000 poorly trained and ill-equipped Americans.

Washington had shifted his forces to New York City after the redcoats withdrew from Boston. To defend the city, American troops fortified Brooklyn Heights, an area of high ground on the western tip of Long Island.

In August 1776, British troops landed on Long Island in front of the American lines. Howe surrounded the Americans' forward positions in the Battle of Long Island on August 27. However, the slow-moving Howe paused before attacking again, enabling the remainder of the Americans to escape.

By mid-September 1776, Howe had driven Washington's troops from New York City. Howe slowly pursued the Americans as they retreated toward White Plains, New York. His hesitation cost the British a chance to crush Washington's army. New York City remained in British hands until the war ended.

Trenton. At the end of 1776, Washington's despondent forces had withdrawn to New Jersey. In late November, British troops led by Major General Charles Cornwallis poured into New Jersey in pursuit of Washington. The patriots barely escaped to safety by crossing the Delaware River into Pennsylvania on December 7.

Washington's forces were near collapse, and New Jersey militiamen had failed to come to their aid. Yet Howe again missed an opportunity to destroy the Continental Army. He decided to wait until spring to attack and ordered his troops into winter quarters in Trenton and other New Jersey towns.

Although Washington had few troops, he decided to strike at Trenton. The town was defended by Hessians. On the stormy and bitterly cold night of Dec. 25, 1776, Washington and about 2,400 troops crossed the Delaware River. The next morning, they surprised the Hessians and took more than 900 prisoners.

Brandywine. In the summer of 1777, Howe's Red coats sailed from New York City to the top of Chesapei about 80 kilometres southwest of Philadelphia. Washington had rebuilt his army during the spring, and he had received weapons from France. Fie positioned his troops between Howe's forces and Philadelphia. The op­posing armies clashed on

Sept. 11, 1777, at Brandywine Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania. One wing of the

British army swung around the Americans and attacked them from behind. The surprised Americans had to re­treat. Howe occupied Philadelphia on September 26.

Saratoga. In the summer of 1777, British troops com­manded by Burgoyne advanced southward from Can­ada. On Sept. 19, 1777, they were met by American forces in a clearing on a farm near the Hudson River about 65 kilometres north of Albany, New York. Nightfall and the bravery of Hessian soldiers saved Burgoyne's troops from destruction in what became known as the First Battle of Freeman's Farm.

Burgoyne lost the Second Battle of Freeman's Farm to the revolutionaries on Oct. 7,1777, and he finally began to retreat. But he soon found himself encircled by the Americans at Saratoga, New York. On October 17, Bur­goyne surrendered to Major General Horatio Gates, commander of the Northern Department of the Conti­nental Army. The Americans took nearly 6,000 prisoners and large supplies of arms.

France was secretly aiding the Americans' war effort against Great Britain. It gave the revolutionaries loans, money, and weapons, but France had been reluctant to ally itself openly with the Americans until they had proved themselves in battle. The victory at Saratoga marked a turning point in the war.

In 1778, France and America signed treaties of alli­ance. Thereafter, France provided the Americans with troops and warships. Spain entered the war as an ally of France in 1779. The Netherlands joined the war in 1780.

France's entry into the war forced Britain to defend the rest of its empire. The British expected to fight the French in the West Indies and elsewhere, so they scat­tered their military resources. As a result, Britain no longer had a force strong enough to fight the Americans in the North.

Valley Forge. Washington's army of about 10,000 soldiers spent the winter of 1777-1778 camped at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, about 30 kilometres northwest of Philadelphia. Many of the troops lacked shoes and other clothing. They also suffered from a severe shortage of food. By spring, nearly a quarter of the soldiers had died of malnutrition, exposure to the cold, and diseases such as smallpox and typhoid fever. Many soldiers deserted.

Chief battles in the South. Great Britain changed its strategy after France entered the war. Rather than attack in the North, the British concentrated on conquering the colonies from the South.

