The Atlantic Revolutions (22 March 1765 – 4 December 1838) were numerous revolutions in the
Atlantic World in the late 18th and early 19th century. Following the
Age of Enlightenment, ideas critical of
absolutist monarchies began to spread. A
revolutionary wave soon occurred, with the aim of ending monarchical rule, emphasizing the ideals of the
Enlightenment, and spreading
liberalism.
Other revolutions in
West Africa emphasized forms of
Islam that were egalitarian in comparison to traditional forms.[1]
In 1755, early signs of governmental changes occurred with the formation of the
Corsican Republic and
Pontiac's War. The largest of these early revolutions was the
American Revolution beginning in 1765, which founded the
United States of America. The American Revolution inspired other movements, including the
French Revolution in 1789 and the
Haitian Revolution in 1791. These revolutions were based on the equivocation of personal freedom with the right to own property — a concept spread by
Edmund Burke — and on the equality of all men, an idea expressed in
constitutions written as a result of these revolutions.
History
It took place in both the Americas and Europe, including the
United States (1765–1783),
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1788–1792), France and French-controlled Europe (1789–1814),
Haiti (1791–1804),
Ireland (1798) and
Spanish America (1810–1825).[2] There were smaller upheavals in Switzerland, Russia, and Brazil. The revolutionaries in each country knew of the others and to some degree were inspired by or emulated them.[3]
Independence movements in the
New World began with the
American Revolution, 1765–1783, in which France, the Netherlands and Spain assisted the new United States of America as it secured independence from
Britain. In the 1790s the
Haitian Revolution broke out. With Spain tied down in European wars, the mainland
Spanish colonies secured independence around 1820.[4]
In long-term perspective, the revolutions were mostly successful. They spread widely the ideals of
liberalism,
republicanism, the overthrow of aristocracies, kings and established churches. They emphasized the universal ideals of the
Enlightenment, such as the equality of all men, including equal justice under law by disinterested courts as opposed to particular justice handed down at the whim of a local noble. They showed that the modern notion of revolution, of starting fresh with a radically new government, could actually work in practice. Revolutionary mentalities were born and continue to flourish to the present day.[6]
The common Atlantic theme breaks down to some extent from reading the works of
Edmund Burke. Burke firstly supported the American colonists in 1774 in "
On American Taxation", and took the view that their property and other rights were being infringed by the crown without their consent. In apparent contrast, Burke distinguished and deplored the process of the French revolution in Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), as in this case property, customary and religious rights were being removed summarily by the revolutionaries and not by the crown. In both cases he was following
Montesquieu's theory that the right to own property is an essential element of personal freedom.
The American Revolution, a pivotal event in the broader context of Atlantic revolutions, led to the emergence of the United States as an independent nation. Its ripple effects resonated across the Atlantic, influencing subsequent independence movements and revolutions in Europe and the Americas. For instance, the Haitian Revolution erupted in the 1790s, challenging colonial rule and inspiring aspirations for freedom and equality. Similarly, mainland Spanish colonies secured their independence around 1820 amid the turmoil of European wars. These interconnected revolutions, fueled by ideals of liberalism and republicanism, sought to overthrow entrenched aristocracies and establish governments based on the principles of the Enlightenment. The revolutionary fervor underscored the belief in the possibility of creating radically new governments founded on the principles of justice and equality, a sentiment that continues to resonate in modern times. However, the Atlantic theme of revolution faced complexities and nuances, as highlighted in the contrasting views of figures like Edmund Burke, who supported the American colonists' fight against unjust taxation but criticized the French Revolution for its perceived violation of property and religious rights.
Various connecting threads among these varied uprisings include a concern for the "Rights of Man" and freedom of the individual; an idea (often predicated on
John Locke or
Jean-Jacques Rousseau) of popular sovereignty; belief in a "
social contract", which in turn was often codified in written
constitutions; a certain complex of religious convictions often associated with
deism and characterized by veneration of reason; abhorrence of
feudalism and often of
monarchy itself. The Atlantic Revolutions also had many shared symbols, including the name "
Patriot" used by so many revolutionary groups; the slogan of "
Liberty"; the
liberty cap;
Lady Liberty or Marianne; the
tree of liberty or
liberty pole, and so on.
^Robert R. Palmer, The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760–1800. (2 vol, 1959–1964)
Further reading
Canny, Nicholas, and Philip Morgan, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Atlantic World: 1450–1850 (Oxford UP, 2011).
Donoghue, John. Fire under the Ashes: An Atlantic History of the English Revolution (U of Chicago Press, 2013).
Geggus, David P. The Impact of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World (2002)
Jacques Godechot. France and the Atlantic revolution of the eighteenth century, 1770–1799 (1965)
Gould, Eliga H. and Peter S. Onuf, eds. Empire and Nation : The American Revolution in the Atlantic World (2004)
Greene, Jack P., Franklin W. Knight, Virginia Guedea, and Jaime E. Rodríguez O. "AHR Forum: Revolutions in the Americas", American Historical Review (2000) 105#1 92–152. Advanced scholarly essays comparing different revolutions in the New World.
in JSTOR
Israel, Jonathan I.. The Expanding Blaze: How the American Revolution Ignited the World, 1775-1848. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2017.
ISBN978-0-691-17660-4
Klooster, Wim. Revolutions in the Atlantic World: A Comparative History (2nd ed. 2018)
Leonard, A.B. and David Pretel, eds. The Caribbean and the Atlantic World Economy(2018)
Palmer, Robert. The Age of Democratic Revolutions 2 vols. (1959, 1964)
Perl-Rosenthal, Nathan. "Atlantic cultures and the age of revolution." William & Mary Quarterly 74.4 (2017): 667–696.
online
Polasky, Janet L. Revolutions without Borders (Yale UP, 2015). 392 pp.
online review
Potofsky, Allan. "Paris-on-the-Atlantic from the Old Regime to the Revolution." French History 25.1 (2011): 89–107.
Sepinwall, Alyssa G. "Atlantic Revolutions", in Encyclopedia of the Modern World, ed. Peter Stearns (2008), I: 284 – 289
Verhoeven, W.M. and Beth Dolan Kautz, eds. Revolutions and Watersheds: Transatlantic Dialogues, 1775–1815 (1999)
Vidal, Cécile, and Michèle R. Greer. "For a Comprehensive History of the Atlantic World or Histories Connected In and Beyond the Atlantic World?." Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales 67#2 (2012).
online