Causes of the american, french, and mexican revolution and the zimbabwe coup 2017
Luis Arcas Brauner's Boston Tea Party.
Revolutions are designed to change the current stage of life. Uprisings occur with dissatisfaction with living situations, inequality, and the stages of economy and government. Three major revolutions that changed history and impacted modern life today are the American, French, and Mexican revolution. With each revolution came causes that the people fought for that inspired modern revolutions such as the 2017 Zimbabwe Coup. The American revolution was the result of the lack of representation and rights. Britain was trying to assert more control over the 13 colonies than was agreed on and this created tension between the mother country and the colonies. Along with restrained freedom for the colonies, Britain began imposing taxes and laws without the colonies’ representations which led to revolts and resistance. “ The colonists now had to pay import duties on foreign molasses, sugar, wine, and other commodities...Since the new Sugar Act would not afford a large revenue, it was supplemented in 1765 by the Stamp Act...the Quartering Act—required each colony to bear part of the expenses incurred by British troops when stationed or moving within its borders.” While these acts were in place, the colonists refused to buy additional goods because they argued as English subjects, they should not be taxed without consent. The first act of resistance that destroyed large amounts of private property was the Boston Tea Party where colonists threw out large amounts of tea into the harbor. This brought about the five Intolerable Acts that took away the self-governing way of life. At the time, there was no government that was organized or even existent. The economy and government were centralized around mercantilism where the colonies were a self-sufficient economy that provided England with raw materials for manufactured goods. Through this economy and government, the colonies were unable to make a profit and benefit from the wealth and agriculture that they gained. The French revolution revolved around class issues. “Equality, or doing away with privilege, was the most important part of the slogan to the French revolutionists.” The working people were treated poorly by the nobles and the king. Most taxes and dues went to the Third Estate as well as dues to the church and the nobles. The Third Estate was obligated to such rules and policies to the privileged which created a wide rift between the wealthy and the poor. “Before 1789 inequality was typical of the old government. The nobles and clergy were the privileged orders.”The monarchy did not allow Third Estate to have a voice in decisions and rulings which contributed to the causes of the revolution. The Mexican revolution involved Creoles, who were Americans with Spanish parents, wanting their status and their independence, and free trade. “The reforms imposed by the Spanish Bourbons in the 18th century provoked great instability in the relations between the rulers and their colonial subjects in the Americas.” The Creoles (people who had Spanish parents but were born in America) felt that the Bourbon policy was an unfair attack on their wealth and social status. The Creoles were angry that the Crown preferred peninsulares in administrative positions rather than the caste system with the Creoles high status. The American born privileged felt that they were being treated as if they were conquered by the Bourbons. What increased the Creoles desire for economic self-determination was when the Spanish crown loosened restrictions on commerce. So now, Spanish Americans could trade legally with other places. In 1810, a parliament (Cortes) was created in Spain for Spain and Spanish America. It created a liberal constitution that said the colonies were members of the kingdom, but the Creoles who were in the new Cortes were not given equal representation. The Cortes also did not allow permanent free trade to the Americas. The last push towards wanting independence was when “Ferdinand resorted to military force to bring wayward Spanish-American regions back into the empire as colonies.” The 2017 Zimbabwe Coup started with a long and oppressive regime of Robert Mugabe. The government reclaimed mines, and in 2008, the economy crash caused the Zimbabwean dollar to devalue so quickly that officials gave up on monthly reports and only reported the points when it peaked. This caused the standard of living to drop to the point where the majority of the country lived below the poverty line. Despite this, the Mugabe’s continued to live as they had before, spending money while their people starved. The final straw occurred this past November however, a week before the military takeover began. Vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, a popular figure within the military, was dismissed from office. This action caused many to believe that when Robert Mugabe died, Grace Mugabe would take his place, which was something that virtually nobody wanted. In an unexpected turn of events, the military took over the state broadcasting station and blocked off the capital with tanks, claiming that it was not a coup, but rather a bloodless transition of power. After a week under house arrest, Mugabe ultimately resigned, with Mnangagwa taking his place for the remainder of his presidential term. Independence, rights, and equality were all factors of past revolutions. Dictatorship and restraint pushed colonists, impoverished, and wealthy people to fight for change. This inspired modern revolutions such as the 2017 Zimbabwe coup, because history shows that when there was dissatisfaction, people could change their future to their desires if they believed in what they were fighting for. In Zimbabwe, an oppressive regime such as the rules of the other revolutions caused dissatisfaction along with the way the government and economy were run. People were only living but not thriving and growing and wanted to bring about a change so they decided to fight for what they thought was right and this present day revolution is still going on and progressing.