Savannah and Charleston. Clinton became com­mander in chief of British forces in North America in May 1778. Britain's Southern campaign opened later that year. On December 29, a large British force that had sailed from New York City easily captured Savannah, Georgia. Within a few months, the British controlled all of Georgia.

Early in 1780, British forces under Clinton landed near Charleston, South Carolina. They slowly closed in on the city. On May 12, Major General Benjamin Lincoln sur­rendered his force of about 5,500 soldiers—almost the entire American Southern army. Clinton placed Corn­wallis in charge of British forces in the South and re­turned to New York City.

Camden. In July 1780, the Continental Congress or­dered Gates, the victor at Saratoga, to form a new Southern army to replace the one lost at Charleston. Gates hastily assembled a force made up largely of un­trained militiamen and rushed to challenge Cornwallis at a British base in Camden, South Carolina.

On Aug. 16,1780, the armies of Gates and Cornwallis unexpectedly met outside Camden and soon went into battle. Most of the militiamen turned and ran without fir­ing a shot. The rest of Gates's men fought on until heavy casualties forced them to withdraw. The British had de­feated a second American army in the South.

The disaster at Camden marked the low point in the war for the American revolutionaries. They then re­ceived a further blow. In September 1780, they discov­ered that General Benedict Arnold, who commanded a military post at West Point, New York, had joined the British side. The Americans learned of Arnold's treason just in time to stop him from turning West Point over to the British.

The end of the war

Surrender at Yorktown. Cornwallis rushed into virginia in the spring of 1781 and made it his new base in the campaign to conquer the South. Cornwallis had violated Britain's Southern strategy, however, by failing to gain control of North and South Carolina before advancing northward. Clinton ordered Cornwallis to adopt a defensive position along the Virginia coast. Cornwallis moved to Yorktown, which lay along Chesapeake Bay.

About 5,500 French soldiers had reached America in July 1780. They were led by Lieutenant General Jean Rochambeau. Washington still hoped to drive the British from New York City in a combined operation with the French.

In August 1781, Washington learned that a large French fleet under Admiral Frangois Grasse was headed toward Virginia. Grasse planned to block Chesapeake Bay and prevent Cornwallis from escaping by sea. Washington and Rochambeau shifted their forces southward to trap Cornwallis on land.

By late September 1781, a combined French and American force of about 18,000 soldiers and sailors had surrounded Cornwallis at Yorktown. The soldiers stead­ily closed in on the trapped British troops. Cornwallis tried to ferry his forces across the York River to safety on the night of October 16. But a storm drove them back. Cornwallis asked for surrender terms the next day.

The surrender at Yorktown took place on Oct. 19, 1781. More than 8,000 men—about a fourth of Britain's military force in North America—laid down their arms as a British band reportedly played a tune called "The World Turned Upside Down."

Yorktown was the last major battle of the American Revolution, though it did not end the war. The fighting dragged on in some areas for two more years.

British leaders feared they might lose other parts the empire if they continued the war in America. In 1782, they began peace talks with the Americans.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on Sept. 3, 1783. It recognized the independence of the United States and established the new country's borders. U.S. territory extended west to the Mississippi River, north to Canada east to the Atlantic Ocean, and south to Florida. Britain gave Florida to Spain. The treaty also granted the Americans fishing rights off the coast of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. The last British soldiers were withdrawn from York City in November 1783.

War losses. American military deaths during the war numbered about 25,000. In addition, approximately 1,400 soldiers were missing. British military deaths during war totalled about 10,000.

Costs of the war. The 13 states and the Congress (deeply into debt to finance the war. A new Constitution, approved in 1788, gave Congress the power of taxation. Largely through taxes, Congress paid off much of the war debt by the early 1800's.

The American Revolution severely strained Britain's economy. The king and Parliament feared the war might bankrupt the country. But after the war, greatly expanded trade with the United States helped the economy recover. Taxes on that trade reduced Britain's debt.

