The Revolutions: American, French, & Latin American

The American Revolution Causes of the American Revolution Each document highlights a cause of the American Revolution. Analyze each document and answer the questions that follow. “An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the colonies…For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or printed....within the British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of three pence…”Stamp Act 1765, Parliament of Great Britain (1765)Answer the questions below:1. According to line 2-3, what were the funds from the Stamp Act going towards?2. According to lines 3-4, what was the Stamp Act taxing?3. Was the Stamp Act written by the British Government or the American colonists? How might this have contributed to American colonists’ desire to overthrow the British government? Answer the questions below:1. Which historical event does this image illustrate? Cite evidence from the text to support your claim.2. This image shows British soldiers on the right firing on a crowd of unarmed American colonists on the left. How could this image have biased American colonists against the British government? But there is a greater distinction [difference] for which no truly natural or religious reason can be understood, and that is, the distinction [difference] between men into KINGS and SUBJECTS... For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in preference as a royal to all others FOREVER, and though he himself might deserve some decent degree of honors, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them. It is actually, unnatural. Common Sense, Thomas Paine (1776) Answer the following questions:1. In lines 1 - 5, what is Thomas Paine suggesting about monarchies?2. How could Thomas Paine’s argument have been used to convince colonists to declare independence from Great Britain? The French Revolution Cause of the French Revolution: Social Social Issues: The Three EstatesThe estates system was the class structure or hierarchy in France before the French Revolution. The same groups that held power during the Middle Ages still had control after the Middle Ages ended.clergy: people who work for the church like the Pope, bishops, and priestsnobility: wealthy landowners and people with high status in societycommoners: peasants and city-workers Answer the following questions:1. Under the estates system, what were the three social classes?2. Under the estates system, which social class was taxed the most?3. Under the estates system, which class was the largest portion of the population?4. What does Image 3 reveal about social and economic issues in pre-revolutionary France? Answer the following questions:1.. Based on the images above, identify at least two social or economic issues facing pre-revolutionary France.2. How might these issues lead the French people to revolt against their government? Cause of the French Revolution: Absolute Monarchy An absolute monarchy is a form of government in which one ruler has supreme authority without limitation.. . . Powers of the king.—The King, Louis XVI, was absolute. He ruled by the divine right theory which held that he had received his power to govern from God and was therefore responsible to God alone. He appointed all civil officials and military officers. He made and enforced the laws. He could declare war and make peace. He levied taxes and spent the people’s money as he saw fit. He controlled the expression of thought by a strict censorship of speech and press. By means of lettres de cachet (sealed letters which were really blank warrants for arrest) he could arbitrarily [without reason] imprison anyone without trial for an indefinite period. He lived in his magnificent palace at Versailles, completely oblivious to the rising tide of popular discontent [frustration]. . . .Source: Friedman Foner, A Genetic Approach to Modern European History, College Entrance Book Co., 1938 Louis XVI Chart Using the text above, identify five powers held by King Louis XVI and describe why these powers may have led the French people to revolt against their government. Power Held by Louis XVI How might this power lead some French people to revolt against their government? Cause of the French Revolution: Economic Issues Debt and Rising CostsDebt is money that is owed to someone else. When a country is in debt, it means that they have to pay the money back to whomever it is owed leaving less money for the country to pay for other things.The Palace of Versailles was a royal château [castle] in Versailles and was the center of political power in France from 1682 until 1789. Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette lived in the palace before the French Revolution. They were known for throwing lavish parties.France’s government was in enormous debt. King Louis XIV (1638-1715), Louis XV (1710-1774), and Louis XVI (1754-1793) added to the debt, borrowing money to finance the following:DateEvent that Increased the French Debt1678-1789Building of, additions to, and upkeep of the Palace of Versailles1756-1763Seven Years’ War: Fought against their rivals at the time, Great Britain, and several other European powers in Europe and North America.1775-1783American Revolution: France lended 1.3 billion livres, soldiers, and ships to the American colonists in their fight against the British.1678-1789Extravagant lifestyles of the monarchs including Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette who ruled at the start of the French Revolution Answer the following answers: 1, What did the kings of France spend money on that put the