Brief introduction to English, American, French and Bolivaran Revolutions, focusing on interpretive layers

1. Revolutions
English, American,
French, Latin American

2. English Revolutions
• 1640-1660 Civil War and Commonwealth
• 1688 "Glorious Revolution" establishing
constitutional monarchy with popular
sovereignty
– English Bill of Rights (1689)

3. American Revolution:
Layers of Interpretation
Economic (taxes and property owners)
failed revolution (Marxist)
British Civil War v. International Incident
inevitability (Enlightenment, overstretch)
moment of destiny/"unique" moment
(exceptionalism/originalism, military)
• Creolism
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– Declaration of Independence (1776)
– Articles of Confederation and US Constitution (1789)

4. French Revolution: Stages
• Uprising and Moderate Reform
– Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (1789)
• Commune and Radicalization
• Foreign Pressure
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Terror: Maxmilien Robespierre
Over-reach: Cult of Reason, etc.
Thermidorian Reaction
Constitution of the Year III
Napoleon
– Code Napoléon

5. Latin American Revolutions
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Imperial Collapse
Enlightenment Thought
Creolism
Post-Colonial Development
Simon Bolivar, El Libertador (1783-1830)

6. Sources
• background: "Native American Beaded Vest
c1890 Lakota Teton Sioux" from NelsonAtkins collection, photograph by Jonathan
Dresner