| Term Paper Title | The Romantic Age |
| # of Words | 840 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 3.36 |
The Romantic Age
1798-1832
- during 1770s, American colonies revolted against British rule
- American Revolution divided British public opinion and aroused some awareness of the need for reform
- French Revolution demonstrated that is was possible for a long-standing gov’t to be challenged by it’s own soil
- French Revolution began on July 14, 1789; group of French citizens stormed the Bastille
- Placed limits on the powers of King Louis XVI, established a new gov’t & approved a Declaration of the Rights of Man
- France became a constitutional monarchy
- Ruling class felt threatened by the implication of the events in France
- Charles James Fox, supporter of the revolution & leader of the Whig party
- William Wordsworth, poet, spoke out in support of the revolution
- William Godwin, philosopher & novelist, reacted to the revolution by writing an Enquiry Concerning Political Justice
o Predicted British society would evolve peacefully into a free, equal nation
- Edmund Burk- condemned events in France, Reflections on the Revolution in France, he argued that France, unlike the Americans, was attacking very fabric of their society with complete disregard for their roots & ancestry
o Warned that the revolution would grow violent
o Views disregarded until they became true
- 1792, France declared war on Austria
- Jacobins, radical group, gained control of French legislative assembly, abolished the monarchy, & declared the nation a republic Mobs attacked and killed many prisoners
- Revolutionaries tried and convicted Louis XVI on charge of treason, went to guillotine in 1793
- Violence reached its peak under Maximilien Robespierre- began the Reign of Terror
o Imprisoned 1000s of royalists, moderates & even radicals
o Ended ins summer of 1794
o Sent 17,000 to guillotine & then Robespierre was sent himself
- 1793, France took initiative of declaring war on Britain, thus beginning a series of wars that would drag on for 22 years
- Tory gov’t led by William Pitt outlawed all talk of Parliament reform outside the halls of Parliament, banning public meetings, and suspending certain basic rights
o Later crushed a rebellion in Ireland
- Many turned to literature and art as a way to find beauty & truth in the world
- 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte came into power in Paris
- Britain ruled the ocean, but Napoleon ruled Europe
- 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia & suffered a series of defeats
o forces were defeated in the Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain (1808-1814)
- allies closed in on him and exiled him to Elba, he plotted to return
- 1815 managed to return got 100 Days, but is glory ended in Waterloo, Belgium
- England, workers protested the loss of jobs to new machinery in the violent Luddite Riots (1811-13), mounted soldiers charged a peaceful mass meeting of cotton...Read entire document
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