Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment comes down to events that occurred in the 18th century, which had influence on the social movements of that time. The Enlightenment is for some continuation of the Renaissance.
History
West Indies
At the beginning of the century, after the War of the Spanish Succession, the position of privateer was banned, besides the piracy, it has generated revolt by former privateers who began practicing criminal acts. At that same time the Republic of Pirates came to Nassau, which did not last long.
Pirates as Edward Thatch, also known as Blackbeard, Benjamin Hornigold, Charles Vanne, Jack Rackham or Calico Jack, Anne Bony and Mary Read had their notorities at this time, they were all associated with Edward Kenway, who later became an Assassin.
Thirteen Colonies
In the second half of the century, after the Seven Years' War, many taxes were charged abusively to the people of the northern colonies. A faction known as the Sons of Liberty began to prostrate against these measures, so a wave of prostration began, one of them including the Boston Tea Party.
The British Empire ignored the claims, soon as the American Revolutionary War began, between the colony and its metropole. On July 6, 1776, the colony finally realized its independence, and so the new nation, the United States of America, was born. The war for independence continued until September 3, 1783, with the result of the Siege of Yorktown.
The main thinkers of the time, were mostly Founding Fathers.
France
Ten years later, at the end of the 18th century, France came into crisis due to its actions in past wars. To fix the economy, Louis XVI programmed the Estates-General of 1789, in this House there were three divisions:
- The First State: that was the nobility.
- The Second State: that it was the clergy.
- The Third State: that was the greater part of the people.
During the meeting, the third state was ignored, and the measures passed to prevail the first and second state. The third state then began to organize itself, and founded the National Assembly. A wave of revolt soon began, on July 14, 1789, there was the Storming of the Bastille, and thus the beginning of a bloody war.
After the king was murdered on January 21, 1793, two large factions gained notoriety and power in the country, the Girondins, the right-leaning party, who defended the interests of the bourgeoisie, and the Jacobins, left-leaning party, led by Maximilien de Robespierre, were extreme extremists and persecuted anyone who was considered "an enemy of the revolution." The Robespierre's party promoted the Reign of Terror, where much of the french population was executed, but this lasted until the Thermidorian Reaction, the moment Robespierre was executed.
After the death of Robespierre, the French Revolutionary Wars continued to last against neighboring countries, in the meantime, a soldier named Napoleon Bonaparte, brought victories to the French Army in foes battles. Napoleon succeeded in embracing the people in 1799 with the coup of the 18 Brumaire, he finally reached the French throne, later became emperor, and began the French Empire.