Of all the warring nations, France could least afford its expenditures on the American Revolution. By 1788, the country was nearly bankrupt. France's financial prob­es contributed to the French Revolution in 1789.

Background and causes of the war

Boston Tea Party; Continental Congress; Declaration of independence; Intolerable Acts; Minuteman; Navigation Acts; and Stamp Acts

American Military Leader

Arnold, Benedict; Clark , George R.; Hale, Nathan; Jones, John Paul; Lee, Charles ; Lee, Henry; Marion, Francis; Wayne, Anthony; Saint Clair, Arthur; and Washington, George

American civilian leaders

Adams, John; Adams Samuel; Franklin, Benjamin; Henry, Patrick; Jefferson, Thomas; Revere, Paul.

British leaders

Andre, John; Burgoyne, John; Burke, Edmund; Carleton, Sir Guy; Cornwallis, Charles; Gage, Thomas; George (III); Howe (family); North, Lord; and Saint Leger, Barry

Other biographies

Grasse, Francois JP

Kosciusko, Thaddeus

Lafayette, Marquis de

Paine, Thomas

Pulaski, Casimir

Rochambeau, Comte de

Ross, Betsy

Sampson, Deborah

Steuben, Baron von

Background and causes of the war

British policy changes

The Tea Act

The Sugar Act          

The Intolerable Acts

The Stamp Act

The First Continental

The Townshend Acts Congress

The beginning of the war

Lexington and Concord

The Declaration of

Bunker Hill 

Independence C The evacuation of Boston

 The war continues

Chief battles in the North

Chief battles in the South

The end of the war

Surrender at Yorktown

War losses

The Treaty of Paris 

Costs of the war

Questions

What pamphlet built support for American independence? Which defeat marked the low point for the Americans?

Why did colonists object to the Stamp Act?

How did Britain change its strategy after France entered the war?

Who were the Hessians? The Loyalists? The minutemen?

How did France help the patriots during the war?

Which American victory marked a turning point in the Revolu­tion?

French Revolution

Storming of the Bastille (about 1800), an oil painting on canvas by an unknown artist; Chateau Versailles, France

The storming of the Bastille on July 14,1789, was an early event in the French Revolution. A huge crowd of Parisians cap­tured the fortress, forcing royal troops to withdraw from Paris.

The French Revolution. To win support for new taxes, King Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates- Ceneral. The Estates-General was made up of represent­atives from the three estates, or classes—the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. It opened on May 5,1789, at Versailles, near Paris. In |une 1789, members of the third estate—the commoners—declared themselves a National Assembly, with full power to write a new con­stitution for France. The third estate had as many repre­sentatives as the other two estates combined.

At first, Louis XVI delayed taking action and began gathering troops around Paris to break up the Assembly. However, many French people organized an armed re­sistance movement in Paris. On July 14,1789, a huge crowd of Parisians captured the royal fortress called the Bastille. Louis XVI was forced to give in. By September 1791, the Assembly had drafted a new constitution tha^- j made France a constitutional, or limited, monarchy, wm a one-house legislature.

The new government did not last long. In April 17S2 France went to war against Austria and Prussia. Thesf countries wished to restore the king to his former por­tion. In the summer of 1792, as foreign armies marchr: on Paris, revolutionaries imprisoned Louis XVI and h;= ] family and overthrew the monarchy. A National Come» tion, chosen through an election open to almost all a French males, opened on Sept. 21,1792, and declare: France a republic.

Civil and foreign wars pushed the new republican government to extreme and violent measures. Radica. leaders such as Maximilien Robespierre gained powe- They said that terror was necessary to preserve libertu Thus, while the revolution survived under radical leac- ership, it also sentenced many "enemies of the repub c to death. Thousands of people were executed. In time the radicals began to struggle for power among them­selves. Robespierre was condemned by his enemies aari executed. His death marked the end of the period cal e* the Reign of Terror. See Robespierre.

