Week #6 Post (Chapters 17, 18 & 20)

I especially enjoyed reading about the Atlantic Revolutions. I was unaware of the interrelatedness of the revolutions. First, and most obvious, I did not realize or remember that these revolutions took place in such a short time frame. I had in the past learned about all of these revolutions separately, but the text did a great job of identifying the underlying currents that connected these events.

I found it interesting that the "British colonists were 'republican in their manners...and their government' well before their independence from England." This notion that the American Revolution "was not accompanied by any wholesale social transformation, but rather accelerated the established democratic tendencies of the colonial societies" is enlightening to me. When I learned about the American Revolution in the early 1980s, the focus was more heavily placed on the patriots and their belief that the revolution created "a new order for the ages" and "a new and more noble course." Certainly the American Revolution had a profound impact on much of the world and inspired other revolutions, but the fact that the existing society was already revolutionary is fascinating.

I was especially intrigued by the Haitian Revolution, "the only completely successful slave revolt in world history." I would love to learn more about the aftermath of the revolution, and if there was any way that what was once "the richest colony in the world" could have avoided the instability and poverty that has gripped that country ever since. Strayer mentions that the plantation system was largely destroyed, and that "Haiti became a nation of small-scale farmers producing mostly for their own needs, with a much smaller export sector." That is probably a key point. Haiti would probably have had a hard time trading with other nations after the revolution, as external opposition persisted. Another major obstacle included "its bitter internal divisions of race, color, and class."

On a lighter note, I found it amusing that taxation played a prominent role in the American, French, and Spanish revolutions. It seems that nothing fires up the people capable of starting a revolution (the wealthiest citizens) more than taking money out of their pocket.