the americas in an age of revolution tony mcfarlane
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The Americas in an Age of Revolution
Tony McFarlane
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American Colonies
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The revolutionary era in America, 1776-1826.
1. British North America: The American Revolution,1776-83.
2. French St. Domingue: The Haitian Revolution, 1790-1804: the end of slavery and the first black republic.
3. Spanish America: Rebellions, War and Independence in Mexico and South America, 1810-1825.
4. Portuguese America: Brazil’s Peaceful Transition to Independence, 1822.
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Meanings
• Linkages and associations? The concepts of ‘Democratic’ and ‘Atlantic Revolution’: Palmer and Godechot.
• Repercussions? Turning point in Americas’ history– Dissolution of empires from California to Cape Horn by
separation from European rule: few remnants left.– Creation of new states based on sovereignty of the people and
idea of citizens’ equality under the law, embodied in written constitutions (incl. Brazilian monarchy of 1822)
– Political independence and economic freedom – Americas as the new political and economic frontier– European Empire turns East.
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International Contexts
• Origins of Revolutions in Americas: crisis in colonial relations with European wars, related to international wars.
• Decline of Spain and growth of French and British empires in America: trade and population expansion in the West.
• Character of international wars in 18th century: coupled with competition for overseas empire, esp. France, Spain and Britain.
• Atlantic expansion and tendency of European Wars to ‘globalise’. Americas became major theatre.
• Impact of inter-imperialist competition in Americas: economic growth; more communication and exchange; increase in political tensions.
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The American Revolution – Origins of conflict: the Seven
Years’ War and expulsion of France,
– ‘no taxation without representation’ and Parliamentary despotism
– Source of ideas: defence of traditional British ‘liberties’ + Tom Paine.
– Nationalism? Provincial identities.
– Pre-planned revolution? Negotiation and mobilisation: British political institutions as vehicles for rebellion: provincial assemblies into proto-states.
– Unity? from Continental Congress to United States of America.
– Democracy? From republican monarchy to monarchical republic.
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The Haitian Revolution • France in America post-1763: the
Caribbean minus Canada• War of American Revolution and Crisis
in Paris in 1789: onset of French Revolution
• Slave colony: Saint Domingue • Repercussions of French Revolution:
escalation of crisis from divisions in elite to slave insurgency
• Foreign intervention exacerbates crisis• Slave revolution? Toussaint’s
compromise; Napoleon and the ‘gilded African’.
• From social rebellion to revolution for independence
• Political transformation and social revolution: the end of slavery
• Reception in the United States
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Spanish American Revolutions: Contexts
• Spain’s revival under the Bourbons• The ‘second conquest’ of America• Reform and rebellion: Quito (1765), Comuneros
(1781), Túpac Amaru (1780-2)• American critiques of Spain: ‘Creole patriotism’
and the Enlightenment. • Impact of American and French Revolutions:
1790s conspiracies and their significance• The French Revolution and Spain: ‘decapitation’
of the state 1808-1810 and political revolution in Spain: towards constitutional monarchy.
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Spanish America: revolutions and independence
• Imitating Spain:1810• Restive elites and
delegated sovereignty: the juntas, autonomy and independence.
• Elites and insurgency in Mexico: Hidalgo’s revolt and Morelos’ insurgency
• Cadiz Constitution and the defeat of insurgency
• Revolution from above, 1821.
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Revolution and counter-revolution in South America
• Transitions, 1810-14: ‘Foolish fatherlands’
• Defining the patria: Regional conflicts and confederations
• Revolution defeated: Spanish restoration and re-conquest 1814-1825
• Militarization of the revolution: Wars of liberation under Bolívar and San Martin.
• Brazil: from monarchy to constitutional monarchy
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Comparisons
• International Contexts: revolutions all related to international wars.
• Ideological Contexts and Linkages: Democratic revolutions? Influence of Enlightenment attack on privilege, and growth of anti-monarchical and republican sentiments?
• Ambiguities of pre-revolutionary Enlightenment; enlightened ideas for revolutionary legitimation.
• Importance of distinctive political cultures: American Revolution ‘born democratic’ in British political culture; Haitian Revolution drew on French Revolution; Spanish American revolutions combine modern doctrines of rights of man from both, but also draw on Spanish traditions of political thought.
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Comparisons
• Nationalist Revolutions? Expressions of nascent national identities? First nationalist revolutions or ‘imagined communities’? (role of print in North American and Spanish America).
• Social revolutions driven by class and ethnic conflicts? – popular grievances drawn in and drove revolutions forward, but a ‘vertical politics’ and dimension of civil war in all cases.
• Myths of intentionality: the ‘founding fathers’ and the historias patrias. Revolutions share origins in erosion of political legitimacy of old regimes: in British America, driven by metropolitan aggression; in French and Spanish America based on collapse at the centre.
• Outcomes: US ‘democracy’; Haitian ‘republic of bayonets’; Spanish American tendency towards oligarchies and limited participation in politics. Reflections of colonial past?
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Further Reading• Anthony McFarlane, ‘Independence and Revolution in the Americas’, History Today,
34, March, 1984.• Lester Langley, The Americas in the Age of Revolution (New Haven, 1998) • David Bushnell, ‘Independence Compared: the Americas North and South’, in
Anthony McFarlane and Eduardo Posada-Carbo (eds), Independence and Revolution in Spanish America: Perspectives and Problems, (London, 1999).
• J. H. Elliott, Empires of the Atlantic World, (Chapter 10-11), New Haven,2006)• John Elliott, Simon Newman and Anthony McFarlane, Revolutions! US and Spanish
American Independence Movements Compared (British Library, London 2010) Also online at www.bl.ecclescentre)
• Wim Klooster, Revolutions in the Atlantic World (New York, 2009)