Wim Klooster, Revolutions in the Atlantic World: A Comparative History PART 1 In your introduction (focus on Chapter 1) (2-5 minutes) discuss: a. Klooster lays out four objectives you should examine. In your own words, summarize these four objectives: (1) Reform, (2) Not Inevitable, (3) Civil War, and (4) Undemocratic. b. We like to think of revolutions as happening “from below,” meaning from the masses (illiterate or semi-literate people who lacked significant power), but the Enlightenment (elite intellectual movement) was not a movement for those people. Does that change how you think of Age of Revolution? Why or why not? PART 2 In your main analysis [focus on Chapter 2, and (Chapter 3, 4, or 5 – choose one)] (10 minutes) discuss: a. What seemed to be the key causes and outcomes of the Haitian, or Latin American Revolutions (choose one)? How were the causes and outcomes similar or different from the American Revolution? ( I think i’d like the focus to be the Hatian revolution) b. How did individuals – not just leaders but normal, everyday people (including free and enslaved Africans, American Indians, and women) – all play important roles in these revolutions? PART 3 In your conclusion (focus on Chapter 6) (2-5 minutes) discuss: a. Klooster revisits his four points (reform, not inevitable, civil war, and undemocratic) from the introduction. How does he expand upon his ideas from the introduction in the conclusion? b. Why is it so important that we recognize that these revolutions were not inevitable? c. Why did democracy not immediately flourish and why was it not the intended outcome?
