-
Montesquieu publishes book, On the Spirit of Laws
Baron de Montesquieu believed that Britain was the best-governed and most balanced country. He believed that "power is the check of power", so we get checks an balances from his beliefs and we also get the "seperation of powers" in our government from him. -
America Declares Independence
The Declaration of Independence was issued to the King. It was written by Thomas Jefferson, who based it off of the ideas of John Locke and the Enlightenment era. It was written to unite the people against the King. -
French Revolution
French people were seperated into three large social classes. The Third social class was not given equal privileges and they were angry about it. When the economy started to suffer, an "Estates General" was called. The Third Estate was eager to make changes but they were ignored. They protested being shut out of the next meeting in the "Tennis Court Oath", re-named themselves the "National Assembly and the Revolution began. A Bastille was raided and 7 King's allies' heads were paraded around. -
Napoleon Overthrows the Directory Through a Coup d'Etat
After being defeated by the British general "Horatio Nelson", Napoleon flees back to France and lies to the people that he was not defeated. Napoleon calls for a "plebiscite"-where the people vote who the ruler should be, and they vote for Napoleon. He needed them to pick him so that he would have their support for when they find out that he lied. The Directory of three men now became a single ruler: Napoleon -
Napoleon Crowns Himself Emperor and Begins to Create a Vast European Empire
In exchange for crowning himself Emperor of France; Napoleon names Pope Pius VII the spiritual leader of France. In the crowning ceremony, Napoleon simulates the crowning of Charlemange, except Napoleon takes the crown out of the Pope's hands and puts it on his own head. Napoleon uses the "Napoleonic Code" in his ruling, which took away the french people's freedom of speech and press. At the peak of his power Napoleon controlled almost all of western Europe. -
Haiti Wins Freedom From France
The Africans were treated especially poorly in Haiti. Boukman, a vodoo priest, started the Revolution by sacrificing a pig with symbolism to the slave-owners. The slaves rose against the French (led by Toussaint L'Overture) and in 1801 they controlled the whole island. French troops captured Toussaint in exchange for the ending of slavery, but Napoleon re-introduced slavery anyway. Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Toussaint's lieutenant) finished the war and declared independence. -
Padre Hidalgo Calls for Mexican Independence
Miguel Hidalgo, a priest in the small city of Dolores, rang his church's bells and called for a rebellion. This was called the "Grito de Dolores". Indians and mestizos then marched on the capital, Mexico City, but were defeated by the Spanish army. Jose Maria Morelos led the revolution for four years until he was defeated by Agustin de Iturbide. Agustin de Iturbide ended up proclaiming independence from Spain and named himself Emperor. -
Napoleon is Defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon was exiled to an island named "Elba", after he tried to march on Moscow and the Russian winter killed off 99% of his army. He escaped Elba, and returned to France where he had one final Battle, the "Battle of Waterloo", and was defeated by the combined forces of the Britians and the Prussians. They sent him away to Saint Helena where he died.
