The revolution that created the United States was only one of many American revolutions. From 1776 to 1825, wars for independence erupted throughout the Americas—from Boston to Buenos Aires—creating 19 new nations. What common roots did these revolutionary movements share? What role did such events as the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and the French Revolution play? How did the "radicalism" of the U.S. revolution affect other European colonies in the Western Hemisphere? How did Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion and occupation of Spain spark revolts across Spanish America? The Americas in the Revolutionary Era answers these and many more important but often overlooked questions about the tumultuous political history of our part of the world. Professor Marshall C. Eakin explains the cultural, economic, and political pressures each of these new American nations faced in achieving independence. In addition, he examines—through the unique figures and situations present in each country—exactly why each revolution progressed as it did, succeeding or failing, its history written "in ink and in blood."
More info Taught by: Marshall C. Eakin, Vanderbilt University, Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles
Course Lecture Titles 1. Revolutions and Wars for Independence
2. Origins of Revolution in the Atlantic World
3. Colonial Empires on the Eve of Revolution
4. The "North" American Revolution Emerges
5. From Lexington and Concord to Yorktown
6. The Radicalism of the American Revolution
7. Slave Rebellion in St. Domingue
8. The Haitian Revolution
9. Seeds of Rebellion in Spanish America
10. Napoleon Invades Spain and Portugal
11. Francisco de Miranda—The Precursor
12. Simón Bolívar—The Liberator
13. Liberating Northern South America
14. San Martín and Argentine Independence
15. Bernardo O’Higgins and Chile
16. Liberating Peru
17. Mexico—Race and Class Warfare
18. Mexico—Empire and Chaos
19. Brazil—A Royal Revolution?
20. Failed Movements in the Caribbean
21. The British West Indies and Canada
22. The Strange Case of Paraguay
23. Revolutions Made and Unmade
24. The Aftermath of Independence
