The Romantic Art

The Second of May 1808, Francisco Goya

This painting was painted by Francisco Goya in 1814. He was a well known Romantic artist; he had done many paintings that represent many themes of romanticism. In this painting there is a man in the direct middle on a horse with a very detailed facial expression. The detail and location of this man shows the importance of individualism; a major theme of Romanticism. Another themes is the awe of nature. Goya captures this by showing large, strong horses going wild; meaning that nature can't be controlled. The man on the ground labelled "3" had a angry expression on his face. Goya is representing the theme of emotion through the facial expression of the people in this painting. Some are furious while others are scared. Lastly, Goya shows horrid images of dead men on the ground, falling off a horse, and one in the midst of being killed. Grotesque and horrid images is a theme of Romanticism because it shows the bad sad of the world, the unstructured, and unorganized side of humanity. Romanticism is the counter-part of Enlightenment; one is controlled and sees the good, while the other is uncontrollable and sees the bad.

Revolution After Revolution

In the year of 1830-1848 the people of Europe fought for their beliefs. Throughout many nation revolutions had occurred; it was the liberal minority against the conservative majority. The conservatives were the monarchy and aristocracy in control of the countries at that time. Overall many of the revolution had failed greatly, but the ideas and beliefs that started them did not.

King Louis Philippe

The French revolution of 1830 began in July; it was the revolutionaries and radicals against the conservative monarchy. The revolutionaries wanted to extend voting right and power to the middle class; the radicals wanted a democracy. The revolution resulted in lots of violence and bloodshed, but they removed their old king from power and got a new king. King Louis Philippe was nicknamed "the citizen king" because he treated the people with respect; he was kind to them and visited them often. Although neither the revolutionaries or the radicals achieved what they wanted they bettered their situation with a new king. They showed the rest of Europe that the middle class can make changes.

In Poland, 1830 the Polish people fought for their independence from Russia. They fought a war and were able to keep the Russian army out of Poland for several months. The people of Poland were united and had become nationalized; they were able to taste independence for a few months. They lost the a crucial battle and Russia recaptured Warsaw. The war was over but the ideas and nationalism was still alive. These ideas inspired more revolutions and shows people that they can fight for their beliefs.

Metternich

In 1848, Hungary wanted their independence from Austria. They fought a war as Poland did in 1830, except Hungary had two opponents. Austria and Russia fought to recapture Hungary; Russia came in and stopped the revolution. But they were not able to stop it before Metternich, the leader of Austria fled. Metternich was a powerful leader and after he left he was never seen again. Hungary didn't become independent but they were able to create change and show that to the rest of Europe.

The revolution of 1830 and 1848 may have failed at the time, but the long term effects changed the course of each nation. These revolution had failed in achieving their goals right away but they did succeed in spread liberal ideas and beliefs. They were a success overall in history and had an everlasting effect. They symbolized the power of the lower and middle class, and how together they were strong enough to create some change.
 

 

James Monroe

During the presidency of James Monroe many events had occurred throughout Europe. These events eventually became a concern for the United States. Monroe had many issues to address, all at the same time. The Quintuple Alliance had formed at the Congress of Vienna; they introduced the Principle of Intervention. It gave the great nations the right to to send in troops into a country to stop revolutions and restore monarchs. 

This gave the alliance to send armies to the new world and recapture independent Spanish settlements. Monroe address this issue by stating  "With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and whose independence we have… acknowledged". Meaning that the United States will not get involved will European colonies that have not become independent, but those that have already become independent will remain independent. He says that if the European nation try to recapture an independent settlement, the United States will get involved and defend the Latin American colony. 

Another issue that Monroe had to address was the Russian settlements in North America. The Russian were claiming and settling on land in the northwest. If they successfully controlled the area America would lose its ability to trade with Asia through the Pacific Ocean. Monroe addressed this by stating "the minister of the United States at St. Petersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent.” Monroe set up negotiations with Russians to discuss the issue of the northwest territory in North America. He was able to avoid a war with Russia over land in this region and was able to keep a passage to the Pacific Ocean. 

The last issue Monroe had to address was a treaty with England. The English offered to help Monroe with the Russians in the northwest, if they worked together to keep the Alliance from regaining Spanish colonies. But Monroe was able to deal with both issues by himself and so he stated, "not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to consider the government de facto as the legitimate government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy." Meaning that they will not make a written alliance with England, but they will keep friendly relations with them as well as with all the other European nations. Monroe addressed all three of these issues in the "Monroe Doctrine", these issues originated from the conservative ideologies of the Quintuple Alliance.

