Thèses sur le sujet « American History Revolution »

The American Revolution brought with it a crisis of identification. The political divisions that fragmented American society did not distinguish adherents of the two sides in any outward way. Yet the new American governments had to identify their citizens; potential citizens themselves had to choose and prove their identities; and both sides of the war had to distinguish friend from foe. Subordinated groups who were notionally excluded from but deeply affected by the Revolutionary contest found in the same crisis new opportunity to seize control over their own identities. Those who claimed mastership over these groups struggled to maintain control amid civil war and revolution.

To meet this crisis, American and British authorities and "Americans" of all sorts employed paper and parchment instruments of identification, including passes, passports, commissions, loyalty certificates, and letters of introduction. These were largely familiar instruments, many embodying the hierarchical and coercive social world from which the Revolution sprang. Access or subjection to certain classes of instruments depended on individuals' social standing and reflected their unequal power over their own identities. But they were now deployed to meet new challenges. The increased demands for identification brought to Revolutionary Americans in general degrees of scrutiny and constraint traditional reserved for the unfree, while subordinated groups faced an intensification of the regimes designed to govern them. The struggles to define, enforce, and contest Revolutionary identities reveal the ways the notionally voluntarist, republican Revolution, undertaken in the name of consent and equality, was effected through regimes of identification both exclusive and coercive.

While studies of early American identity are now common, there has been little study of the history of identification or identification papers in early America. Historians of this period have employed instruments of identification as sources, but they have rarely considered them as subjects of analysis in themselves. This study of the Revolutionary crisis of identification, from 1774 to 1783, examines the ways that these instruments of identification were used to identify "Americans" in the face of this crisis, at home and abroad, and therefore how the new United States were constituted through the identification of individuals.

The Vermont state constitution was the most revolutionary and democratic plan of government established in America during the late eighteenth century. It abolished adult slavery, eliminated property qualifications for holding office, and established universal male suffrage. It invested broad power in a unicameral legislature, through which citizens might directly express their will through their elected representatives. It created a weak executive with limited power to veto legislation. It mandated annual elections for all state offices, by which the people might frequently accept, or reject, their leaders. It thus established a participatory democracy in which ordinary citizens enjoyed broad access to power. It was, in the words of Ethan Allen, government based on “true principles of liberty and natural right.”

Over the course of the revolutionary period, furthermore, the people of Vermont defended their democratic system against repeated attempts to weaken it. The constitution included a mechanism by which, every seven years, a Council of Censors would be elected which had the power to propose revisions to the plan of government. Constitutional conventions met in 1786 and 1793 to consider these recommendations, and though the delegates accepted a number of minor revisions, they rejected innovations that would have significantly altered the state’s system of participatory democracy. In this sense, the experience of Vermont during this period differed from that of other states, which had by the end of this period established systems that concentrated power in the hands of a limited number of citizens.

The people of Vermont established this form of government for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most important factor was that Vermont was a rural, agrarian and backcountry region, populated by small subsistence farmers with a common set of interests and grievances. Here, and elsewhere across America during this period, small farmers often clashed with political and economic elites over issues of taxation and the conditions of land ownership. When confronted with policies they perceived to be unjust, they often rose up to defend their interests. However, unlike other rebellions during this period, the New Hampshire Grants insurgency succeeded, and led to the establishment of an independent state. Moreover, the grievances that motivated these backcountry insurgents included political dimensions. Subsistence farmers demanded a greater voice in the governments that had promulgated policies they perceived to be unjust. Living under more democratic forms of government, they realized, would enable them to enact laws that promoted their interests.

This study informs our understanding of the American Revolution in a number of ways. For one, events in Vermont demonstrate the importance of internal divisions and conflict in the Revolution. Rural farmers challenged the land-owning and mercantile elite of New York, and won. In the process, they created the most revolutionary and democratic constitution in America. Vermont thus went further than any other state in fulfilling the promise of the Revolution. Ironically, however, this very achievement illustrates the limits of the Revolution. In other states, common people continued to face significant restrictions on their access to power. Universal suffrage for white males, for example, was not achieved until the mid-nineteenth century, and slavery was not abolished until 1865. Perhaps, then, the Revolution is best understood not as a watershed event that radically changed American society, but rather as one episode in a much longer continuum of change.

