At the beginning of the eighteenth century, political, religious, social and economic conditions began to change all over the world, due to geographical discoveries, the Renaissance, the Reformation and “the age of kings”. By the time the eighteenth century ended, there were two revolutions: The American Revolution of 1775–83 and the French Revolution of 1789–95.
These revolutions dealt a severe blow to the monarchical form of government and had a lasting impact on the subsequent history of humanity. The industrial revolution, beginning in the eighteenth century, engendered many changes in the lives of the people, heralding a new era that was marked by the shift from a primarily agriculture-based economy to an industry-based economy. This lesson will help us understand the aforesaid events of global importance.
The American War of Independence
During the Age of Discovery, adventurous seafarers explored the so-called New World and discovered new trade routes with royal support. This ensured better connectivity and profits. Though Spain and Portugal took the lead in exploring the new places, establishing trade centres first and later colonies, it was Britain that established colonies all over the world and successfully controlled them over a long period of time.
Though the English were the first to settle in North America, in due course of time, the Germans, the Swedes, the French, the Italians, and the Dutch too went to America and settled there. The colonisation of the New World absorbed the growing population of Europe at a time of rapid economic and demographic growth.
King James, I sent an expedition to Virginia, where a colony was established in 1607 and named Jamestown. Then the pilgrims from Britain sailed in a ship called Mayflower and set up a colony at Plymouth in Massachusetts. Slowly, other colonies were established. The Dutch set up a colony in 1624, near the mouth of the River Hudson and named it New Amsterdam. Later, the English acquired it from the Dutch and renamed it New York. In the early 1700s, enslaved Africans made up a growing percentage of the colonial population. By 1770, more than 2 million people lived and worked in Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies.
In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh set up the first
colony at Roanoke Island in North Carolina
and named it Virginia after the Virgin
Queen Elizabeth I. However, due to the stiff
resistance put up by the native Indians some
of the early settlers returned to England. The
Roanoke Island became a lost colony as there
was no trace of it when the British sailors
reached the island some years later.
Life in the Thirteen Colonies
The colonies varied much in character and the manner in which they had been acquired. They were divided into south and north. In the southern part, endowed with fertile land, agriculture was the primary means of subsistence. The slaves brought from Africa worked in the farm-lands which mainly grew cotton, wheat and tobacco. The Northern states, on the other hand, were devoid of agricultural farmlands. They created mills for cutting timber, shipbuilding, and milling the grains. Iron and textiles were also manufactured. The harbour promoted sea-borne trade.
Fed up with the unsettled living conditions in Europe, people came to live in these colonies mainly to lead a free life. They also wanted to experience religious freedom and to practice the religion of their choice (for example, the Puritans). The colonies were ruled by the British representatives called Governors appointed by the British monarch. The Governors had an assembly similar to a parliament. Women had no voting rights. Among the men, those who paid taxes and owned land alone could vote. Initially, they built a cordial relationship with the indigenous people of America, known as American Indians and Native Americans. (They were then referred to pejoratively as ‘Red Indians’)However, in due course of time, they were dispossessed of their land or liquidated.
The transatlantic slave trade is a blot in the
history of humanity. The Portuguese began
the African slave trade at the opening of
seventeenth century. The other nations of
Christian Europe followed immediately. The
first slaves to be brought to America came in
a Dutch ship in 1619. The first English man
who realised that lots of money could be made
by seizing “unsuspecting negroes” in Africa
and selling them to work on plantations in
the New World (America) was John Hawkins.
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for
“his prosperous success and much gain.” It is
estimated that more than 11 million Africans
reached the Americas as slaves.
By the time Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492, there were 10 million indigenous people living in U.S. territory. But by 1900, the number had reduced to less than 300,000. Spreading disease was one of the strategies adopted by the Europeans to exterminate the native population. In 1763, a serious uprising threatened British garrisons in Pennsylvania. Worried about limited resources, and provoked by the violence of some Native Americans, Sir Jeffrey Amherst, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, wrote to Colonel Henry Bouquet at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania:“You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians [with smallpox] by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method, that can serve to extirpate this execrable race.” Consequently, small pox was spread to the Native Americans by distributing blankets previously used by infected patients. Colonists in search of gold (1848) staged violent ambushes on tribal villages. Several wars broke out between tribes and American settlers which led to large scale deaths, land dispossession, oppression and blatant racism.
The American War of Independence: Causes
Colonial Governance: Navigation Acts
England considered the colonies as part of its country and governed them for their ownbenefit, neglecting the interests of the colonies. England passed laws known as the Navigation Acts, which mandated that colonial produce should be exported only in British ships. There were also laws restricting or prohibiting the manufacture of certain articles in the colonies, such as cloth.
The Seven Years War (1756–63)
The revolt of colonies against England was a direct consequence of England’s intervention in the Seven Years’ War. During the War the colonial assemblies did not co-operate with the mother country in the way expected of them.
They voted for inadequate supplies and resisted the moves of England to impose certain duties on articles used by the Americans. The English conquest of Canada and removal of all danger from the French made the British government to feel secure. This in turn made the colonies jittery and less disposed than ever to submit to the dictates of England.
Taxes on Colonies
Taxes on Sugar and Molasses
In order to solve the financial crisis arising out of constant wars with other European powers, the British imposed new taxes on the colonies. The first tax imposed was on sugar and molasses, a by-product of sugar, in 1764. All the colonies in North America were forced to pay this tax, and the settlers protested against this by raising the slogan ‘no taxation with out representation’.
Stamp Act
In 1765, a new tax was introduced on the stamps. The settlers were forced to use stamps onall legal documents and pay the tax for the use of stamps. The settlers refused to buy them and theBritish traders forced the colonial government to repeal the act.
Townshend Act
Though the Stamp Act was abolished in1766, in the very next year, an Act was passed thatimposed taxes on certain goods imported fromBritain. Townshend, who was the Chancellor of Exchequer in Britain, brought this act into force and hence came to be called Townshend Act.
Boston Massacre (1770)
In 1770, Lord North, the new primeminister of England, abolished taxes onproducts except tea. This was retained to assertthat the British Parliament had a right to tax thecolonies directly as well as indirectly. When theBritish forces marched on the streets of Boston,Americans criticised the British. This angeredthe British forces who fired against the people.
This Boston Massacre brought to light theaggressive and autocratic nature of the Britishgovernment.
Boston Tea Party (1773)
In the wake of the Boston Massacre, around100 activists dressed like Native Americans,boarded the three ships carrying tea and threw342 boxes into sea at Boston. This incident cameto be called the Boston Tea Party.
The British Parliament retaliated withseverity. General Gage was appointed Governorof Massachusetts and troops were dispatchedwith instructions to bring the colony to heel.
