Age of revolutions: Glorious, American and French

The Glorious Revolution, 1688

In 1688, the people of England turned against the Stuart king James II. He treated people harshly and kept a costly standing army, an army kept even in peacetime. He also gave many posts in the government, army and universities to Roman Catholics. Parliament removed him and gave the throne to his daughter Mary II and her husband William III, Prince of Orange. No blood was shed, so it is called 'Glorious'. Autocratic rule, where the king has unlimited power, gave way to constitutional government, where the ruler works within laws. It proved that Parliament could change the monarch, and it inspired the world.

Road to American independence

1. Background
   Europeans settled in America, some fleeing religious persecution in England, others seeking a better living. They formed 13 colonies, each with a local assembly.
2. Mercantilism
   Britain ran colonial trade for its own profit, a policy called mercantilism. Colonies could not set up industries, and had to sell sugar, tobacco and cotton only to England at prices England fixed.
3. 1765
   To pay for wars with France and in India, Britain passed the Stamp Act, a tax on documents, newspapers and pamphlets. Riots broke out in colonial ports.
4. 1766
   The Stamp Act was repealed, but the tax on tea stayed.
5. 16 December 1773
   Boston Tea Party: colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped tea from three East India Company ships into the sea. Britain closed the port of Boston.
6. 1774
   The First Continental Congress met at Philadelphia and asked the King not to tax the colonies without their consent. The King called it rebellion and went to war.
7. 4 July 1776
   The Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia proclaimed equality and the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The colonies won the war and became the United States of America. A Bill of Rights later gave freedom of speech, press and religion.

Activity: write a newspaper report on the Boston Tea Party

Imagine you were a reporter in Boston on the night of 16 December 1773 and spoke to three kinds of people.

1. 1
   Write a short headline of six to eight words that tells the main event.
2. 2
   Write the dateline (Boston, 17 December 1773). In two sentences, say what happened, where, when and who did it.
3. 3
   Add the East India Company official's version: the tea lost and the demand for punishment.
4. 4
   Add a participant's version: anger at a tea tax passed without the colonists' consent.
5. 5
   Add a passer-by's version: what they saw and heard at the harbour that night.
6. 6
   End with your opinion: why it happened and what it might lead to. In fact it helped trigger the War of Independence.

French society before 1789: the three estates

Course of the French Revolution

1. Before 1789
   Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette lived in luxury. The treasury was empty and France was bankrupt.
2. 1789
   Louis XVI called a meeting of the three estates to approve new taxes. The Third Estate demanded equal taxes and an end to privileges. It declared itself the National Assembly and took sovereign power.
3. 1789
   The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was adopted. It declared all men equal and the people sovereign. It promised liberty, property, security and free speech, and opened public posts to all citizens.
4. 1791
   The Declaration became the preamble of the French Constitution of 1791.
5. After 1791
   Years of war followed. France became a republic in 1792. Later Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power and made himself emperor in 1804.

   Your NIOS lesson says France became a republic under Napoleon; in fact the republic came first, in 1792, and Napoleon rose later.
6. Legacy
   The revolution tore down Europe's medieval structures. Liberalism and nationalism spread across Europe and inspired, for example, the unification of Italy.

American and French Revolutions compared

Similarities: both asserted the rights of the people and ended exploitation, and both spread nationalism across the world. The French Declaration was influenced by the American one. Thinkers Voltaire, Montesquieu and Rousseau inspired the French revolutionaries.