Effects of the Revolutions
The American Revolution brought about the results the colonists were hoping for. “Under the treaty, which was signed at Paris on Nov. 30, 1782, the Americans secured their independence...” As well as their independence, they secured the land to the West of the Mississippi and a boundary was drawn between America and the land that Britain owned. Many Loyalists fled to Canada and increased the determination for Canada to stay separate from the United States. Land passed from the king, colonial proprietors, and Loyalists to the new government to be sold or given to soldiers. As for government, “After more than a year of debate among the delegates, the allocation of powers was articulated in the Articles of Confederation.” After the revolution, the Articles of Confederation were created as an attempt for a national government. Under these articles, only Congress had the power to declare war and deal with foreign affairs. Issues and disruptions arrived with the Articles of Confederation so the Congress decided to replace the current government system with a new one under the Constitution. With the Constitution, the national government was given the power to regulate money and its value and could regulate foreign and interstate commerce, making the nation a common market. They transferred the power to tax and control commerce from Parliament to the national government. The economy after the revolution “didn’t revolve around the mercantilism type of economy and government and engaged in free commerce where there were local manufacturers who didn’t have to produce a surplus in order to gain revenue.” “The new government, the Directory, proved unable to meet the problems within disorganized France. The glory of foreign victories won under the Directory was due to Bonaparte. On Nov. 9, 1799, he helped overthrow the Directory and replaced it with a Consulate of three members. He was the first consul and actual ruler of France.” France was thrown into utter chaos with no government and direction everyone was fending for themselves. Then governed by the hated Committee of Public Safety which was far too radical and sentencing near everyone that opposed them to death. Their reign was very short lived and then slowly The Directory took hold of the nation led by Napoleon Bonaparte. France’s provinces were divided into the departments which had the same institutions and created centralization. The revolutionaries also established a civil court in each district and a criminal court in each department. As for the economy, “Guided by laissez-faire doctrine and its hostility to privileged corporations, the Assembly sought to open up economic life to unimpeded individual initiative and competition.” The Assembly opened up the economy, giving all citizens the right to enter any trade and conduct that they wanted. The assembly dismantled the tariffs and did away with guilds of artisans and prompted people to bargain in the economic marketplace individually. Peasants and landlords were now free to cultivate their farms as wanted without the restraints that were put on them earlier. Liberals had come to eliminate special church privileges and military privilege, so the Creoles turned against the Spanish rule in 1820-1821. Guerrero and Iturbide came together to make the Iguala Plan which centered around provisions of independence, respect for the church, and equality between Mexicans and Peninsulares. This plan had much support and Iturbide became the emperor of Mexico. A revolt including Guadalupe Victoria who abandoned popular independence cut the rule of the monarch and “In Mexico the rebellion ushered in a republic.” The Provinces of Guatemala had stayed to Iturbide’s Mexico by 1822 and these provinces split from Mexico during Iturbide’s fall and became the United Provinces of Central America until 1838 when regionalism (regional systems of administration or economic affiliation) created separate countries in the region. “The Mexican wars of independence (1810-21) left a legacy of economic stagnation that persisted until the 1870s.” There were political instability and foreign invasions that left the country without much innovation and instead of the people investing their capital in productive enterprises and contributing to economic growth, wealthy Mexicans converted their assets into unproductive property. The Zimbabwe revolution is still present and progressing. Emmerson Mnangagwa has risen to take Robert Mugabe’s place as the president until the official presidential elections in August of 2018. While the future of Zimbabwe remains uncertain, there are a few positive changes that might occur. White farmers and miners will hopefully be allowed to return to their land, and with them come experienced workers that will be able to restore Zimbabwe to its former economic glory. Zimbabwe was once known as the “Breadbasket of Africa,” and currently has the third largest reserves of platinum in the world, and it may be able to resurrect its economy through those industries. With the return of the economy and the farms, the Zimbabwean dollar will be able to gain value again, and the standard of living will rise dramatically with the increase of wealth.