Profiles of Revolutionaries in Atlantic History, 1700-1850

by Weisberger, R. William

• ISBN13: 9780880339704
• ISBN10: 0880339705
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-01-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

This book offers imaginative biographical essays of prominent political and scientific revolutionaries. Contributors illustrate how supporters of Newtonian mechanistic and materialistic ideologies helped to transform eighteenth-century scientific and early industrial life; explain how nationalistically inspired revolutionaries in the Americas and Europe worked to destroy inequitable institutions and establish viable republics; and reveal how biography can be used as an effective tool for studying the rapidly growing and vibrant field of Atlantic history. These profiles demonstrate the impact of nationalistic, republican, and radical egalitarian doctrines upon nations in three continents. Chapters concerning the American Revolution depict the military achievements of George Washington, the feats of the heroine Molly Pitcher, and the brilliant diplomatic accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin. Essays covering revolutions in Latin America describe the leadership role of Toussant L'Ouverture during the Haitian Revolution; the aspirations of Father Hidalgo during the Argentine, Chilean, and Peruvian Revolutions; and sections covering Europe focus on the leadership of Brissot during the Decembrist Revolution; the salient status of Adam Czartoryski during the Polish Revolution; and the accomplishments and failures of the Irishman John Mitchell and those of the Hungarian Louis Kossuth during the 1848 Revolutions. A suggestive essay about Alexis De Tocqueville suggests the motives behind his denouncement of the radical ideologies and violence that arose during the 1848 French Revolution.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: Eminent Revolutionaries and Atlantic History	p. 1
John Theophilus Desaguliers and the Newtonian Revolution	p. 29
Benjamin Franklin: The Many Faces of an American Revolutionary	p. 58
George Washington: Reluctant Rebel and Ardent Nationalist	p. 71
Molly Pitcher	p. 112
Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution	p. 115
Padre Miguel Hidalgo: Mexican Revolutionary, 1810-1811	p. 136
JosE Francisco de San Martin: The Good Soldier	p. 162
Hezekiah Niles, His Weekly Register, and the Atlantic Revolutionary World	p. 178
Rhetoric and Ambition: The Impolitic Foreign Policy of J. -P. Brissot	p. 186
Byron: A Poetic Revolutionary in the Century of Words	p. 216
Alexander Pushkin, the Decembrists, and Russian Freemasonry	p. 239
Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski: Liberal Enlightener and Conservative Polish Revolutionary	p. 256
John Mitchel and the Revolution of 1848 in Ireland	p. 268
Tocqueville and the French Revolution of 1848	p. 286
Hungary's Revolutionary Statesman, Louis Kossuth: His Achievements and His Failures	p. 300
Index of Proper Terms	p. 323
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