This study also seeks to change Vermont’s place in the historiography of the Revolution. As an independent republic, unrecognized by any outside power, historians often treat it as an anomaly. As a result, it is often neglected. Vermont, however, deserves to be taken seriously. Though it was not formally recognized by other states, its government exercised full authority and sovereignty within its borders. Its constitution, furthermore, embodied the purest expression of radical republican ideals in America at the time. It was a singular achievement of the American Revolution. Rather than be relegated to the shadows, therefore, Vermont deserves to be at the forefront of the discussion. By doing so we may more clearly understand the nature of the American Revolution itself, with all its achievements, limitations, and contradictions.

This dissertation examines two radically different political projects in Argentina as moments in a dynamic of revolution and counterrevolution. The short-lived, progressive Peronist government of 1973 sought to construct a more egalitarian and democratic society, addressing social inequalities while fomenting political mobilization. In response, the last and most violent military dictatorship (1976–1983) aimed at suppressing social antagonisms and the perceived excesses of mass democracy. In each case, education was a means to form citizens suitable to a specific conception of society. Therefore, each political project can be understood with special clarity through an examination of civic education and pedagogic reforms. The progressive Peronist government encouraged students to participate in exploring and addressing social inequalities to bring about social justice. The dictatorship was counterrevolutionary insofar as it put forth an ideological project without precedent in previous military regimes that aimed not simply at preserving the status quo ante but at founding a new society. In order to do so, it sought to eradicate “subversion” and to form spiritually minded, obedient, and individualistic citizens through a broad schooling reform. Based on both archival research and oral history, this dissertation sheds light on the political uses of education, on the Cold War dynamic of revolution and counterrevolution in Latin America, and on the centrality of social antagonisms for our understanding of authoritarianism.

During the early years of the 19th century Spanish colonies in the Americas went through dramatic political changes as new structures of governance emerged worldwide. Monarchical power throughout the world declined as representational democracy and the nation state became the new norm. This thesis focuses on two Spanish colonies and their transition to nation states, New Spain into Mexico and the Río de la Plata into Argentina. An analysis of this transition reveals that the period was much more than just a revolutionary or Independence era, rather, it was demarcated by intense class warfare. Whereas the lower classes of the colonies vied for dramatic changes in political, social, and economic structures, elites had sought to keep intact as much as possible colonial mechanisms of power whilst separating from the Spanish monarchy. This thesis uses constitutions, decrees, laws, and personal letters written by actors from both sides to highlight the intensity of class warfare during this period.

In this comparative social history of the American Revolution, the stories of eight men recounted through the use of their biographies, journals, and memoirs. The lives of four enlisted soldiers and four officers are depicted to gain an understanding of how they became involved in the revolution. In order to do so, their early lives are scrutinized, as well as their post-war lives as they transitioned to peacetime. The main purpose, however, is to examine how each man became motivated to join the war for independence, whether socially, economically, and/or politically. As each man had different aspirations for their expectations before and after the war, one thing is certain: the enlisted soldiers were motivated for different reasons compared to the officers.

By examining their early lives, as well as post-war lives, one can gain a better understanding of whether their motivations came to fruition, in the end. The intention is not to disprove their patriotism or zeal for joining the war, but instead to prove there were other motivational factors that contributed to their decision. Their patriotism is undeniable, which was a crucial reason why they were able to win the war after eight long years. Even though they experienced deprivation for eight years, due to the lack of resources, the spirit of the men could not be deterred. Despite harrowing circumstances, the revolutionary soldiers were able to prevail over a superior enemy. With that, their motivations and expectations must be examined to shed light on how these men were able to win the war.

The 2006 student movement, termed the Penguin Revolution for the black and white uniforms worn by high school students, and the 2011 student movement, called the Chilean Winter, a reference to the "Arab Spring," have captivated the attention of the media and scholars alike. However, little work has been done to place these student movements into a broader historical context. Historically, Chilean students have had a long record of both general political activism and specific activism over educational matters dating back over 100 years. Even the most recent student protests, which developed into a broader movement against the neoliberal policies implemented under the dictator General Augusto Pinochet, were preceded by demonstrations with similar demands dating back to at least 2000. However, these precedents do not explain why the movements developed between 2000 and 2011, rather than immediately after the fall of the dictatorship in 1990. I argue that part of the reason is because that the students in the twenty-first century were the first ones to attend high school and college who were not raised under the dictatorship and for that reason they did not fear the repression and violence their predecessors, who grew up predominantly under the dictatorship, experienced. Thus, an analysis of the history of student political activism in Chile, the history of Chilean politics, the history of the Chilean education system, and the neoliberal reforms, especially in education, is necessary to provide a historical, political, and social context for the recent student movements.