Paragraphs Nicolas Perera:

 

       1) The Enlightenment period was a critical age in the development of governments and countries since its philosophers gave out revolutionary ideas on what the ideal government should consist of. During the age of revolutions, the reasons new laws established for new governments, were mostly based on influential philosophers. For example, it can be inferred that New Granada's declaration for independence was based on the works of John Locke since it expresses the idea of imposing a social contract. Also, the French revolution was primarily 'spiked' with Thomas Hobbe's idea of having a social contract, since it would initiate a treaty between the government and its people. Other important ideas that a philosopher had on a revolution were those that Montesquieu had on the French Revolution. By claiming that a constitutional monarchy is the best form of government, Montesquieu's ideas were one of the most influential during this revolution. Finally, by analyzing the examples before, it is shown that various philosophers whose ideas were presented in the Enlightenment period were critical and very important in the initiation and development of different revolutions during the Age of Revolutions.

 

 

       2) It must be taken for a fact that the French revolution was a major event not only in France, but all around the world. It was such a critical event that it also caused the uprising of other revolutions like the Haitian revolution, the one in Brazil, and the Glorious revolution in England. Since governments were being constantly changed throughout the years in France, this cause a lot of changes in the French empire. In one specific period during the age of revolutions the French revolution was so influential that it was a spark cause in the revolution in Haiti. Haiti was a major area for slave trade, owned by the Spanish empire during the age of revolutions. At this same time, the French empire was expanding, more importantly expanding and conquering into Spain. This caused an uproar throughout the Spanish empire and colonies, and made it possible for slaves to take over the Spaniards in Haiti since the empire was more focused on attacking the French. Other than this, the French revolution was also critical during the Glorious revolution. Since in England there was changes in power, a lot of people disagreed with the government. By having the french revolting in France, it influenced the English into going against their government in England. Another example and one of the biggest ones that show how the French revolution "sparked" other revolutions was the one held in Brazil.  At the point in which Napoleon was emperor of France during the French revolution, the French empire (led by Napoleon) moved in to invade Portugal, who were the conquerers of Brazil during the time. Since there were disturbances between the Portuguese leaders, the native people of Brazil saw the invasion as a chance to seek independence. These major revolutions taken place during the Age of revolutions, demonstrate how the French revolution was so influential on the world, that it began other evolutions, even if they were in a whole different area of the world.

 

 

       3) Other than abuse of power and political corruption, inequality is one of the biggest causes that can start a revolution. When a government, or the highest leaders and nobles of an empire focus on their personal gain and not the good of the people, it sparks anger and hatred on the people, making them wanting to revolt and take down their current leaders. Arguably the major cause that made the people of France wanting to go against their own government, was that the Aristocrats and the people in high power were abusing their power by imposing large taxes on the people and taking more than what they gave. During this revolution, there was a huge gap between social classes, mainly because the highest class had immense power which they did not use properly. This is also seen in the American revolution, but in a different scale. Residents of the U.S during the time, even the higher class ones were only given permission to produce raw materials (cotton, tabacco) and were not permitted to refine it into a better more-costly product. This imposed regulations on the people that basically didnt let them gain more money, and since the principle goal of an individual is to make money, this made the people wanting to revolt for independance. Another example of inequality shown by the government is during the revolution in England. Property being taken away for no reason from the people, led the people into anger and made them want to revolt. These previous examples show how inequality caused by the government and imposed on the people are one of the biggest causes for a revolution.

 

 

       4) When a revolution starts, people and their families risk their lives to go against a government with the goal to change it. Even though these people risk everything in hopes to change everything, they do it for a reason. Inequality, political and economical issues, cause the people to want to rise and fight their government. Governments impose high taxes on the people and abuse power for the benefit of the individual instead of the community. It is mostly wrong when these governments commit these issues repeadedly. These revolutions all happened all together since they influenced each other and since their governments were continuosly abusing their power.