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Montesquieu publishes book, On the Spirit of Laws
Montesquieu's book said that separation of powers would keep anybody from gaining total control of a government. He wrote , "Power should check power," which is now what we call checks and balnces. -
America Declares Independence
The people of America were inspired by enlightenment ideas, and wanted to become a free country that lived by ideas of equality and liberty. Thomas Jefferson wrote the declaration of Independense, which declared to the King of England that America would be a free state. -
French Revolution
There were three estates in France, two privelaged and one made up of the poor. The way the government worked was each estate got one vote, always disadvantaging the third estate. Representatives from the third estate started the National Assemby and began to rebel. They stormed the Bastille, a prison that was thought to store all of the King's gunpowder, which is still to this day an important symbol of the revolution. -
Napoleon overthrows the Directory through a coup d’etat
The phrase coup d'etat is French and means "blow to the state." Napolean overthrough the Directery in a coup d'etat when he comanded troups to surround the national legeslature and drive out most of there members. Those who remained then voted to get rid of the Directory and establish a group of three consuls. Napolean named himself the first consul. -
Napoleon crowns himself emperor, begins to create a vast European Empire
Napolean decided to make himself emperor, and teh voters supported him. Thousands of people watched as the pope crowned him in the Notre Dame Cathedral. -
Haiti wins freedom from France
An educated former slave named Toussaind L'Ouverture lead the beginning of the revolution in Haiti. He became a general and freed all of the enslaved Africans in Haiti. He agreed with the French to hault the revolutions, and was acused of planning another uprising so sent to prison in the French Alps where he died. His leutenent, Dessalines continued with his fight to freedom and gained Haiti's independence. -
Padre Hidalgo calls for Mexican Independence
Hidalgo was a priest in the Mexican village of Delores. He heard about enlightenment ideals and wanted to bring them to Mexico. He rang the church bells at an off time which caused the village to gather. HE began speaking of the enlightenment and sparked a revolution. -
Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon went to battle against the British and the Prussians in the Netherlands. He was on a battlefield with the British, who were lead by the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon had much havier cavalry so the British were waiting for the French to attack, when the realized that Napoleon was waiting for the ground to dry since it had rained the night before. They contacted the Prussians and attacked Napoleon before he attacked them.
