Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

The essential question for this lesson was "Were the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 really failures as many historians have concluded?" To answer this, we had to learn about the revolutions and rate them on a success/failure scale. We split into groups and each group got a revolution to research. Then we made SurveyMonkeys for our revolution and had the other groups take it.
My group had the French Revolution of 1848. We learned that the working class liberals wanted a French Republic where everyone could vote. They opposed Louis Philippe and his government because there was a recession in Paris. The February days began, in which people overturned carts and toppled trees. Demonstrators were killed by troops. Louis Philippe stepped down from the throne and the Second Republic was created by a group of liberal, radical, and socialist leaders. By June, middle and upper class citizens had taken over the government. They shut down national workshops built by socialists because they thought they were a waste of money. Thus the June days began. There were violent protests that left at least 1,500 dead. But by the end of 1848, the National Assembly set up a constitution for the Second Republic in hope to restore control. A president and one-house legislature was created. The right to vote was also given to all adult men, creating the largest suffrage in the world at the time. Napoleon III was elected to the throne. The revolution was not a complete success or failure. It was successful in that Napoleon III became emperor; however, liberals, socialists, and radicals could not agree on government and led to revolts.

results from our survey

Before the French Revolution of 1848, there was the French Revolution of 1830. Charles X took the throne after his brother, Louis XVIII, died. He was a supporter of absolutism, the exact opposite of what his brother was for. In 1824, he took a lot of rights away from the people, like the right to vote and the press. This did not make the liberals and radicals happy, so they resorted to violence, causing Charles X to flee to England. Louis Philippe then took the throne, extending suffrage, but only to the upper classes. The other people suffered, meaning this revolution was in the middle of the success/failure scale. Another revolution that was researched by a different group was the Decembrist Revolt of 1825. After Tsar Alexander died, it was assumed that Constantine would take the throne. He had the same ideals as the people, which is why they wanted him to rule. Much to their dismay, Tsar Nicholas instead took the throne. He felt strongly about the military, didn't believe in democracy, and didn't want lower classes to have any say in the government. The people wanted to overthrow Tsar Nicholas and put Constantine in, which would give them a constitution and put an end to the widespread poverty. They gathered in crowds around guards, and when stopped by Tsar Nicholas, they told him they wanted Constantine as a ruler. He had no choice but to fire on his own people. This revolution was considered the only complete failure because the people did not get what they wanted.
I don't think that the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 were failures. There was only one complete failure and the good effects outweigh the bad. While mostly the upper classes prospered, some of the lower classes got something good out of the revolutions.

Temperance Reform Pamphlet

Temperance Poster, c. 1830s

This poster was made by people involved in the Temperance Movement. They were trying to tell "drunkards" what they were doing wrong and how they were affecting the people around them in a negative way. The source is true to what the people believed during that time: that drunks were a hazard to society and needed to be stopped. The Temperance Movement was started by women who faced domestic violence as an effect of alcohol on their husbands. They wanted people to abstain from alcohol because they were a danger to their families. That is why this poster says "You are a thief and a robber"-drunkards are robbing their families of "necessary means of support". The author uses strong descriptions and compares drunks to other criminals as a way to try to get them to realize what they were doing wrong. I think this poster is very effective in the way it displays the wrongs in alcohol abuse.

The Rise of Democracy

Our essential question was "How should we define democracy? How democratic was the United States in the early 1800s?" To answer this question, we got into groups and made posters titled "What is Democracy?" First, we analyzed a painting on a county election and read an article that went with it. Then we analyzed two voting charts and read two primary sources. We gathered our notes and put all of our thoughts into small explanations for each document. Then we created the poster.
The result was a poster with the dictionary definition of democracy and then explanations as to how democratic the United States was in the early 1800s based on the documents. Democracy is defined as "a system of government where the power is invested in the people or through freely elected representatives". Our poster shows how the United States circa the early 1800s wasn't very democratic, especially when it came to elections.

Jackson: For the People?

In this lesson, we learned about Andrew Jackson and his policies regarding banks, Native Americans, and government officials. The essential question was: Is Andrew Jackson's long-standing reputation as "the people's president" deserved? Why or why not? To answer this, first we watched a Ted Ed video and a Crash Course video on Andrew Jackson. Then, we got into six groups of four and were assigned either the bank war, the spoils system, or the Indian Removal Act to make a presentation on in order to answer the essential question.