country into debt?2. Which of these costs seem justified? Which costs seem unjustified?3. Often to pay back debt, a government will do two things. One, they will cut back on the amount of money they spend. Two, they will raise taxes. Based on your understanding of the estates system, if the king raised taxes in 1789, who would have to pay them? The Latin American Revolutions The French Revolution inspired other political revolutions. The actions taken by the citizens in France to rebel against their government and the ideas of “liberty, equality, and fraternity,” democracy, and nationalism inspired independence movements in Haiti, South America, and Mexico. Discontent in Latin America In the 1700s, educated creoles read the work of Enlightenment thinkers. Many creoles were sent to Europe to study as well. While there, they were inspired by the ideals of a revolution and national sovereignty or the authority of a state to govern itself or another state.In 1808, Napoleon invaded Spain, ousted the Spanish king and placed his brother Joseph in control of Spain and its colonies. Many in Latin America saw this as a moment of weakness and an opportunity to reject foreign rule and demand freedom from the colonial crown. Answer the following questions:1. Was everyone in the Spanish colonies angry for the same reasons? Explain.2. How did many creoles come into contact with ideas of revolution and freedom?3. Why did Latin American leaders decide to fight for their freedom after 1808 instead of an earlier time? José de San MartínYears: 1778-1850Country: Argentina, Chile, PeruColonial Power Fought: Spain Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military leader who was instrumental in the revolutions against the Spanish Empire. Born into wealth, Bolívar was sent to Spain for his education and quickly got involved in political life in Europe. After France, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, invaded Spain in 1808, he became involved in the resistance movement and played a key role in the Spanish American fight for independence. When Napoleon named Joseph Bonaparte King of Spain and its colonies, which included Venezuela, Bolívar joined the resistance movement. The resistance group based in Caracas gained independence in 1810, and Bolívar traveled to Britain on a diplomatic mission.Finally, Bolívar returned to Venezuela and began a campaign to take control of that country from the Spanish. He and his followers invaded Venezuela on May 14, 1813. Bolívar was hailed as El Libertador (The Liberator), though civil war soon erupted in the republic, forcing him to flee to Jamaica and seek foreign aid. There he wrote his famous "Letter From Jamaica," detailing his vision of a South American republic with a parliamentary setup modeled after England and a life-long president. In 1825, the "Republic of Bolivia" was created in honor of the inspirational leader, hailed by many as El Libertador. Answer the following questions:1. What impact did the French Revolution and Napoleon have on Simon Bolivar and Venezuela’s independence movement?2. What impact did Bolívar have on South American independence movements? Father HidalgoYears: 1753-1811Country: MexicoColonial Power Fought: Spain On September 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Roman Catholic priest from the small town of Dolores, Mexico delivered a speech known as the Grito de Dolores ("Cry of Dolores") at his church. The event became the start of the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1822) and the Grito de Delores became the battle cry of the Mexican War of Independence.“My Children, a new dispensation [system of government] comes to us today…Will you free yourselves? Will you recover the lands stolen 300 years ago from your forefathers by the hated Spaniards? We must act at once.”- Father Hidalgo, Sept 16, 1810Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla who led the Mexican independence movement against Spanish rule in 1810 was a part of one of these rebel groups. Born in May 1753 in Guanajuato, Hidalgo entered the priesthood in 1779. For the next quarter of a century, he performed his duties as a spiritual shepherd, but also read texts on political theory including the works of Enlightenment Thinkers. Hidalgo’s underground independence group read books and discussed emerging ideas on nationalism and political liberty.When authorities moved to arrest him, he gathered together his followers and his parishioners and issued the “Grito de Dolores” on September 16, 1810. He quickly gathered an insurgent army that rampaged through central Mexico. His army, made up of almost 90,000 poor farmers and civilians was defeated by well trained Spanish troops and Hidalgo was taken prisoner by the Spanish and executed, but others continued the fight for Mexican Independence.Inspired by Hidalgo and other revolutionaries like José María Morelos and Vicente Guerrero, and the ideals of the Enlightenment and French Revolution, upper class Creoles who once supported Spain, started to support Mexican Independence. In 1821, an alliance of the Creole upper class, rebel leaders, and the clergy came together led by the general Agustín de Iturbide to drive the Spanish out of Mexico and declared independence on September 27, 1821. Answer the following questions:1. What impact did the French Revolution have on events in Mexico that led to the Mexican War for Independence?2. How might reading political texts have influenced Hidalgo’s future role as a revolutionary leader?3. Based on this excerpt, what finally made the Mexican War for Independence successful?