Intolerable Acts (1774)
Angered by the Boston Tea Party, the Britishparliament passed the Boston Port Bill. The Bostonharbour was closed until the colonists paid for allthe tea thrown into sea. Then the Parliament passedthe Massachusetts Government Act, replacing theelective local council, and enhancing the powersof the military governor Gage. The third measure,the Administration of Justice Act allowed Britishofficials charged with capital offenses to be tried in another colony or in England. The fourth intolerable Act, a replica of the Quartering Act,which was abolished, permitted the requisition ofunoccupied buildings to house British troops. TheIntolerable Acts (1774), also known as CoerciveActs, evoked a wave of outrage in colonies.
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act passed by the Britishgovernment in 1774 awarded the territorybetween the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to theprovince of Quebec. The colonial governmentsof New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia wereangered by the unilateral assignment of theOhio lands to Quebec, which had been grantedto them in their royal charters. By permittingFrench Civil Law and the Roman Catholicreligion in the newly carved out area, Britainalso provoked the protestant colonies.
The Intolerable Acts of 1774 became thejustification for convening the First ContinentalCongress at Philadelphia. The representativesof all the colonies, except that of Georgia,demanded the repeal of the Intolerable Acts.
The Congress decided to boycott the Britishgoods until then. They sent a representationwith an olive branch (peace proposal) to theBritish King George III. This was known asthe Olive Branch Petition. The king howeverrefused to buy peace.
Outbreak of War
In the meantime,in 1775, at Lexingtonin Massachusetts,the farmers foughtthe British and thenmarched on Bostonto besiege the Britishgarrison at Bunker Hill.On 4 July 1776, all thethirteen colonies declaredindependence from Britain. The declarationof independence was essentially the work ofThomas Jefferson which marked the beginningof the history of an independent country calledthe United States of America.
The Declaration of Independence (1776)
It was Richard Lee who proposed that the colonies should be independent states. A draft committee was formed to draft the declaration of independence whose members included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin
Franklin, and John Adams.
The British army was led by WilliamHowe while the American forces were led by George Washington. Though in the initialphases Howe made a few successful attemptsby defeating Washington at Brooklyn, NewYork and New Jersey, Washington, through hisplanned military tactics inflicted defeat on theBritish army. In 1777, at the Battle of Saratoga,the British General Burgoyne was forced tosurrender. Finally, the British forces surrenderedto the American forces in 1781 at York Town.With this victory the northern colonies becamefree. However, Howe retained New York almosttill the end of the war.
Solidarity of European Powers with Colonists
During the American war of independence,the European powers that were not on friendlyterms with the British decided to support theAmerican colonies. The countries in NorthernEurope including Prussia, Sweden and Denmarkformed the ‘Armed neutrality’ against GreatBritain. Britain was in turmoil as it had to facehostility from its enemies as well as neutralpowers.
The French, followed by the Spanish andthe Dutch, helped the American colonies in thiswar of independence. France lent support tothe Americans as vengeance against the loss ofCanada. The French volunteers who crossed theAtlantic to fight for the colonists returned withideas of individual liberty which made themintolerant of the restrictions of the Bourbonmonarchy.
Many of the wealthy merchants and largelandowners remained loyal to the Britishmonarchy and influenced a large section ofthe population especially in New York andPennsylvania. The colonists split into twodivisions: the Patriots who wanted freedom andthe Loyalists who wanted to remain loyal tothe British crown. The Loyalists, called Tories,wanted the British to rule as they belonged tothe Anglican Church. So a civil war in the midstof the revolution became inevitable.
Treaty of Paris
In 1783, the BritishParliament decidedthat it was pointless tocarry on the war. LordNorth resigned as PrimeMinister. King Georgelost control over theHouse of Commons. Thenew Prime Minister LordRockingham started thepeace talks. A peace treaty was signed betweenthe Great Britain and America in 1783 at Paris.
George Washington (1732–1799) became thefirst president of the United States of America.One of the founding fathers of America, heplayed a significant role in the AmericanRevolution first as a military officer and later asan astute politician.
Important Provisions of the Treaty
- Britain recognised the freedom of 13 colonies and the formation of a new country called the United States of America.
- The area bordered by Mississippi River on the west and the 31st parallel in the south went to USA.
- France gained certain British territories in West Indies, India and Africa.
- Spain obtained Florida from Great Britain
- Holland and England maintained the status quo that prevailed before the war.
Significance of American Revolution
- The American Revolution opened up many avenues in the history of the world.
- The concepts of democracy and republic became widespread.
- The political and social changes were on the lines of democracy and equality.
- USA became a land of opportunities and freedom for all settlers.
- Education gained prominence.
- The principle of federalism became widespread.
- The American Revolution was a setback for colonialism. The demand of the colonies for independence against their colonial masters became widespread in many parts of the world.
- It paved the way for a free society where every individual was given the freedom of speech, freedom of religion and equal opportunities.
The French Revolution
In the 18th century, Europe was ruled bymonarchs of various dynasties, and they wieldedabsolute powers. Along with the nobility andclergy they enjoyed hereditary privileges. InFrance the clergy and nobility did not pay taxeslike the common people. It was in this contextthat the French Revolution occurred and stoodfor liberty, equality, and fraternity.
France in Eighteenth Century
The political andsocial system of Franceprior to the FrenchRevolution was calledancien regime, meaningold order. Under theregime, everyone was amember of an estate. Allrights and status flowedfrom three orders namelyclergy, nobility and others, belonging to theThird Estate. France was ruled by Louis XVI,a young king of the Bourbon dynasty. He wasmarried to Mary Antoinette, the princess ofAustria. The king had absolute power and he leda lavish lifestyle. The government taxed the poorand not the rich.
On 14 July 1789, the Paris mob, hungry dueto a lack of food from poor harvests, upset atthe conditions of their lives and annoyed withtheir king and government, stormed the Bastillefortress (a prison). The storming of the Bastillesymbolised the beginning of a new age in thehistory of the world. There were many reasonsfor the outbreak of this revolution.
Conditions of Peasantry
The peasantry made up the bulk ofFrench society. The peasants were serfs. Theyhad to work certain days in the week for theirlords without any remuneration. They couldnot marry or dispose of their lands withoutthe lord’s permission. Lords claimed certainfeudal dues such as the right to levy fees evenfor using ovens to bake bread, and a toll onsheep and cattle possessed by the peasants.It has been estimated that the peasant paideighty percent of his earnings to various taxcollectors. Carlyle wrote that ‘one third ofthem had nothing but third-rate potatoes toeat for one-third of the year.