Jackson put the spoils system into place when he was in office. This replaced government officials with those who were loyal to Jackson. This often resulted in incompetence and inability in the workers. Jackson also used the military to collect taxes. The spoils system backfired on him when, even after being warned of his criminal record, he gave Samuel Swartwout a job. Swartwout then stole almost two million dollars from the government. Jackson also put the Indian Removal Act into place. This moved five tribes from their territories to the West along the infamous Trail of Tears. Jackson claimed he was moving the Indians because they die around white men; however, he ultimately satisfied the needs of white men for territory. Last but not least, Jackson fought with the Second National Bank. It was controlled by the rich, and he believed that they were taking advantage of the poor/lower classes. His main goal was to prevent the average American from being exploited. He thought that new and growing corporations would destroy small businesses. Therefore, he vetoed the bill that would extend the bank's charter. Doing this put Jackson at risk for losing his reelection, but he did it anyways because it was what he believed in. He ended up being reelected. However, after Jackson's presidency ended, the Panic of 1837 occurred because of his bank policies. You can look at our presentation on Jackson and the bank war down below.

As we can see, Andrew Jackson really had the right intentions when it came to his presidency. For the most part, he tried to protect the "average American" (meaning white men). However, his plans were poorly executed. Andrew Jackson was a "people's president" in the sense that he wanted and attempted to look out for the average American. However, he was not a people's president in the way he performed his duties. 

Latin American Revolutions

The essential question for this lesson was: Why is it essential to acknowledge human value regardless of race? How are the events in the Latin American Revolutions evidence of this social imperative? This is an important question to ask ourselves because when human value is not acknowledged, revolts and the destruction of nations can occur. We see this proven by the Latin American Revolutions. To learn about the cause and effects of the revolutions in Latin America, each group received a revolution to read about (Mexico, Gran Columbia, and Brazil) and make a timeline for and then shared with those in other groups.
This is the timeline we made for the Mexican Revolution. It explains how Napoleon's occupation of Spain led to Spanish American revolts and how, eventually, Mexico became a republic. Along the way, you see Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla's impact and the treaties signed before the republic was put into place.

We made groups of 2 people from each revolution and presented our timelines to the other group members. Then, as a class, we discussed commonalities and differences between the revolutions. We noticed that all three revolutions were successful and took place in the early 1800s. However, we also noticed that the Brazilian Revolution was significantly less violent than the other two and that Gran Columbia ended up splitting into several independent countries.

Though many people preach racial equality, a lot of times there is still judgment regarding race. It never really ended. Just this past week, the very controversial Ferguson case was in the news. It's important to consider the issue of race because riots can still occur and lives can be lost.

How Should We Remember Toussaint Louverture?

Most leaders can be characterized into the same category: honest, courageous, generous, and humane people. Toussaint Louverture was able to rise to leadership in Saint Domingue through his fight for abolishing slavery. He began his life as a slave, working as a herder, coachman, and overseer. Once granted freedom, Toussaint rented a coffee plantation and obtained slaves of his own. In 1789, word of the French Revolution spread to Saint Domingue, where revolts began after plantation owners refused to free their slaves. Plantations were burned and many were killed. Toussaint emerged as a leader, having worked secretly to help slaves gain their freedom. He commanded a rebel army against the French until the revolutionary government in France abolished slavery, when he quickly switched sides to support France. Toussaint was appointed commander-in-chief of the Saint Domingue army, and became the most powerful person living there. However, soon Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Saint Domingue with the intent to reinstate slavery. Toussaint was captured and died in a jail in France. Toussaint Louverture is known as a liberator of slaves, a ruler of Saint Domingue, and a military commander.

Toussaint’s role as a liberator of slaves is his greatest legacy as he left the biggest impact in that area of his life. Most of his life was spent trying to abolish slavery. In 1791, he became a doctor for the troops in the slave revolt and commands a small amount of soldiers. He began his career as a military commander and fought against the French until the revolutionary government in France abolished slavery. He then sided with the French. (A) Toussaint was concerned with abolishing slavery much more than fighting against a specific enemy and would take any side that was fighting against slavery. In 1796, the abolition was threatening to expand to Jamaica, which Britain became worried by, so Toussaint formed an army against the British. (A) Toussaint wrote a letter to the French Directory in 1797 as the people of Saint Domingue feared that the Directory would reinstate slavery. He returns to the side of the people of Saint Domingue and tells the French that it would be impossible to reinstate slavery because the people had already confronted “danger to our liberty” and would “confront death to preserve it”. (B) They would die before they would give up their liberty again. In the Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801, Toussaint signed for his agreement. In Article 3, it states that: “There cannot exist slaves in this territory, servitude is therein forever abolished. All men are born, live and die free and French.” ( C ) When Napoleon attempted to reinstate slavery in 1802, he was able to capture Toussaint and send him to jail. (A) Toussaint died in a French jail, but his effect on Saint Domingue did not die with him.

