Political Protest, Reforms, and Revolution 1750 to 1900 - AP World History: Modern

The American and French revolutions both directly referenced the need for political representation that revolutionaries wanted. Neither sets of revolutionaries wanted to kill the king initially. Only American revolutionaries promoted colonial independence, and while abolition was mentioned by revolutionaries in both nations, it was not one of the explicit goals of either revolution.

In the first election for the National Convention in 1792 Robespierre continued his rise to power by leading his Montagnard party in the election. Georges Jacques Danton was a moderate Jacobin who was guillotined in 1794. Jean-Paul Marat was the leader of the Montagnard faction, a more radical element in the revolution. Oliver Cromwell was a British ruler in the 17th century.

In 1789, Luis XVI called the Estates General to help find solutions to the monetary issues of the government, but they could not agree on anything, so the Third Estate representatives broke off and formed the insurgent National Assembly, thus beginning the French Revolution. The Estates General was an assembly of members of all three of the estates that made up French Society and was held in 1789. The National Convention was held in 1792, and was the first democratically elected assembly held in France (under universal male suffrage). The Directory was a form of government in the very latest stages of the French Revolution.

The Death of Robespierre helped bring about the end of the National Convention and the Reign of Terror. Once this happened the Directory filled the power vacuum as the new government of France.

As thanks for taking in the royal family when Portugal was invaded and occupied by the French Joao VI elevated Brazil's importance in the Kingdom by making it a Kingdom itself. Therefore the title of Portugal would no longer be United Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, it would now be United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. Thus giving Brazil an important place in the Empire.

Just over a year after his father returned to Portugal and left him in charge of Brazil, Pedro decided to declare independence from Portugal, and declared Brazil to now be the Empire of Brazil. As such Pedro declared himself Pedro I Emperor of Brazil.

The left-wing, right-wing political dichotomy stems from the French Revolution, when the French king's allies in the National Assembly sat on the speaker's right, and the king's opponents on the speaker's left.

The American War of Independence empowered the new country with self-determination, but there was no left-right dichotomy in the American government.

The Franco-Prussian War left very little lasting political legacy, although it had a profound effect on how military planners thought of military force.

Many philosophies, such as Marxism, emerged from the industrial revolution, but the left-right political dichotomy already existed.

The Meiji Restoration was a political change in Japan that saw an increase in the emperor's power and the fall of the Shogun, but the left-right dichotomy already existed.

The fall of the Qing Dynasty was marked by resentment of Western influence, many people wanted reform, and a stronger Chinese identity, not to allow for greater penetration of the influence of Christianity and Western imperial powers.

Father Miguel Hidalgo rallied Mestizo and Creole peasants in an uprising against Spanish rule of Mexico that eventually led to independence. The other leaders were key figures in other Latin American Revolutions (Ouverture in Haiti, Bolivar in Venezuela, San Martin in Argentina, and Prestes in Brazil)

The independence movement in Latin America was a result of the Western Imperial influence over the continent, Qing China was not interested in overseas conquest, and was not a player in Latin America. The rise of nationalism, and enlightened thinking eventually trickled down to the Latino populace, creating deep resentment of colonial rule.

George Washington's strategy was to draw the British redcoats deep into the continent, away from Britain's powerful navy and their ability to resupply and reinforce their troops.

Washington's troops did attack the British, but more as an incitement to draw them into the continent's interior than to push them into the sea.

George Washington never sent fighters into England itself.

Fighting the British in pitched battles using orthodox tactics would have been suicide, as would have defeating the British navy in the open ocean.

The sans-culottes, so called because they wore long pants rather than the britches associated with nobles, were some of the most enthusiastic and energetic French revolutionaries who formed the nucleus of the movement that stormed the Bastille and invaded Versailles.

Both the Guelphs and the Ghibellines were factions in medieval Italy at a time when the rule of the Church was a major political issue.

The Hashisheen were a semi-mythological sect of Muslim assassins.

The Red Guards were young Maoists during China's Cultural Revolution.

Liberalism and Nationalism are considered the major philosophical drivers of the French Revolution. Liberalism holds that the power of the government should reside in the people and that government should allow individuals responsibility for controlling their own actions. Nationalism calls for popular loyalty to focus on the nation rather than on one monarch or ruler.

The Tokugawa Shogunate is considered the last of Japan's shogunates and was replaced in 1868 by the imperial Japanese government under the Emperor Meiji. The opening of communications with Japanese society by Commodore Matthew Perry in in 1854 greatly changed Japanese society and converted the insular and isolationist nation into one fully engaged in global and regional politics.

Sepoys were Indian soldiers employed by the British East India Company, and because most Indians were either Hindu or Muslim, these soldiers were shocked and outraged to learn that their bullets were greased with fat from animals that their religions forbade them to eat. Bullet cartridges had to be bitten off, so the soldiers were frequently ingesting the fat without their knowledge. Their employment by the British East India Company shows that the British takeover of India was already well under way, as was the decline of Mughal rule. Queen Victoria was named Empress of India in 1877, decades after the rebellion had been put down.

Louis XVI originally called the Estates General because he needed its approval to raise taxes, which he hoped would help pay off France's military debts. However, the meeting of the Estates General turned into an airing of other public grievances over food shortages, the excesses of royals and nobles, and the unfair distribution of power among the Estates. The attack on the Bastille was the result of increasing unrest over these issues.

The National Assembly was established in 1789 by members of the Estates General, but a new constitution replaced it with the Convention in 1792. The Convention was then followed by the Committee of Public Safety, led by Maximilien Robespierre, until a five-man governing body called the Directory took control in 1795.

While both the American and French Revolutions established new governments, the American Revolution did so by casting off the government of another country, and the French Revolution did so by replacing the government in its own country several times. Both revolutions had a great deal of popular support, and both were greatly aided by intellectuals who disseminated Enlightenment ideas. Additionally, both revolutions were concerned about inequality in their governments, which was why the American colonists felt it was unfair to be taxed without representation.

Haiti gained its independence from France in 1804, following a slave revolt led by Pierre Toussaint L'Ouverture. Present-day Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela followed suit in 1811, after Simon Bolivar led a rebellion against Spanish rule. Argentina and Chile were liberated several years later in a movement led by Jose de San Martin.

Nationalism was a hugely important movement throughout nineteenth-century Europe, and this growing desire to unite regions with shared cultural identities led to the unification movements in both Germany and Italy; however, Italians found it difficult to define their shared cultural identity, whereas German identity was often rooted in memories of the former Holy Roman Empire. German unification was also a process undertaken largely by one man, Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck, while Italy united under King Victor Emmanuel II, Count Camillo Cavour, and national fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi.