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Montesquieu publishes book, On the Spirit of Laws
Montesquieu spent nearly twenty years researching and writing The Spirit of the Laws. He suggests the idea of Separation of Powers so that a certain person or group would not be able to gain total control of the government. This idea would later be known as Checks and Balances. -
America declares independence
On the 4th of July, 1776, America declared independance from Great Britain. This started a war between the two countries. The idea of declaring independence from Britian was to get away from the high taxes and the total control they were recieving from the King. America won the war. -
French Revolution
Many factor contributed to the French Revolution, such as very high taxes. A well known event that occured during the revolution was the March of Versaille. During this event, the women of France got so angry at the scarcity of their bread, so they "marched" into Versaille to tell the king. -
Napoleon overthrows the Directory through a coup d’etat
Napoleon overthrew the Directory through a coup d'etat, which is a sudden overthrow of the government. -
Napoleon crowns himself emperor, begins to create a vast European Empire
Napoleon crowns himself emperor, begins to create a vast European Empire. In 1804 Napoleon made himself emperor and the French supported him. When the Pope was going to place a crown on Napoleon's head, Napoleon took the crown from him and placed it on his own head, a sign to the people that he had more power. -
Haiti wins freedom from France
In 1804, the French colony, Saint Domingue, was the first Latin American territory to free itself from European rule. Almost 500,000 enslaved Africans worked on French plantation and they eventually rebelled. -
Padre Hidalgo calls for Mexican Independence
On September 16, 1810, Hidalgo rang the bells of his church and gathered his people. He called for a rebellion against the Spanish. -
Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, was Napoleons last defeat.
