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Steam Engine
The first steam engine was built and designed in the United States. One main resource was coal during this time and was used to develop the steam engine. In 1712, Thomas Newcomen had developed a steam engine powered by coal to pump water out of mines. In 1764, James Watt looked at Newcomen's invention and set out to make inprovements on the engine in order to make it more efficient. The steam engine led up to the operation of machinery and will eventually power locomotives and steamships. -
French Revolution
The French Revotion started in 1789 and ended in 1799. The French Revolution started because of the disloyalty to the king. And the downfall of the ancien regime. There were three phases of the revolution. Phase 1=The National and Legislative Assemblies. Phase 2=Convention and Reign of Terror. Phase 3= Napoleon Bynoparte takes over. -
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was a revolution led by Toussaint L'Ouverture. It also lasted from 1791 to 1804. In 1802 Napolean Bonaparte sent a large army to reconquer the former colony (Haiti). Toussaint convinced the men to stand up against the invaders. In April 1802 the French agreed to a draw. In 1820, Haiti became a republic. -
Congress of Vienna
When the empire of Napoleon I fell. The allied countries (United Kingdom, Russia, Austrian Empire, and Prussia) invaded France. They called for a meeting of Europe's allied countries in Vienna at the Schonbrunn Palace. Bringing together rulers and diplomats from across Europe, the Congress of Vienna had their first meeting in September 1814. The Congress tried to restore Europe and make Louis XVII king. -
Independence of Mexico
On September 15, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo rang the church bells summoning the people to a prayer. A ragged army of poor mestizos and Native Americans rallied to Father Hidalgo and marched to the outskirts of Mexico City. At first, some creoles supported the revolt. However, they soon rejected Hidalgo's call for an end to slavery and hi splea for reforms to improve conditions for Native Americans. In Spain in 1820, liberals forced the king to issue a constitution. -
Opium War
This was the first of two major wars that forced China to extend trading with the Europeans. In the 1700s, British merchants began making huge profits by trading opium gown in India for Chinese tea, which was popular in Britian. Soon, many Chinese had become addicted ot the drug. Silver flowed out of China in payment for the drug, messing up the economy. The Chinese called on Britian to stop the trade, but they refused. Therefore starting the war with Great Britian winning. -
Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx theorized that economics was the driving force in history. He argued that there was "the history of class struggles" between the "haves" and the "have-nots." The "haves" had always owned the means of production and therefore controlled the society and all its wealth. In industrialized Europe, Marx said, the "haves" were the bourgeoisie. The "have-nots" were the proletariat, or working class. -
Matt Perry goes to Japan
In July 1853, a fleet of well-armed American ships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into lower Tokyo Bay. Perry carried a letter from Millard Fillmore, the President of the U.S. The letter demanded that Japan open its ports for trade. In the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854, the shogunIesada agreed to open two Japanese ports to American ships, though not for trade. -
Sepoy Mutiny
In 1857, the British gave out new rifles to the sepoys. The troops were told to bite off the tips of cartridges before loading them into the rifles. Sepoys believed the cartridges were greased with animal fat, from cows, which Hindus considered sacred, and from pigs, which were forbidden to Muslims. When sepoys refused to load the guns, they were imprisoned. Angry sepoys rebelled against British officers, starting a massacre of British troops, but in the end the British defeated the sepoys. -
Unification of Germany
Otto Von Bismark became prime minister in 1862. And then became the highest official of monarch, and had used his policy of "blood and iron" to unite the German states under Prussian rule. -
Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference divided the African continent among European powers. German chancellor Otto von Bismark called for the conference in 1884. The meeting was held in Berlin, Germany from November 15, 1884 to February 26, 1885. By the end of the Berlin Conference, Africa was divided into 50 countries. -
Zulu Uprising
In southern Africa Britian clashed with the Zulus. At that time many of them fled British rule, migrating north and setting up their own republics. In the late 1800s, however, the discovery of gold and diamonds in the Zulu lands led to conflict with Britian. The war lasted from 1899 to 1902, and involved guerilla fighting. The British won at the end. -
Russo-Japanese War
There was a clash between Russia and Japan, Whoever won this war would win China's Liaodong Peninsula and its main city, Port Arthur. Japan saw the peninsula as an entryway to the Asian mainland. Russia saw the port as the perfect home for its Pacific fleet. Russia seized the peninsula in 1898. For six years Japan built up its military. In 1904, it attacked the Russian fleet at Port Arthur and then launched a successful invasion. The Russo-Japanese War ended in 1905, with Japan winning the land. -
Dr. Sun Yat-sen takes over China
In the early 1900s, Dr. Sun Yat-sen organized the Revolutionary Alliance to rebuild China on the "Three Principles of the People."In 1908 Ci Xi died, a two-year-old boy inherited the throne, that is when China went into chaos. In 1911, uprisings in the provinces quickly spread. Everyone then helped throw the Qing Dynasty. On December 9, 1911, Sun Yat-sen was named president of the new Chinese republic. The republic was almost constantly at war with itself or foreign invaders.