Three Estates
French society had three main divisionsor estates: Clergy (the priestly class), Nobility(the landed and aristocratic class), and therest, the commoners, formed the unprivilegedclass. The clergy and the nobility enjoyedspecial privileges and they were exemptedfrom various taxes imposed by the monarchy.Out of the three divisions, only the thirdestate bore the brunt of taxation, as other twoestates were exempted from tax payment dueto the special privileges. The important taxeswere tithe, a tax exclusively collected by thechurch on the laity, Taille, a tax paid by thepeasants, gabelle salt tax, and tax on tobacco.
The peasants could not fight feudalregulations on their own. They looked foroutside help and leadership. The risingbourgeoisie wanted their political power tomatch their economic status. They wanted to have a voice in government. So the bourgeoisie took the lead and were instrumental inbringing about the French Revolution.
The Bourgeoisie comprised the educated middle class. Writers, doctors, teachers, lawyers, judges, and civil servants formed this class.
Financial Bankruptcy
France was in constant war withneighbouring British Empire that proved tobe too costly for the exchequer. It had spentenormous sums on the Seven Years’ War withBritain and Prussia, and more again duringthe American war with Britain. The valuableassistance which the French gave to theAmerican colonists was such as it could notreally afford. The government had to pay highinterests on the loan. In order to settles thedues, the government imposed more taxes onthe common people. The nobles and higherclergy hesitated to come forward and save thestate by voluntarily giving up their claims toexemption from taxes. Matters were furthercomplicated by the extravagance of the courtand the incompetence of the Louis XVI.
Role of Intellectuals
Long before the revolution of 1789 therewas a revolution in the realm of ideas. Publicintellectuals (who were called philosophes inthe French language) who were inspired bythe Enlightenment ideal of applying reasonto all spheres of knowledge played a key rolein preparing the soil for the outbreak of theFrench Revolution. The writings of Voltaireand Rousseau acted as an impetus to therevolution. Montesquieu (1689–1755), in hisThe Spirit of Laws, argued for the division ofpower among the legislative, executive andjudiciary and opposed the concentrationof power in a single hand. Voltaire (16941778), in his The Age of Louis XIV, opposedthe religious superstitions of the Frenchand criticised the French administration under the rule of the monarchs. Rousseau(1712–1778), in his Social Contract, arguedthat the relationship between the rulers andruled should be bound by a contract. If theruler ruled the country in a just manner,he would be respected by his subjects. If heruled in an unjust manner, in violation of thecontract, he should be punished. The Englishphilosopher, John Locke, in ‘Two Treatises ofGovernment’, opposed the divine right andabsolute monarchy. These ideas were alsoexpressed in the writings of Diderot and theEncyclopaedists.
Rousseau is known for his famous beginning lines of The Social Contract, 'Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains'.
The French Revolution the Beginning
The French Revolution began with themeeting of the Estates-General in May 1789.The summoning of the Estates-Generalbecame necessary because of the financialproblems faced by the government. The firsttwo estates, namely, the clergy and nobilityhad sent 300 representatives each to themeeting held at the palace of Versailles,while the 600 delegates of the third estate,mainly the business people and educatedmembers, were made to stand behind them.The question that was taken up at the EstatesGeneral was how they would vote. Accordingto the norm each estate had one vote andLouis XVI wanted the same arrangement tocontinue. However, the third estate wantedone vote for each member.
Tennis Court Oath
When this demand by the third estatewas not accepted, the representatives formedthe National Assembly on 17 June 1789. Thenthey left the Estates General and assembled atthe tennis court on 20 June 1789. They tookthe ‘tennis court oath’ by which they wanted tolimit the power of the monarch and introducea new constitution. In this protest, they wereled by a noble named Mirabeau and a clergy,Abbé Sieyès.
The Storming of the Bastille
When the representatives of the thirdestate were busy with the formation of thenational assembly, the common people weresuffering due to the high price of essentialcommodities, even as the rich merchantsstarted hoarding the grains. The agitatedwomen started storming into the market area.Seeing the unrest, the king ordered the armyto move into the streets of Paris. Angered bythis move, the people stormed the Bastille,the great prison of the city of Paris, and afterdestroying the fort released the prisoners on14 July 1789.
14 July is still celebrated as Bastille Day or the French National Day in France.
National Assembly
The fall of Bastille emboldened the NationalAssembly to abolish feudalism in the country.Shaken by the turn of events, the king alsoaccepted the formation of a national assembly.
The Church was asked to forego its privileges andabolish the tithe. In 1791, the National Assemblydrafted the constitution by which the powers ofthe king were limited. It also proposed to havethree different organs: executive, legislativeand judiciary. The members of the NationalAssembly were indirectly elected by a group ofelectors. The electors were voted by the malecitizens, who were above 25 years of age andwho paid taxes. Thus the majority of the citizensdid not get voting rights.
Constitution Making
The National Constituent Assemblyprepared the constitution. On 26 August 1789 theDeclaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizenwas adopted. It subordinated the monarchyto the rule of law and defined individual andcollective rights. It maintained that no personshall be accused, arrested or imprisoned except in those cases established by the law (clause 7);and insisted that taxation could only be raised bycommon consent (clause 14). Thomas Jefferson’sinfluence is clearly discernible in clause 1, whichdeclares that, ‘Men are born and remain free andequal in rights’.
Women played a significant role in theFrench revolution. Women from the poorerareas of Paris marched on Versailles supportedby 20,000 armed men. They broke into the palaceand forced the king to return with them to Paris,where he was kept under public surveillance.
Many women were politically active. Olympe deGouges was dissatisfied with the Declaration ofRights of Man and of the Citizen, as it excludedwomen. She wrote the Declaration of the Rightsof Woman and of the Citizen, arguing forequality for women.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and ofthe Citizen has a preamble and 17 articles.The first article contains the statement: “Menare born and remain free and equal in rights.”The purpose of “political association,” as theDeclaration states, should be the preservationof these rights, detailed as liberty, security toproperty, and resistance to oppression. It alsodeclares that both sovereignty and law shouldcome from the “general will.” It protectsthe freedom of speech and of religion andinsists on equal treatment before the law. Italso asserts that taxes should be paid by allcitizens in accordance with their means. TheDeclaration served as the preamble to theConstitution of 1791.
War against Austria and Prussia
While the king agreed to the constitutional monarchy on one hand, on the other he was secretly appealing for help from Austria and Prussia. The neighbouring kingdoms were watching the developments in France with concern. They feared that the rise of common people might bring to an end the rule of monarchs and so they sent their troops to France to contain the revolution. Mean while the National Assembly declared war againstAustria and Prussia. On hearing this, people from various parts of France united to fight theforeign forces. A group of people from the placeof Marseilles proceeded to Paris by singing theMarseillaise song.