 

The overall reaction to the Monroe doctrine was positive. The Russian were able to negotiate with the United States and avoided a war. The Latin American colonies that fought for their independence were able to keep it and have the support of the United States. The English didn't make the alliance with the United States, as they wanted to. But the United States kept a friendly relationship with them, and were able to keep the Spanish from regaining all their colonies which worked in England's favor. Some people that may have not been in favor of Monroe's reactions are the remaining Spanish colonies that hoped for independence. The United States said that they wouldn't get involved with any Spanish colonies were not independent. Meaning that even if a colony was close to becoming independent, they did not have the support of the United States. The Spanish and the rest of the Holy Alliance were able to regain complete control of those colonies; all hope of their independence was lost. 

        

Post Napoleonic Ideologies

This Vine demonstrates the meaning of Nationalism, one of the three ideologies we have studied. The Vine is an example of people who are Nationalists, it shows two Italians coming together to overthrow their foreign leader. Nationalist want to be united together with their nation and be independent from foreign rule. Nationalism is the belief in pride, connection and loyalty to ones country. They serve and support the wellbeing of their nation and are patriotic.  Nationalists in existing nation like Britain and France argued for strong, expansionist foreign policies. Nationalists in regions like Germany and Italy argued for national unification and the dismissal of foreign rulers. These people believed they were unified together by shared language, customs, and history. Nationalists also thought that each nation had natural boundaries and the same culture. After Napoleon, Germany and Italy realized they were stronger if they were unified as one nation, instead of small, independent regions.

The other two ideologies that were present are Conservatism and Liberalism. Conservatism was the ideology that believed tradition is the only guide to social and political action. Conservatists thought that tradition, "old fashion" ways were the best solution to social and political problems. Conservatists were in favor of a monarchy, an aristocracy, and the Church. Most of these people were high nobles who would put themselves back on top. After Napoleon was gone all the past leaders of nations wanted their thrones back. They believed that the ways before Napoleon were the best and they believed those ways should be reinstalled.

Liberalism is the belief that there are god given right and law of men. It was the ideology that believes its the governments job to promote individual liberty. Liberals were supporters of reform and innovation, and wanted a constitutional monarchy. They wanted to abolish aristocracy and take away the traditional right of the church and install a meritocracy. The major supporters of Liberalism were the middle class, who wanted to play an active role in their government. Nations that were taken over by Napoleon felt themselves have more power. They were given the ability to play a more active role in their local government. When Napoleon was gone and the monarchs were back, they wanted to keep their new found power. These middle class people had new ideas in their minds and these ideas would soon take form of revolutions.
 

Differences between the North and the South

The colonists in both the 13 British colonies and the Latin American colonies as some point or another revolted against their mother country. Some of these revolutions played out better than others, for example some went to war, others paid a debt, and one didn't have to do anything. While many things between these colonies were similar they each had  different situations which would be vital for the future of their nation. The Northern British colonies were better prepared for independence than their Latin American neighbors for many reasons. One was that the 13 colonies never had to deal with the issue of slavery. While in Latin America slavery was a major topic of discussion on both sides of the Atlantic. Another major reason they were better prepared was that the 13 colonies were used to self governing. While the Haitian were always governed by people sent from France by the crown.

In Saint Domingue the enslaved population outnumbered the free non-whites and the white population by a significant amount. Then enslaved population in Saint Domingue was the majority and for that reason they were a big factor in the Haitian Revolution. In 1791 there was a slave revolt, in which they gained their freedom and were lead by . The French government had made sense of this revolt and had realized that it was only about time that they slaves would revolt. The slave revolt was a success and they had gained their freedom, which caused further problems in Saint Domingue and ultimately lead to further complications and issues. As oppose to, the British colonies majority of the population were white and free. So they never had to discuss slavery at all because the slavery population was much lower.

The French colony had even more problems as they were on the verge of independence. Saint Domingue was always controlled and ruled by people sent from the French crown. The colonist and the newly freed blacks didn't have any experience in governing and ruling. They did not have a system of government in place when they were becoming independent or even when they became independent. So this situation and lack of experience lead to even further complication. Whereas, the British colonies had colonial assembly and were more experienced in governing, not to mention they were in more direct contact with the British king. The colonist played a governing role and had a system of government in place before they even became independent.

Overall, the British colonies in the north were better prepared and experienced for their independence. They were more united and had one common goal, while Haiti had many different cultures and people with different ideas. The British colonies were more independent even before they became independent. Compared to Haiti which was more dependent on the French crown for governing. There are many more reason why the British colonies were better prepared than the Latin American colonies, but these are two important ones. These situation and decisions affected the future of both nation for hundreds of years.