Chapter 6 of 10All chapters
Chapter 6 of 10
Political revolutions
Sovereignty changes hands.
The idea of rights
The American and French revolutions turned Enlightenment arguments about consent and rights into governments, unevenly and often violently.
- The Haitian revolution created the first state founded by former slaves.
- Independence movements across Latin America followed within decades.
Reaction and reform
The nineteenth century alternated between revolutionary waves and restoration, gradually widening the franchise in some states while empires expanded elsewhere.