A song for French troops from Marseilles composed (1792) by Roget de Lisle came to be called La Marseillaise. By a degree enacted on 14 July 1795, it was declared the national anthem of France
Formation of Clubs
The common people continued to suffereven after the formation of the NationalAssembly. Majority of the people saw theassembly as a place for rich persons ascommoners were excluded from voting. Thenew armed power in Paris was in the hands of aNational Guard recruited from the middle class.Lafayette, who acted as an official French adviserin the American War of Independence, was itschief. There was a general feeling of liberationand exaltation when the king, ex-aristocrats, themiddle classes and the Parisian masses jointlycommemorated the first anniversary of the fallof the Bastille as a great festival. But this senseof unity did not last long. Dissatisfied peoplestarted forming political clubs to discuss theproblems they faced. One such club whichattained popularity was the Jacobin Club inParis. The members were from poor sectionsof the society – small scale business people,artisans, servants and wage labourers. Theirleader was Maximilian Robespierre. A majorityof the members of the Jacobin club wore longstriped trousers as against the trousers withknee breeches usually worn by the noble class.In order to differentiate from them, they calledthemselves ‘the people without knee breaches’(sans-culottes). Another lawyer Dantondominated the Cordelier Club.
Girondins and Jacobins
Lafayette’s constitutional monarchydominated the political scene for two years. Anattempt by the king to flee Paris in June 1791 tojoin counter-revolutionary armies congregatingacross the border was thwarted by the localmilitia. Yet food shortages, price rises andunemployment drove the artisans and tradersas well as the labourers to the point of despair.Repression could not stop rising popular upsurge.The moderates who ran the government fell outamong themselves. Within the Jacobin Club agroup called the Girondins, also known as theBrissotins (after one of their leaders, Brissot),were less radical than Robespierre and Danton.Though there were differences of opinion amongthemselves, all of them excepting Robespierre,believed that a war against the foreign powerswould help. Robespierre, however, argued thatwar would open the door to counter-revolution.But he could not stop the Girondins fromagreeing with the king to form a governmentand then declaring war on Austria and Prussiain April 1792.
National Convention
The plan of Girondins turned out to be adisaster. The enraged members of the JacobinClub stormed into the palace of Tuileries, theofficial residence of Louis XVI, and ransackedit. They killed the guards and took the king asprisoner. A new assembly called Conventionvoted that the king should be imprisoned anda new election conducted to elect a leader forthe country. In this election, every one abovethe age of 21 got the right to vote, without anydistinction in wealth, and status.
September Massacres
The plan of Girondins turned out to be adisaster. The enraged members of the JacobinClub stormed into the palace of Tuileries, theofficial residence of Louis XVI, and ransackedit. They killed the guards and took the king asprisoner. A new assembly called Conventionvoted that the king should be imprisoned anda new election conducted to elect a leader forthe country. In this election, every one abovethe age of 21 got the right to vote, without anydistinction in wealth, and status.
September Massacres
After the overthrow of the monarchy, thepeople believed that political prisoners in thejails were planning to join a plot of the counterrevolutionaries. So the mob descended on theprisons and summarily executed those they believedto be royalists. Commencing on 2 September1792, at Abbaye prison in Paris, it continued inthe next four days in other prisons of the city.
In all about 1,200 prisoners were killed in whatcame to be known as the September Massacres.The September Massacres were publicised abroadas proof of the horrors of revolution. The Girondinsblamed their more radical enemies, especiallyMarat, Danton and Robespierre.
Work of the National Convention
On 20 September 1792 the revolutionaryarmy halted the invading forces at Valmy.The next day the new Convention abolishedmonarchy and declared France a republic.King Louis XVI was brought before thePeople’s tribunal and executed by guillotine on21 January 1793. The offence he committed washis appeal to foreigners for help against his ownpeople. Soon afterwards Marie Antoinette wasbeheaded.
Against a background of growing hunger
in the towns and countryside alike, there
were demands from the Parisians to control
prices, to maintain grain supplies to feed
people and to take action against hoarders
and speculators. Instead of initiating steps to
meet the just demands of the Parisian masses,
the Convention used the army to attack the
agitating masses. The army suffered a series of
defeats as its commander deserted to the enemy.
Disillusioned peasants in the Vendee region in
the west of France joined a monarchist rising.
Finally moderates and royalists (29 May 1793)
together seized control of Lyons, where silk
industry was thriving and wealthy merchants
from Germany and Italy had settled.
Rule of Jacobins
Robespierre did not want to lose the gainsmade in the previous four years and hencecommenced his dictatorial rule. The Jacobinssent Girondin leaders to the guillotine, abeheading machine. Danton was beheaded.The period between 1793 and 1794 was alsoa time of radical reforms. On 4 February 1794the Jacobin-dominated Convention decreedthe abolition of slavery in all French Lands.Robespierre imposed a maximum ceiling on thewages of the people. Food items such as breadand meat were rationed. Prices were fixed bythe government for farm produces. The use ofSir and Madam was replaced by the use of thewords male citizen and female citizen. Religiousplaces such as churches were converted intoarmy barracks. Angered over the radicalisationof the government and at the base of society, hisown party members turned against Robespierre.He was convicted and finally executed in 1794.
Dr Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was a Frenchphysician, who in an article wrote about amachine to quickly execute the convicts.Though he did not invent such a machine,it was named after him. The invention isattributed to Antoine Louis.
The Directory
The allies who had overthrown Robespierredid not stay long in power. Those who hatedthe revolution began to take over the streetsof Paris, attacking anyone who tried to defendthe revolutionary ideals. There were two risingsin April and May 1795. But they were crushedby forces loyal to the new political group calledThermidorians. Emigres began to return to thecountry and boast that the monarchy would berestored soon.
Emigres: Persons who leave their owncountry in order to settle in another forpolitical reasons. In the present context, thenobles who fled France in the years followingthe French Revolution came to be calledémigrés.
In October 1795 the royalists staged a risingof their own in Paris. The army led by a risingofficer and one-time Jacobin named NapoleonBonaparte came to their assistance. Fearfulof bloodshed, the Thermidorians agreed toconcentrate power in the hands of a Directoryof five men. In four years, under one pretextor another, Napoleon gained power. In 1799Napoleon staged a coup which in effect gavehim dictatorial power. In 1804 Napoleon madethe Pope crown him as the Emperor of France.The French revolutionaries may have beendefeated, but much of the revolution’s heritagesurvived to shape the modern world.
Impact of French Revolution
- The French revolution created a deep impact, not only in France but also all over Europe, and even inspired anti colonial intellectuals and movements across the world in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- The French revolution brought to an end the rule of Louis XVI in France.
- It reduced social inequality. The privileges given to certain sections of the society based on birth were curtailed.
- It introduced a republican form of government with electoral rights.
- The feudal system was abolished Slavery was abolished though it took some more years for the total abolition of slavery.
- The Church lost it supremacy and it became subordinate to the state. Freedom of faith and religious tolerance had come to stay.
