2. The War of Spanish Succession was an international
conflict that lasted from 1701 until the signing of
the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was caused by the
death without descendants of which they called
"the bewitched". At first the king would be Carlos
III, but some European powers disagreed and
proposed as his successor Philip d'Anjou. That was
the beginning of the war that ended with the
victory of Charles III.
3. The Spirit of the Laws, is a work of
enlightened philosopher and essayist
Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de
Montesquieu, where he recreates in
the English political model the
system of separation of powers and
constitutional monarchy, which
considered the best of its kind as
collateral against despotism.
According to the French author, the
executive, legislative and judicial
powers should not be concentrated in
the same hands. It is a theory of
counterweights, which counteracts
and balances to each other.
4. French encyclopedia published between 1751
and 1772 in France under the direction of
Diderot and d'Alembert; its purpose was to
collect and disseminate the fruits of
knowledge and knowledge accumulated until
then under criticism and secular, pragmatic
and materialistic ideology of bourgeois
Enlightenment in clear and accessible prose.
It contains seventy-two thousand items over
hundred forty partners, including Voltaire,
Rousseau and Turgot.
It is considered one of the greatest works of
the eighteenth century, not only for being
the first French encyclopedia, but also
contain a summary of the main knowledge of
the time, a considerable editorial effort for
its time.
5. The United States Declaration of Independence, solemnly read in
Philadelphia, is still one of the most innovative and important texts
of contemporary history. In it were two basic principles proclaimed
subsequently collected the great texts on fundamental rights:
"freedom and equality".
According to her, the new states formed a republic, governed by a
president and an assembly or congress, both elected by all
inhabitants over age. He had instituted thus a democratic regime,
setting the rights and duties of rulers and ruled in a fundamental law
or constitution.
The fate of the new nation was fought in a war with Britain that was
difficult for the Americans during the first three years. Then, with
the help of French and Spanish the Treaty of Paris by which Britain
recognized the independence of the United States it was formed.
6. The Bastille was a mighty fortress that dominated the eastern
neighborhoods of Paris, a symbol of the arbitrary authority of the
absolute monarchy. Richelieu became a state prison. Among its walls
celebrities spent time as the writer Voltaire, who wrote his tragedy
Oedipus, the Marquis de Sade, Diderot and collaborator of the
encyclopedia. The July 14, 1789 thousands of workers armed Parisians
took the dingy building, which was then only seven prisoners guarded.
It was the first step towards the French Revolution, which no longer
stop to end the monarchy and lead the French king, Louis XVI and his
family to the guillotine.
7. One night Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
decided to escape to avoid conflicts among the
people. When they were at the border a guard
saw a coin with the king's face and seeing that
he wanted to escape, he was imprisoned with his
family and later beheaded, except his son who
died in jail. An anecdote is that before it was
said that all members of the royal family had
blue blood, and when the executioner beheaded
the king he taught and demonstrated otherwise.
8. Hoping to consolidate its position, Fouché suggested
to Bonaparte that the best way to appease
conspiracies would transform the life consulate in a
hereditary empire, which, as would an heir, remove all
hope of changing the regime of murder. Bonaparte
welcomes the suggestion and May 28, 1804
proclaimed himself emperor. It is said that to show
that the church did not have all the power was he who
took the crown and put it to his wife.
9. Like the term "liberal" is a Spanish creation (the
deputies of the Cortes of Cadiz"liberal"
because freedom supporters called themselves), the
term "liberal revolution" applies especially to
the Spanish revolutionary process, which starts in
those cuts and continues in the Liberal Triennium and
the start of the reign of Elizabeth II, coinciding
with the Carlist War.
10. In 1807, it banned the slave trade in British ships
through the Slave Trade Act.
The August 23, 1833 the Slavery Abolition Act
establishing from 1 August 1834 all slaves were
free of the British colonies was approved. During
a transitional period of four years they would
remain in exchange for a salary, still bound to his
master. The Caribbean plantation owners were
compensated with 20 million pounds.
11. On Liberty is a philosophical
work by English philosopher
John Stuart Mill, originally
intended as a short essay. The
work, published in 1859,
applies Mill's ethical system of
utilitarianism to society and
the state. Mill attempts to
establish standards for the
relationship between
authority and liberty. He
emphasizes the importance of
individuality which he
conceived as a prerequisite to
the higher pleasures.
