6.1.4


 * How Revolutions Caused Changes In Economical and Political Systems ** [[image:button_era_6.png align="right" link="WHG Era 6"]]

= The Colonists Starting Out =

Before Europeans came over to the Americas, their main source of income came from agriculture. Although some of the income did come from things like fishing, farming was still the main part. When Europe expanded over to North America, they found more profitable resources, such as fur and fish. These industries were in high demand in Europe.

= America's New Government =

When Europeans first formed the colonies in North America, they were still under Europe's government. Policies passed by Parliament still had affect on the colonies, such as the Navigation Acts, which regulated colonial trade and manufacturing. Also the colonies were still taxed on things such as imports and newspapers. However, the colonies did take care of local problems. Political discussions had also taken place. These events all led to the colonists wanting independence from Europe, which then led to the American Revolution. The colonies didn't have any part in major decisions, since they didn't have a representative in Parliament.

Now, for a quick explanation, Parliament didn't want the colonies to have a representative. This is because a colony was a colony. A country lets their people form colonies, only for the benefit of the country. To show this, there was a policy passed so that the colonies could only export goods to their parent country. So, with this idea, Great Britain wanted the colonies to help pay expenses like the Seven Years War. For more information on how that went over, take a look a 6.1.1. To sum it up real quick, it caused an outbreak discontent spread through the colonies, leading to the American Revolution.



[|American Revolution] = France's Economic Problems = France wasn’t as financially stable as they would’ve liked to be. The government was slightly corrupt. In 1789, France (and the rest of Europe) still went by the Ancien Régime, or old order, where everyone was divided into three social classes, or estates. The first was the clergy, the second was the nobles and the third was the rest, which was a vast majority of the population. For a better explanation on the Ancien Régime, look at 6.3.1. The nobles weren’t worried about the economic crisis in France, and thought economic reforms would help. Reforms didn’t work and the unemployed, hungry, and poor took up arms.

French clergy enjoyed wealth and privileges. The church owned about 10% of land and paid no direct taxes to the state. The First Estate provided social services, like running schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Philosophies targeted the Church for reforms.

First, noble knights defended the land. In the 1600’s, Richelieu and Louis XIV crushed the military's power and gave them other rights like top government jobs, the army, the courts and the church. Nobles received little financial income. Nobles hated absolutism and resented the royal bureaucracy. They feared losing their rights like freedom from paying taxes. Bourgeoisie, or the middle class made up the Third Estate. They included prosperous bankers, merchants, manufacturers and lawyers.

France suffered from extreme deficit spending. Deficit spending is when the government spends more money than it has at the time. This was only one of the many problems in France. Wars, such as the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution, also had a large impact on France's economic state. France also kept going further and further into debt, by borrowing more and more money to bridge the gap between income and expenses. In 1789, France's government spent half of its income to pay the interest of the enormous debt. Bad harvests in the late 1780's brought hunger to the poorer peasants and city dwellers.

In attempts to fix their economic crisis, France would have to increase taxes, reduce expenses or both. But the Nobles and Clergy couldn't bear the thought of losing their exemption from taxes.

= The Price Revolution In Europe =

In the 1500s, the prices began to rise in many parts of Europe all though there was a great rise in money. When this happens, when the prices rise but there is a mass amount of money is called inflation. When this happened in European history it was known as the Price Revolution. Inflation was pushed In Europe by the rapid amount of Gold and Silver coming from the Americas.