- This is a map of what
the Americas looked like at around the year 1750. And as you can see, it
was for the most part, divided as colonies by a
bunch of European powers. Most prominent is Spain. You can see in this peach brownish color, it had control all the way
south as modern-day Chile and Argentina and all the way as far north as modern-day Texas and California. You also see significant
control by the Portuguese in what will eventually be Brazil. The French have at this
point some territory, especially in North America
and in several islands in the Caribbean and
the British, of course, have control along the east
coast of North America. And they also have several
islands in the Caribbean and the Atlantic. As we fast forward 100 years, we're going to see a dramatic change. Notice roughly a hundred years later, most of what used to be
these European colonies have now achieved independence. In other videos, we go in
some depth from 1776 to 1783. You have the American
War for Independence. You see on this map now the United States is an independent country. From 1791 to 1804, you
have Toussaint Louveture lead the revolt against French control, eventually gaining independence
and establishing Haiti. From 1807 to 1830, you have
a series of revolutions in Latin America, many of which were led by Simon Bolivar, who was a
Crejo, or Creole, Venezuelan. The term Creole has many
meanings in modern-day language, but in this context, it refers to someone of mostly Spanish descent who
was born in the New World. And Simon Bolivar plays an active role in achieving independence
from Spain for Venezuela, what will eventually
be Columbia and Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and the
country that will eventually be named for him, Bolivia. So there is an interesting question here. What led to all of these revolutions? The map that I showed you before, that colonial map of the Americas, these colonies had been in
place for several hundred years before these revolutions. Why did all of these revolutions happen roughly at the same time? Well, one overarching idea
is that as we enter into the 1700s, you have the
intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment. There were many authors
and many publications involved in the Enlightenment, but perhaps most famous is
the Encyclopedie in French, or Encyclopedia, which said
the intent of collecting much of the scientific
and political science, knowledge of the time and is considered one of the central texts
of the Enlightenment. And it was a series of articles published from the 1750s all the
way until the 1770s. And to get a sense of
it, here is an excerpt of an article by one of the authors, Denis Diderot, considered
one of the primary actors in the Enlightenment. "No man has received from nature "the right to command others. "Liberty is gift from
heaven, and each individual "of the same species
has the right to enjoy "it as soon as he enjoys
the use of reason." And so when we get into the
Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson,
he borrows heavily from these ideas of the Enlightenment. Now, the Haitian Revolution
was partially inspired by these ideas of the Enlightenment, but they were also helped by the fact that France was undergoing
its own revolution at the time and it was not in the position to exert strong control
over a far flung colony. The French Revolution
lasts from 1789 to 1799 at which point Napoleon
Bonaparte takes control of France and starts the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon tries to keep control
of what would eventually be Haiti, was an incredibly
valuable resource. It produced a good chunk of
coffee and sugar in the world. It was incredibly profitable
for the plantation owners and for France as a nation. But between the ideas of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution,
the slaves of Haiti led initially by Toussaint Louverture, were able to overthrow and
set up their own nation, which is the first time
that this has happened from a successful slave revolt. This is a map of the empire
that Napoleon establishes at its peak and as you can see, you see France, but he's
able to take over much of modern-day Germany,
Italy, he goes to war with Portugal and then
eventually Spain as well. Both significant colonial
powers in South America. So it's in this context,
you have the Enlightenment as we get into the 1700s. You already have the example of the American War for Independence. 13 colonies being able
to declare independence from one of the largest
powers at the time. Then a successful slave
revolt to establish their own country against
another significant power. And once Spain and Portugal
are fighting Napoleon coupled with the ideas
of the Enlightenment and the examples of the
United States and Haiti, it inspires a whole other series of revolts in Latin America, many of which were led by Simon Bolivar. And so by the time we get to 1850, much of the European
imperialism in the Americas has come to an end.