- The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizens brought to light the importance of personal and collective rights.
- The three organs of the government, namely, the legislative, executive and judiciary became prominent, and kept a check and balance on each other. It removed the oncentration of power under a single authority.
- All over Europe, the French Revolution gave the hope to the people to end the despotic rule and establish an egalitarian society.
Revolution in Latin America
The regions of Latin America wereconquered by the Spanish in the sixteenthcentury. The Portuguese and the French alsohad their presence there. The political powerof the South American cultures such as theIncas and the Aztecs was destroyed by thesecolonial powers. The colonizers (conquistadores)brought to an end the local religious beliefs andintroduced Catholic religion. The colonial rulein Latin America was brutal and was markedby widespread genocide and decimation of theindigenous population. The native people weremade to work as slave labourers in the farmlands as well as the mines of the colonial masterswho exported goods such as sugar, coffee, goldand silver to European nations. Latin America today consists of manynations such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru,Chile, Venezuela, and Caribbean countries inCentral and South America.
The Haitian Revolution
Haiti, earlier known as Saint-Domingue(as the French called their colony) was therichest French colony (1659–1804) in theCaribbean Sea. Its plantations produced moresugar than all of Europe’s other Caribbean andAmerican colonies put together. Th e island’sindigenous population, forced to mine forgold, was devastated by European diseasesand brutal working conditions, and by theend of the sixteenth century it had virtuallyvanished. Landowners in western Hispaniolaimported increasing numbers of African slaves.By 1789, the estimated 556,000 population ofSaint-Domingue included 500,000 Africanslaves, 32,000 European colonists (whites),and 24,000 free a ff r a n c h i s or mulattoes (blackpeople of mixed African and European descent).News of the storming of the Bastillewas followed by armed defi ance of the royalgovernor. Vincent Ogé, a mulatto, who hadlobbied with the Parisian assembly for colonialreforms, led an uprising in late 1790 but wascaptured and executed. In May 1791 the Frenchrevolutionary government granted citizenshipto the wealthier mulattoes who had even owned slaves. But Haiti’sEuropean populationdisregarded the law.Within two monthsisolated fi ghting brokeout between Europeanwhites and mulattoes.All of them expected theblack slaves to continue working, suff ering and dying as if nothing hadchanged. But they took them by surprise whenin August thousands of slaves rose in rebellion.
The European whites attempted to appeasethe mulattoes to quell the slave revolt. Th eFrench National Assembly granted citizenshipto all mulattoes in April 1792. Th e countrywas torn by rival factions, some of which wereplaying into the hands of Spanish colonistsin Santo Domingo or of British troops fromJamaica. In 1793, a commissioner, LégerFélicité Sonthonax, was sent from France tomaintain order. He off ered freedom to slaveswho joined his army. He soon abolished slaveryaltogether, a decision ratifi ed subsequently bythe French government.
In the late 1790s,Toussaint L’Ouverture,a military leader andformer slave, gainedcontrol of severalareas. Napoleon sent afleet of 12,000 troopsto seize control ofSaint-Domingue fromToussaint L’Ouverture’sforces. Th e war which followed was prolongedand bloody. At one point the French armyseemed to have won aft er Toussaint was misledinto believing in the possibility of conciliatingwith the enemy. But he was kidnapped andkilled. His former lieutenant Dessalines roseto the occasion and organised black resistance.He defeated Napoleon’s army. Saint Dominguebecame the independent black state of Haitiin 1804.
Venezuela and New Granada (now Columbia)
Inspired by the Haitian revolution, slavesin Venezuela rose in rebellion in the 1790s.Creoles (persons of mixed European and blackdescent) wanted an expansion of the free tradethat was benefiting their plantation economy.At the same time, however, they feared that theremoval of Spanish control might bring about arevolution that would destroy their own power.Therefore, they formed the strong loyalistfaction in the Viceroyalty of New Granada.In 1808 Napoleon had made his brotherJoseph the king of Spain after the abdication ofthe weak king Charles IV in favour of his sonFerdinand. Napoleon had them bothimprisoned. With Charles and Ferdinandremoved from the scene, the Empire waswithout a stable government for six years. Thepolitical crisis in Spain provided the opportunityfor the assertion of its colonies. Soon the rebelsas patriots organised revolutionarygovernments that introduced some social andeconomic reforms in 1810.In Venezuela thepatriots led by SimonBolivar openly declareda break with Spainthe following year.The earthquake thatwreakedparticulardestruction in patriotheld areas in 1812 provided the pretext forloyalist forces to crush the patriots’ army, anddrive Bolivar and others to seek refuge in NewGranada (the heart of the viceroyalty).
Bolívar soon returned to Venezuela with anew army in 1813 and waged a campaign withthe army’s motto, “Guerra a muerte” (“War tothe death”). The army led by loyalist Jose TomasBoves again succeeded in driving Bolívar outof his home country. By 1815 independencemovements in Venezuela and almost all acrossSpanish South America seemed dead. A largemilitary expedition sent by Ferdinand VII in that year re-conquered Venezuela and mostof New Granada. Yet another invasion led byBolívar in 1816 failed.The following year (1817) a larger andrevitalised independence movement emerged,winning the struggle in the north and takingit into the Andean highlands. Bolivar emergedas a strong military and political force after thestruggles. At this point a group of llaneros (cowboys) of mixed ethnicity led by Jose AntoniaPaez joined the struggle and contributeddecisively to the patriots’ military victories in1818–19. After leading his army up the faceof the eastern Andes, Bolívar dealt a crushingdefeat to his enemies in the Battle of Boyaca.
Consolidating victory in the north proveddifficult. A congress that Bolívar convened inAngostura in 1819 named Bolivar as presidentof Gran Colombia, a union of what are todayVenezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador.But the sharp divisions prevailing in the regionultimately dashed Bolívar’s hopes of unitingthe former Spanish colonies into a single newnation as United States of Latin America.Furthermore, loyalist supporters still heldmuch of Venezuela, parts of the ColombianAndes, and all of Ecuador. Conditions becamefavourable in 1820 troops waiting in Cádiz to besent as part of the crown’s military campaignsrevolted. Eventually New Granada andVenezuela were liberated in 1821. A congressheld that year in Cúcuta, a Columbian city,chose Bolívar president of a now much morecentralised Gran Colombia.
Simon Bolivar: Bolivar belonged to an oldaristocratic Creole family in Caracas. He wasof fundamental importance to the movementas an ideologue and military leader. In hismost famous “Jamaica Letter” (writtenduring one of his periods of exile, 1815),Bolívar affirmed his undying faith in thecause of independence, even in the face of thepatriots’ repeated defeats. While critiquingSpanish colonialism, Bolívar held the viewthat the only path for the former colonieswas the establishment of an autonomous andcentralised republican government. The typeof republic that he eventually espoused wasvery much an oligarchic one. He believedthat a virtuous governing system wouldnot be possible if the nation was divided byethnicity. Bolivar was an inspiring figure toleft-wing and emancipatory movements inLatin America even in the latter half of thetwentieth century.