The Death of Marat (1793), an oil painting on canvas by Jacques Louis David; The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium. The death of Marat spurred on the Reign of Terror. Charlotte Corday, a Girondist sympathizer, fatally stabbed the Jacobin leader while he took a bath.

French Revolution brought about great changes in the society and government of France. The revolution, which lasted from 1789 to 1799, also had far-reaching ef­fects on the rest of Europe. It introduced democratic ideals to France but did not make the nation a democ­racy. However, it ended supreme rule by French kings and strengthened the middle class. After the revolution began, no European kings, nobles, or other privileged groups could ever again take their powers for granted or ignore the ideals of liberty and equality.

The revolution began with a government financial cri­sis but quickly became a movement of reform and vio­lent change. In one of the early events, a crowd in Paris captured the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison, which had become a symbol of oppression. A series of elected legislatures then took control of the government. King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were executed. Thousands of others met the same fate in a period called the Reign of Terror. The revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte, a French general, took over the government.

Background. Various social, political, and economic conditions led to the revolution in France. These condi­tions included much dissatisfaction among the lower and middle classes, interest in new ideas about govern­ment, and financial problems caused by the costs of wars.

Legal divisions among social groups that had existed for hundreds of years created much discontent. Accord­ing to the law, French society consisted of three groups called estates. Members of the clergy made up the first estate, nobles the second, and the rest of the people the third. The peasants, who earned very little, formed the largest group in the third estate. The third estate also in­cluded the working people of the cities and a large and prosperous middle class made up chiefly of merchants, lawyers, and government officials.

The third estate resented certain advantages of the first two estates. The clergy and nobles did not have to pay most taxes. The third estate had to provide almost all the country's tax revenue. Many members of the mid­dle class were also troubled by their social status. They were among the most economically important people in French society but were not recognized as such be­cause they belonged to the third estate.

The new ideas about government challenged France's absolute monarchy. Under this system, the king had al­most unlimited authority. He governed by divine right— that is, the monarch's right to rule was thought to come from God. There were checks on the king, but these came mainly from a few groups of aristocrats in the parlements (high courts). During the 1700's, French writers called philosophes and philosophers from other coun­tries raised new ideas about freedom. Some of these thinkers, including Jean Jacques Rousseau, suggested that the right to govern came from the people.

The financial crisis developed because France had gone deeply into debt to finance fighting in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) and the American Revolution (1775-1783). By 1788, the government was almost bank­rupt. The Parlement of Paris insisted that King Louis XVI could borrow more money or raise taxes only by calling a meeting of the Estates-General. This body, also called States-General, was made up of representatives of the three estates, and had last met in 1614. Unwillingly, the king called the meeting.

The revolution begins. The States-General opened on May 5,1789, at Versailles, near Paris. Most members of the first two estates wanted each of the three estates to take up matters and vote on them separately by es­tate. The third estate had as many representatives as the other two estates combined. It insisted that all the es­tates be merged into one national assembly and that each representative have one vote. The third estate also wanted the States-General to write a constitution.

The king and the first two estates refused the de­mands of the third estate. In June 1789, the representa­tives of the third estate declared themselves the Na­tional Assembly of France. They gathered at a tennis court and pledged not to disband until they had written a constitution. This vow became known as the Oath of the Tennis Court. Louis XVI then allowed the three es­tates to join together as the National Assembly. But he began to gather troops around Paris to break up the As­sembly.

Meanwhile, the masses of France also took action. On July 14,1789, a huge crowd of Parisians rushed to the Bastille. They believed they would find arms and ammu­nition there for use in defending themselves against the king's army. The people captured the Bastille and began to tear it down. At the same time, leaders in Paris formed a revolutionary city government. Massive peasant uprisings against nobles also broke out in the coun­tryside. A few nobles decided to flee France, and many more followed during the next five years. These people were called emigres because they emigrated. The uprisings in town and countryside saved the National Assembly from being disbanded by the king.

