CHAPTER 23

Political Revolutions

IN THIS CHAPTER

Summary: In the period between 1750 and 1900, the Industrial Revolution was joined by political
revolutions. Enlightenment philosophies that society could improve through education and reason led
to revolution in the British North American colonies, France, and Haiti in the latter part of the
eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. Additional Latin American independence movements
flourished in the early nineteenth century. In China, the Qing dynasty faced local revolts as it
gradually declined.

Key Terms

Bill of Rights
bourgeoisie
Boxer Rebellion
Code Napoleon
communism
Congress of Vienna
conscription
conservatism
Declaration of Independence
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen
estates
Estates-General
feminism
Gran Colombia
Jacobins*
Jamaica Letter