Mexican Revolution
The independence of Mexico came late.Mexico had a powerful segment of Creoles andPeninsulars, who were the colonial masters bornin Spain or Portugal. For many of the powerful inMexican society, a break with Spain meant a lossof traditional status and power. Between 1808and 1810, Peninsulars had acted aggressively topreserve Spain’s power in the region. Rejectingthe notion of a congress that would address thequestion of governance in the absence of theSpanish king, leading Peninsulars in Mexico Citydeposed the viceroy and persecuted Creoles.They then welcomed weaker viceroys whom theyknew they could dominate. Peninsulars’ effortscould not, however, prevent the emergence of anindependence struggle.The revolution in Mexico was led by acatholic priest, Miguel Hidalgo. He supportedthe poor people of Mexico and sympathised withthe poor living conditions of Native Americans.His emotional speeches at the Church ofDolores called for independent Mexico. He leda revolutionary army consisting of Mestizos against the army of Spain and Creoles. However,he was defeated and killed in 1811. Later themovement was led by Jose Maria Morelos, whodeclared independence from Spain in 1813. Hewas also defeated in 1815.Mexican RevolutionThe independence of Mexico came late.Mexico had a powerful segment of Creoles andPeninsulars, who were the colonial masters bornin Spain or Portugal. For many of the powerful inMexican society, a break with Spain meant a lossof traditional status and power. Between 1808and 1810, Peninsulars had acted aggressively topreserve Spain’s power in the region. Rejectingthe notion of a congress that would address thequestion of governance in the absence of theSpanish king, leading Peninsulars in Mexico Citydeposed the viceroy and persecuted Creoles.They then welcomed weaker viceroys whom theyknew they could dominate. Peninsulars’ effortscould not, however, prevent the emergence of anindependence struggle.The revolution in Mexico was led by acatholic priest, Miguel Hidalgo. He supportedthe poor people of Mexico and sympathised withthe poor living conditions of Native Americans.His emotional speeches at the Church ofDolores called for independent Mexico. He leda revolutionary army consisting of Mestizos12th_History_EM_Unit_11.indd 165The Creoles or the wealthy merchants werewatching the developments in Spain where amovement to overthrow monarchy and to makea new constitution was afoot. Thinking that thismight reduce the power of the Creoles, theydeclared independence in 1821. It is interestingto note that the person who led the movementwas the same officer who defeated the armyof Maria Morelos. He declared himself as theemperor whose ruthless rule was overthrownfinally. In 1824 Mexico declared itself as arepublic.
Independence of Brazil
Brazil was a colonyof Portugal. WhenNapoleon invadedPortugal in 1808, thePortuguese emperorDam Joao (John VI)fled to Brazil. Hehad developed thecolony in all aspectsby introducing landreforms and establishing military, medical andart schools. Even after the defeat of Napoleon,the Portuguese ruler continued to stay in Brazil.But when his power was challenged he decidedto go to Portugal leaving the colony of Brazil inthe hands of his son Dom Pedro.The reliance of the Brazilian upper classeson African slavery favoured their continuedties with Portugal. Plantation owners depended on the African slave trade, which Portugalcontrolled. The size of the slave population – approximately half the total of Brazilianpopulation in 1800 – also meant that Creolesshied away from political initiatives that mightmean a loss of control over their social inferiors.Therefore, the Portuguese authorities at homeput an end to the reforms undertaken by Joaoin Brazil. They wanted Dom Pedro to returnto Portugal. However, Pedro declared Brazil’sindependence and decided to stay on. In 1822,Brazil obtained independence from Portugaland it became the only constitutional monarchyin South America with Pedro I becoming itsfirst emperor.
Other Revolts
The liberator ofArgentina, San Martinjoined the ChileanliberatorBernardoO’Higgins and bothwere able to getindependence for Chilein 1818 followed by Peruin 1820. Bolivar and SanMartin met at the port in Ecuador, Guayaquil,to discuss the future course of actions inLatin America and for a probable unification.While San Martin wanted European form ofgovernment with constitutional monarchy inthe colonies, Bolivar wanted republican formof government. Though they could not reachany agreement, San Martin retired and allowedBolivar to take full command. Bolivar could getindependence for all South American coloniesby 1826.
After the independence of all the colonies,Bolivar tried to unite all Latin Americancountries under one nation called GranColombia. However, the rugged geographicalfeatures with mountains and forests along withpower struggles could not make it a reality.
Though most of the Latin American countriesdeclared themselves as republics and were freefrom Spanish rule, they were still dependentto a greater extent on foreign powers. While Mexico was invaded by the US and France, inthe course of the nineteenth century, Britaincontinued to exercise its dominating influenceover countries like Argentina and Chile for along time to come. In each Latin Americancountry oligarchic cliques ran rival Liberal andConservative parties and preserved unequalsocial structure characterised by extremeprivilege to great landowners and grindingpoverty to the underprivileged.In the twentieth century, especially afterWorld War II, South America was a troubledcontinent as USA sought to control it by pliantdictatorial governments (often referred to asbanana republics).
Industrial Revolution
In the aftermath of the French Revolution,when Napoleon was holding the entire Europeto ransom, another revolution which wasdestined to affect the history of mankind wastaking place in England. This was the IndustrialRevolution. Industrial Revolution refers to theadoption of a system of producing commoditieson a large scale in huge factories. This wasopposed to the old system of making goods inthe cottages or workshops by the artisans.
The first phase of the Revolution was theappearance of certain important inventionswhich revolutionised the cotton industry. Theuse of steam helped to abandon the old methodof smelting iron by means of charcoal. Thecoal and iron industries made rapid progress.
Then the means of communication made greatstrides. Locomotive, the first passenger railway(1830), steam boat and use of electric telegraph(1835) came into existence. In a period ofabout a hundred years England was thoroughlytransformed.
The second Industrial Revolution (between1870 and 1914) witnessed new innovations insteel production, petroleum and electricity.The whole of Europe and North Americabegan to feel the impact of the first IndustrialRevolution during this period.
Main Features
The essential feature of Industrial Revolutionwas application of science to industry. The use ofiron and steel, the use of new sources of energy orfuels such as coal, steam, and iron, the inventionof new machines that increased production, anew method of organisation of work known asthe factory system, which involved increaseddivision of labour and specialisation of skill, anddevelopments in transport and communicationmade possible the mass production ofmanufactured goods.
Causes of Industrial Revolution in England
The Industrial Revolution started first inBritain due to a variety of causes.