The National Assembly. In August 1789, the Assembly adopted the Decrees of August 4 and the Declara­tion of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The decrees  abolished some feudal dues that the peasants owed their landlords, the tax advantages of the clergy and notables, and regional privileges. The declaration guaran­teed the same basic rights to all citizens, including b- “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression”,  as well as representative government.

The Assembly later drafted a constitution that made France a limited monarchy with a one-house legislature. France was divided into 83 regions called departments, each with elected councils for local government. But the right to vote and hold public office was limited to citi­zens who paid a certain amount in taxes.

The Assembly seized the property of the Roman Catholic Church. The church lands amounted to about a tenth of the country's land. Much of the church land was sold to rich peasants and members of the middle class. Money from the land sales was used to pay some of the nation's huge debt. The Assembly then reorganized the Catholic Church in France, required the election of priests and bishops by the voters, and closed the Church's monasteries and convents. Complete religions tolerance was extended to Protestants and Jews. The As­sembly also reformed the court system by requiring the election of judges. By September 1791, the National As­sembly believed that the revolution was over. It dis­banded at the end of the month to make way for the newly elected Legislative Assembly.

The Legislative Assembly. The new Assembly, made up mainly of representatives of the middle class, opened on Oct. 1,1791. It soon faced several challenges. The government's stability depended on cooperation between the king and the legislature. But Louis XVI re­mained opposed to the revolution. He asked other rul­ers for help in stopping it, and plotted with aristocrats and emigres to overthrow the new government. In addition, public opinion became bitterly divided. The revolu­tion's religious policy angered many Catholics. Other people demanded stronger measures against oppo­nents of the revolution.

The new government also faced a foreign threat. In April! 792, it went to war against Austria and Prussia. These countries wished to restore the powers of the king and emigres. The foreign armies defeated French forces in the early fighting and invaded France. Louis XVI and his supporters clearly hoped for the victory of the invaders. As a result, angry revolutionaries in Paris and other areas demanded that the king be dethroned.

In August 1792, the people of Paris imprisoned Louis XVI and his family. Louis's removal ended the constitu­tional monarchy. The Assembly then called for a Na­tional Convention to be elected on the basis of universal adult male suffrage, and for a new constitution.

Meanwhile, French armies suffered more military de­feats. Parisians feared that the invading armies would soon reach the city. Parisians also feared an uprising by the large number of people in the city's prisons. In the first week of September, small numbers of Parisians took the law into their own hands and executed more than 1,000 prisoners. These executions, called the Sep­tember Massacres, turned many people in France and Europe against the revolution. A victory by the French Army at Valmy on September 20 helped end the crisis.

The National Convention. The king's removal led to a new stage in the revolution. The first stage had been a liberal middle-class reform movement based on a con­stitutional monarchy. The second stage was organized around principles of democracy. The National Conven­tion, chosen through an election open to nearly all adult French males, opened on Sept. 21,1792, and declared France a republic. The republic's official slogan was "Lib­erty, Equality, Fraternity."

Louis XVI was placed on trial for betraying the coun­try. The National Convention found him guilty of trea­son, and a slim majority voted for the death penalty. The king was beheaded on the guillotine on Jan. 21,1793.

The revolution gradually grew more radical—that is, more open to extreme and violent change. Radical lead­ers came into prominence. In the Convention, they were known as the Mountain because they sat on the high benches at the rear of the hall. Leaders of the Mountain were Maximilien Robespierre, Georges Jacques Danton, and Jean Paul Marat. Their bitter opponents were known as the Gironde because several came from a department of that name. The majority of the deputies in the Con­vention was known as the Plain. The Mountain domi­nated a powerful political club called the Jacobin Club.

Growing disputes between the Mountain and the Gi­ronde led to a struggle for power, and the Mountain won. In June 1793, the Convention expelled and arrested the leading Girondists. In turn, the Girondists' support­ers rebelled against the Convention. Charlotte Corday, a Girondist sympathizer, assassinated Jean Paul Marat in July 1793. In time, the Convention's forces defeated the Girondists' supporters. The Jacobin leaders created a new citizens' army to fight rebellion in France and a war against other European countries. Compulsory military service provided the troops, and rapid promotion of tal­ented soldiers provided the leadership for this strong army.

