Liberty+and+Equality

Lindsey Pratt All of the political revolutions in this time period claimed to be democratically based and seeking liberty and equality. Which revolutions achieved this? Why did many revolutions not achieve the liberty and equality they wanted?


 * __ Liberty and Equality: __**

__**The American Revolution:**__ Slaves, Indentured servants, artisan laborers, mariners and small farmers, who were not in a dominant social position, wanted real social and economic equality and were ready to gain it by way of revolution. In the end, the American Revolution produced freedom and equality. However, the terms of the freedom and equality were more beneficial to elite groups. Racial inequality was built into the national government system and slaves were still treated unfairly, counted as only three-fifths of a person, and were still unable to vote. The American Revolution mostly gained what it set out to get.

Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire, Montesque, and Rousseau agreed that a better system of government was one where each individual was free to help choose a government through voting, since this was an equal thing. However, the monarchs obviously didnt like this, and they raised the tax on every day items and food; for instance, bread. In the end, the French Revolution produced the civil liberties of speech, religion, and assembly, as well as equality before the law. It also meant that the clergy and the nobles lost their special legal privileges. For the most part, the French Revolution gained what it sought to get, however it didnt last long because Napolean Bonaparte came to be the new dictator and the reforms were rolled back under.
 * __The French Revolution:__**

Slaves in Haiti made up the vast majority of the population and were oppressed on a daily basis in many ways, and were also thoroughly deprived economically. They wanted to get rid of slavery and the social inequality that it entailed. And since the colony was 90 percent slave, this issue was inevitably the focus of the revolution. Still, voting was restricted to whites who owned twenty or more slaves. This meant that the //grands blancs// were only able to vote among the whites, and the //petits blancs// were not. //Grands blancs// argued for liberty to represent the colony and the //petits blancs// demanded polititcal equality with the //grands//. Slavery was eventually abolished, and it became known as one of the most successful slave revolts in the Atlantic world. Because the //petits// and the //grands// wanted to keep the white privilege, the rebels drove them off the island. The //gens de couleur// wanted to keep the right to own slaves, and so the rebels drove them off the island. The Haitian Revolution only got about half of what it set out to get, because the wishes of the //grands//, the //petits//, and the //gens de couleur// were swept aside when the slave rebellion overtook the nation, thereby allowing the slavery to be abolished.
 * __The Haitian Revolution:__**

The hacendados wanted the freedom to sell heir cocoa and coffee on the open world market to get more money. However, Spain saw the hacendados as their steady source of income and so they prevented them from selling outside of Spanish markets. But when Napolean's conquest of Spain in 1808 came along, it provided the hacendados with the rare oppurtunity. In the end, restrictions on trade were lifted, along with the abolition of taxes on food, of Indian tribute payments to the government, and of slavery itself. All this satisfied the goals of the other Venezuelan groups. But unfortunately, Spain briefly reconquered Venezuela after Napolean's fall in 1814 and restored slavery. The revolution did, however, end Spain's mercantilist restrictions on Venezuelan commerce and the new republic traded its cocoa and coffee on the open world market. All this to say, that Venezuelan Revolution got what it set out to get, which was the freedom to trade on the open world markets.
 * __The Venezuelan Revolution:__**

American Revolution- got what it wanted French Revolution- got what it wanted but lost it due to the rise of Napolean. Haitian Revolution- got half of what it wanted. Venezuelan Revolution- got pretty much what it wanted and a little more.
 * __Over-view:__**