(a) The impact of Commercial Revolution.Revolution in trade and commerce broughtinto existence a class of capitalists whowere constantly seeking new opportunitiesto invest their surplus wealth. As a result,more and more capital was made availablefor the development of manufacturing.
(b) Though a later entrant to the race inestablishing colonies overseas, Britaingained supremacy over a period of time. Itdefeated the European powers such as Spain,Portugal, and France. In the beginning ofthe 18th century, Britain had colonies inone fourth of the world and ruled over 25%of the world population in Africa, Americaand Asia. So there was a growing demandfor industrial products from these Empirecolonies.
(c) The markets at home were also expanding asthe population grew. In England, populationrose from four million in 1600 to six millionin 1700 and nine million by the end of theeighteenth century.
(d) The drain of wealth to England from variouscolonies, notably from India, providedthe capital necessary for investment inindustries.
(e) Compared to other European countries,Britain was more liberal. Political stabilityalso provided objective conditions forindustrial development.
(f) The availability of coal and iron depositsin large quantities in England was anothercontributory factor. By 1800, Britain wasproducing ten million tons of coal, or 90%of the world’s output.
(g) Before the industrial revolution, Britainregistered rapid agricultural growth. Morelands were brought under cultivation throughmechanisation. Small land holdings wereconsolidated into larger enclosures underthe control of wealthy private landownersand the method of crop rotation along withthe new farming techniques yielded moreproduce. But it also caused unemploymentamong the agricultural labourers. Pauparisedpeasants moved to the cities and became theworkforce for various factories from the mideighteenth century.
(h) The British had well established ports allacross the coast which enabled easy internaland external trade.
(i) The geographical location of England,slightly away from the mainland andrelatively safe from foreign invasions, wasanother cause for industrial revolution.
(j) Finally the temperate climate of the Britishisles was favourable for the manufacturingof cotton cloth.
Important Inventions during Industrial Revolution
The factory System: Before the industrialrevolution, production took place in smallworkshops or in the cottages of the workers.Potters, wheel makers, cart makers, spinnersand weavers used their skill and strength toproduce the desired goods. With the advent ofnew inventions, the tasks were performed bymachines that needed to be operated at regularintervals by skilled or semi-skilled people.Factories became the places where the goodswere produced in large quantities.
Cotton Industries: The first factorieswere established in the cotton industry. Thisbecame possible due to the invention ofspinning jenny, flying shuttle, water frame andCrompton’s Mule. Flying shuttle was inventedby John Kay in 1733. Before this inventionthe thread in the shuttle in the weaver’s handhad to be carried slowly across and throughthe other threads placed lengthwise, calledthe warp. The flying shuttle quickened thisprocess and thus doubled the weaver’s output.Spinning Jenny, invented in 1764 by JamesHargreaves, could spin eight threads at thesame time while in the traditional methodonly one thread could be spun. Water frame,developed in 1769 by Richard Arkwright, wasable to spin 128 threads at a time. Crompton’sMule, a combination of Water Frame andSpinning Jenny, was invented by SamuelCrompton. It gave greater control over theweaving process and as a result, spinnerscould make many different types of yarn.
In 1700, only 500 tons of cotton wereimported by Britain. With innovations inspinning and weaving and the rise of factoryproduction in textiles, the demand of rawcotton increased dramatically. By 1860, thecountry was importing 500,000 tons each year.By the early nineteenth century, Manchester,the centre of the British textile industry, hadacquired the nickname “Cottonopolis”.
Iron industries: Traditionally ironcould be extracted from iron ore by heating(smelting) it. For this, a large quantum ofcharcoal was required which was obtainedby burning firewood. Sources of coal haddepleted by 1700 because of deforestation.Britain partially solved the problem, asabout 1709, Abraham Darby a coal owner inDerbyshire, discovered that coke could beused for melting. The chief obstacle for theextraction of coal was the accumulation ofwater in the mines. What they found usefulwas a device, developed first by ThomasNewcomen in 1712, to pump the water fromthe coal mines. This was further improvedby James Watt in 1769. He joined handswith an entrepreneur (Mathew Boulton) andtogether they produced more than 500 steamengines that were used to supply power to thenew factories. The coming of power-drivenmachinery meant the rise of the factorysystem on a wide scale.
Coke was smokeless and could produce moreheat than charcoal. Due to this, iron industrieswere set up near coal mines. Due to the rapidproduction of iron many household objects suchas spoons and pans were made of iron. Even thefactories were built with strong iron girders.
Fascinated by the use of iron in the massive structures, the French in 1889 constructed the 324-metre-tall the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Steam Engines: The steamboat precededthe steam engine as a means of locomotion. Onthe Firth of Clyde Canal there was a steam boatin 1802. In 1804 the first locomotive was made.In 1830 the first passenger railway betweenLiverpool and Manchester was opened. GeorgeStephenson’s engine, “The Rocket,” functionedwith a speed of over thirty miles an hour,unimaginable at that time.
In 1807, an American Robert Fultonmade the first successful steam boat. In April1838, the first steasmships, the Sirius and theGreat Western, crossed the Atlantic. IsambardKingdom Brunel, an English Engineer, built thefirst fully iron ship with the screw propellerscalled SS Great Britain in 1843. In earlier times,instead of screw propellers, paddle wheels wereused.Roads: With the increase in production,it became important to have good roads.However, the roads were of poor quality and thetravelling time was long and strenuous. Due tothe pressure exercised by leading industrialistsroads were maintained by turnpikes, whocollected toll from the people for the propermanagement of the roads. John LoudonMcAdam invented an effective and economicalmethod of constructing roads.
In 1835 the firstelectric telegraph cameinto existence. Sixteenyears later the firstundersea cable was laidbetween England andFrance. In a few years thetelegraph system spreadthroughout the world.The modern factorywith its giant chimneys began to dominate thelandscape of the area around Manchester inLancashire and Glasgow in Scotland. In 1750,England had two cities with more than 50,000inhabitants, London and Edinburgh. By 1851 thenumber of cities of this size had increased to 29.
Second Stage of Industrial Revolution : Germany and the USA
The significant discoveries of the SecondIndustrial Revolution emanated more fromthe laboratory of the physicist or chemist thanfrom the brain of the individual inventor.The other essential features of the SecondIndustrial Revolution were the introductionof automatic machinery, and the enormousincrease in mass production and a divisionof the labour into minute segments of themanufacturing process.