Terror and equality. The Jacobin government was both dictatorial and democratic. It was dictatorial be­cause it suspended civil rights and political freedom during the emergency. The Convention's Committee of Public Safety took over actual rule of France, controlling local governments, the armed forces, and other institu­tions.

The committee governed during the most terrible pe­riod of the revolution. Its leaders included Robespierre, Lazare Carnot, and Bertrand Barere. The Convention de­clared a policy of terror against rebels, supporters of the king or the Gironde, and anyone else who publicly disagreed with official policy.

In time, hundreds of thousands of suspects filled the nation s jails. Courts handed down about 18,000 death sentences in what was called the Reign of Terror. Paris became accustomed to the rattle of two-wheeled carts called tumbrels as they carried people to the guillotine. Victims of this period included Marie Antoinette, widow of Louis XVI.

The Jacobins, however, also followed democratic principles and extended the benefits of the revolution beyond the middle class. Shopkeepers, peasants, and other workers actively participated in political life for the first time. The Convention authorized public assist­ance for the poor, free primary education for boys and girls, price controls to protect consumers from rapid in­flation, and taxes based on income. It also called for the abolition of slavery in France's colonies. Most of these reforms, however, were never fully carried out because of later changes in the government.

The revolution ends. In time, the radicals began to struggle for power among themselves. Robespierre suc­ceeded in having Danton and other former leaders exe­cuted. Many people in France wished to end the Reign of Terror, the Jacobin dictatorship, and the democratic revolution. Robespierre's enemies in the Convention fi­nally attacked him as a tyrant on July 27 (9 Thermidor by the new French calendar), 1794. Fie was executed the next day. The Reign of Terror ended after Robespierre's death. Conservatives gained control of the Convention and drove the Jacobins from power. Most of the demo­cratic reforms of the past two years were quickly abol­ished in what became known as the Thermidorian Reac­tion.

The Convention, which had adopted a democratic constitution in 1793, replaced that document with a new one in 1795. The government formed under this consti­tution was called the Directory, referring to the five-man executive directory that governed along with a two- house legislature. France was still a republic, but once again only citizens who paid a certain amount in taxes could vote.

Meanwhile, France was winning victories on the bat­tlefield. French armies had pushed back the invaders and crossed into Belgium, Germany, and Italy.

The Directory began meeting in October 1795. But it was troubled by war, economic problems, and opposi­tion from supporters of monarchy and former Jacobins. In October 1799, a number of political leaders plotted to overthrow the Directory. They needed military support and turned to Napoleon Bonaparte, a French general who had become a hero in a military campaign in Italy in 1796 and 1797. Bonaparte seized control of the gov­ernment on Nov. 9 (18 Brumaire in the revolutionary cal­endar), 1799, ending the revolution.

The French Revolution brought France into opposi­tion with much of Europe. The monarchs who ruled the other countries feared the spread of democratic ideals. The revolution left the French people in extreme dis­agreement about the best form of government for their country. By 1799, most were probably weary of political conflict altogether. But the revolution created the long- lasting foundations for a unified state, a strong central government, and a free society dominated by the mid­dle class and the landowners.

Related articles:

Biographies

Corday, Charlotte

Danton, Georges Jacques

Du Barry, Madame

Lafayette, Marquis de Louis (XVI)

Marat, Jean Paul Marie Antoinette

Mirabeau, Comte de Napoleon I

Robespierre

Roland de la Platiere, M. J.

Sieyes, Emmanuel Joseph

Talleyrand

Background and causes

Bastille

Divine right of kings

Estates-General

Rights of Man, Declaration of the

Rousseau, Jean J.

Versailles

The Revolution

Emigres

Girondists

Guillotine

Jacobins

Marseillaise

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