Toussaint Louverture was known as a great ruler of Saint Domingue. The colony had to find a new leader to give it structure as there was no more slavery and everyone could really do as they please. However, they needed to continue their agricultural work as their biggest exports were sugar and coffee. In the Constitution of 1801, Article 14 says: “The colony being essentially agricultural cannot suffer the least disruption in the works of its cultivation.” ( C ) In order to continue to prosper as a colony, the people of Saint Domingue had to continue the plantation work they had been doing as slaves and the landowners were still in charge of the plantations; however, Toussaint gave them rights to receive part of the profits: “Each cultivator and each worker is a member of the family and is entitled to a share in the revenues.” ( C ) Toussaint was elected as the leader of Saint Domingue because the people knew of him and trusted him. However, they soon began leaving plantations because they felt as if they were still slaves. In the Proclamation of 25 November 1801, Toussaint had to enforce laws to keep workers at their own plantations in order to keep production going. Children had to start working when they could walk; plantation owners who allow runaway cultivators on their plantations could go to prison; the runaway cultivators could be arrested and sent to the police. (D) In a matter of only five months, the workers had gone awry; however, Toussaint was able to put laws into effect that would contribute to the growth of Saint Domingue and prevent work from being stopped.

Toussaint Louverture was known as a military leader of Saint Domingue. In 1801, his nephew Hyacinthe Moyse became angry with his uncle because of his labor policies. Moyse and other former slaves didn’t trust Toussaint because he was very friendly with the white plantation owners and his work requirements were believed to be too harsh. On October 29, Moyse led a revolt and killed many white plantation owners. Toussaint was furious and ordered the rebels to kill themselves. (E) He could have prevented by the rebellion by listening to Moyse and the other former slaves; however, he was able to end the rebellion quickly and efficiently. (D) Later in 1801, Napoleon travelled over to Saint Domingue with the intent of reinstating slavery. Toussaint had to lead his army, who all trusted him for his “superior knowledge of the character of his race, his humanity, generosity, and courage.” (F) Toussaint, the “heroic chief”, gave his troops a speech and told them that they would not be enslaved again. They took to the mountains in order to avoid the French threatening to invade. (D) His military tactics prevented a battle they would have been destined to lose.

Toussaint Louverture was a famous ruler, liberator, and commander. What made him special was the ways in which he handled all three jobs and still managed to keep relative order in Saint Domingue. The commonality shown through all three legacies is that he was always for the abolition of slavery. This is why his role as a liberator of slaves was his most important: it carried through all of his work. Toussaint Louverture will always be remembered for the way he impacted Saint Domingue and its people.

Bibliography

A: various sources, Timeline of Abolition in Saint Domingue

B: Toussaint L’Ouverture, “Letter to the French Directory, November 1797”

C: The Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801, Signed by Toussaint Louverture

D: Toussaint Louverture, “Proclamation, 25 November 1801”

E: Madison Smartt Bell, Toussaint Louverture: A Biography, 2007

F: William Wells Brown, “A Description of Toussaint Louverture”: The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements, 1863

Congress of Vienna

The essential question for this lesson was: What should people in power do when their power is threatened? In groups, we read a background reading, then had each group member find a characteristic of the Congress of Vienna, such as the mood, the attendees, the circumstances, and the questions they were addressing. We learned that representatives from France, Prussia, Russia, Austria, and Great Britain convened to figure out how to reconstruct the continent after the war, make up to those who lost family by Napoleon's hands, and correct the wrongs of the past. We also watched a video on Klemens von Metternich, the prince of Austria, conversing with Napoleon.

The first issue Metternich and the other Europeans dealt with was changes to the map of Europe. They wanted to reverse the changes of Napoleon's conquest. Prussia, Russia, Austria, France, and Great Britain all gained land and restored their old borders. The changing of the map restored a balance of power between the five major European leaders. Many countries were disappointed, however, because they lost land and power. The balance of power destroyed any threats to France, Prussia, Russia, Great Britain, and Austria's power, but left the rest of Europe disappointed.
I believe that if all the Congress of Vienna wanted to do was prevent their power from being threatened, then the balance of power was the right way to go. However, the whole purpose of the Congress of Vienna was to help those who suffered under Napoleon and correct the wrongs of the past. That they failed in doing because the balance of power only benefited the five European powers. There were no wars between them until 1853, but there were many revolutions, including the Revolution of 1848, which caused Metternich to flee Vienna. In order to benefit the whole continent and keep peace, the Congress of Vienna should have sacrificed some of their power.