Throughout the eighteenth centurythere was steady industrial development andgreat commercial activity in Western Europe.This was exemplified by the developmentof banking, and improvement in internal means of communication such as roads andcanals. In France and Prussia there werefactories under state patronage. Glass worksat Le Creusot, and the linen manufacture ofSilesia were important. On the continent ofEurope, the Napoleonic Wars checked theprogress of commerce and industry. But withthe coming of peace, English machines werefreely introduced in France and Germany.During the thirty years that followed thefall of Napoleon, steam came rapidly intouse throughout Western Europe. By 1847,in cities of France such as Paris, Lyons,Marseilles, Bordeaux and Toulouse there weregreat factories. The English scientist MichaelFaraday had invented the idea of electricityand a few years later the American inventorThomas Alva Edison had perfected his modelof a light bulb for home use. This led to themaking of electrical generators in the 1870s,thereby making public electricity possible.
In Germany, states led by Prussia usedBritish techniques in industrial productionand manufacturing. The Zollverein, as theunion of States with free trade as their commonpolicy, was formed by Prussia. This led to theremoval of tariff wall. The unification ofGermany in 1871 made industrial developmentmore rapid. The invention and use of electricityand along with this the invention of Dieselengine by Rudolf Diesel helped the Germansto be the masters of automobile industry inEurope. Daimler and Benz became the mostpopular brands of automobile in Germany andthe world. Germany made its mark in iron andsteel industry. Germany contributed to the useof chemicals in agriculture, dye in the textileindustry, and electronics goods industry.
By the end of thenineteenth centuryGermany emerged asthe most industrialisedcountry. It surpassed thehome of the IndustrialRevolution, Britain,and proved to be acompetitor of the UnitedStates. In electrics,German companies like Siemens outshone itscounterparts in other countries. In chemicals,Germany excelled in the production ofpotassium salt, dyes, pharmaceutical products,and synthetics. Companies like Bayer andHoechst led the chemical industry of Germany.
Industrial Revolution in USA
The USA waslargelyanSamuel Slateragrariancountry in the earlynineteenth century.
There was an increase inpopulation along withthe number of colonies.Samuel Slater, a citizen ofEngland, having gainedthe experience of operating a mill offered hisservices to Moses Brown, a leading Rhode Islandindustrialist, who had earlier made an abortiveattempt to operate a mill. Brown agreed, andin consequence the mill became operationalin 1793, being the first water-powered rollerspinning textile mill in the Americas. By 1800,Slater’s mill had been duplicated by manyother entrepreneurs. Andrew Jackson, the U.S.President hailed him as “Father of the AmericanIndustrial Revolution.”
Samuel F.B. Morse’s invention of thetelegraph and Elias Howe’s invention of thesewing machine came before the Civil war.After the Civil war, industrialisation went on ata rapid pace. In 1869, the first transcontinentalrailroad was completed to transport people,raw materials and manufactures. The inventionof electric bulb by Thomas Alva Edison (1879)and telephone by Alexander Graham Bell (1876)changed the whole world.
The Industrial Revolution quickened theprocess of the transition of the United Statesfrom a rural to an urban society. Young peopleraised on farms saw greater opportunities in thecities and moved there. There was unprecedentedurbanisation and territorial expansion in the USand, as a result, between 1860 and 1900, fourteenmillion immigrants came to the country,providing workers for a wide variety of industries.
Impact of Industrial Revolution
- If the Renaissance changed people’s approach to life, the Industrial Revolutionchanged the way they had existed since the agrarian times. The mechanisation of industry resulted in much greater production and therefore it produced greater wealth. But this new wealth went to a small group, the owners of the new industries.
- The Industrial Revolution solved the problem of production. But not the problem of distribution of new wealth created.
- Machine-made manufactures ruined the handicrafts and rendered tens of thousands of artisans and weavers jobless.
- During the first phase of the Industrial Revolution the introduction of machines meant that able-bodied men were thrown out of employment by the cheap labour of women and children. Moreover, many of the factories and mines were dangerous and unsanitary.
- An important outcome of the Industrial Revolution was the creation of two new classes: an industrial bourgeoisie and a proletariat. To the industrial bourgeoisie most forms of government intervention, except protective tariffs and suppression of strikes, were allergic. They insisted that free enterprise was absolutely essential to vigorous economic growth.
- The new class of industrial workers did not simply suffer. Towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars, strong waves of agitations began. The struggle went through different phases: machine breaking, mass demonstrations and formation of collectives (trade unions).
Peterloo Massacre: In 1819, a year of industrial depression and high food prices, a great demonstration was organised by the radical leader Henry Hunt. About 60,000 persons attended, including a large number of women and children. None was armed, and their demonstration was peaceful. The magistrates, who were alarmed by the size and mood of the crowd, ordered the Manchester yeomanry (a voluntary cavalry corps) to attack the crowd. More than 700 people were injured and 17 killed. Hunt and the other radical leaders were arrested, tried, and convicted.
Tolpuddle Prosecution: The Whig government in Britain, alarmed at the growing discontent of the working-class, arrested six Tolpuddle labourers (1834) for organising the labourers against the proposed wage cuts. All the six were convicted and sentenced to seven years’ transportation to a penal colony in Australia. The six became martyrs for the cause of labour.
Great Railroad Strike of 1877 in the USA
The bad working conditions in the factories, long hours of work, low wages, exploitation of women and children contributed to the growth of labour unions in the USA. After the Civil War, workers organised strikes and one major strike was the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Wage cuts in the railroad industry, in the context of a prolonged economic depression, led to the strike. The strike was crushed by a combination of vigilantes, National Guardsmen, and the Federal Army.
Haymarket MassacreA labour protest took place on 4 May 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour day and in reaction to the killing of several workers the previous day by the police. An unknown person threw a bomb at the police as they began to disperse the crowd. The bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven policeofficers and at least four civilians; scores of others were wounded. To ommemorate the Haymarket Affair 1 May 1887 is observed as the Labour Day or May Day or International Workers’ Day.
Conclusion
Oppressive taxation measures of Britainand the resistance of colonists leading to theoutbreak of American War of Independenceare narrated.The course and outcome of the War along withthe significance of Revolution are assessed.The woeful conditions of peasantry,the financial bankruptcy of the Frenchgovernment, and the revolutionary ideasarticulated by the intellectuals of the timeleading to the French Revolution of 1789are explained.The formation of National Assembly and itsDeclaration of Rights of Man and Citizenare detailed.The execution of the French king and theabolition of monarchy, and the work doneby the National Convention dominated bythe Jacobins are elaborated.Revolution in the French-controlled SaintDomingue followed by revolutions in otherLatin American countries like Venezuela,Columbia, Mexico and Brazil are highlighted.The essential features and causes of IndustrialRevolution of England, the machinesinvented and the use of steam revolutionisingcotton, and iron industries and transport andcommunication systems are dealt with.The Second Industrial Revolution inWestern Europe, notably in Germany, andin the US is explored.Impact of Industrial Revolution and theincidence of state violence on organisedworking class movement in England andAmerica are related.