Atlantic World Chapter 1 Summary

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In Revolutions in the Atlantic World: A Comparative History, Wim Klooster examined and compared four Atlantic World Revolutions: The American Revolution, The French Revolution, The Haitian Revolution, and the Spanish Revolutions. Klooster provided an introduction to global events leading up to the eighteenth and early nineteenth century Atlantic World revolutions. He then devoted a chapter to each revolution, and in the fifth and final chapter conducted a comparative discussion. Klooster approached the studies with specific ideas in mind; 1) International context was mandatory, 2) They were not inevitable. 3) There was an element of civil war and, 4) Democracy was not the goal.
Klooster however was not putting together a comprehensive
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Britain’s continued fiscal measures chipped away at colonial sentiments. The French parliament’s political power undermined Louis XVI legitimacy. France’s imprisonment of Spain’s Ferdinand VII left the Spanish colonies ungoverned in their eyes, and when he returned to power, Ferdinand’s inflexibility caused resentments. Klooster argued four reasons that revolutionary agendas succeeded: A) State policies became increasing unpopular, B) the groups that were not happy with the state policies were excluded from state power bases or representation, C) inadequate shows of power or policing by the state, and D) violence by the state to the groups. Thus, the nation-states escalated or exasperated tensions by making critical errors. Another reason Klooster deduced that the revolutions were not inevitable was due to the conflict and division, the civil war element, within the colony. Loyalists and opposing factions did exist and exerted influence.
Klooster stated that the “revolutionary” agenda was sovereignty, not democracy, and could easily have evolved into a dictatorship, as occurred in France. Nor was hard won sovereignty always a pleasant relief. Haiti suffered with debt, poverty, and illiterate leadership. Economic woes followed revolution in all four events, and manifested in further violence such as coups and civil

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