Contesto storico del periodo romantico, Dispense di Inglese

Scarica Contesto storico del periodo romantico e più Dispense in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The Romantic Age (1760-1837) BRITAIN AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION The colonists had no representation in the British Parliament and they also had to pay many taxes on various items (glass,tea,legal documents,newspapers). For these reasons the protests increased with the motto “No taxation without representation”. Two events are important for this purpose: ➢ BOSTON MASSACRE (1770), british soldiers fired into a mob; ➢ BOSTON TEA PARTY, a political protest against the TEA ACT (May 1773) of the “Sons of Liberty”, who destroyed the shipment of tea of a East India Company’s ship. The Government responded with the “Intolerable Acts” (1774), that ended the local self-government of Massachusetts and Boston's commerce. This episode, with others, took to the AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR, near Boston in 1775. On 4 July 1776 America declared its independence. The command of the “Continental Army” was George Washington. The war ended in 1781 and in 1783, with the TREATY of VERSAILLES , Britain accepted the independence of the United States of America, maintaining his control over Canada. At the end of this war, the British financial system was ruined, but thanks to William Pitt the Younger, the matters improved. In Fact, he became Prime Minister and imposed the British’s first income tax, reduced import duties and put into practice Adam Smith’s “free trade”, that means a free operation of trade with no interference by the government. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE NAPOLEONIC WARS The FRENCH REVOLUTION was influenced by the Enlightenment,who started in France , and it was against the Ancien Regime. It also promoted the ideals of equality, fraternity and liberty, attacking the absolute monarchy and the privileges of aristocracy. In Britain, the first reaction wasn’t hostile towards this change: many poets and intellectuals saw the fall of the Bastille and the publication of the “Declaration of the Rights of the Man” as a great conquest. On the other hand, there was Edmund Burke, who predicted that the revolution would collapse into anarchy and military government. Thomas Paine, an englishman who emigrated to America and combated with the American revolutionaries, published “the Rights of Man”, in which he refuted the conception of Burke and supported the ideas of liberty. His ideals were supported by the middle and working class, who wanted electoral reform and universal suffrage. The government, at this point, started to fear the revolution and impose drastic measures against revolt or reform. Then, the revolution took to the REIGN of TERROR of Robespierre, so Pitt joined the 1st anti-Revolutionary Coalition and went to war with France. The reasons behind this decision were: I. the revolutionaries invaded the Low Countries, constituting a danger for the Britain; II. France offered military support in Europe against the attempts of the revolution. The war continued also with Napoleon Bonaparte, who won against six European coalitions. The start of the decline of Napoleon was the invasion of Russia. In fact, after two years, he was defeated and exiled to the island of Elba. Despite that, he returned to power, but he was again defeated in the BATTLE of WATERLOO. After the CONGRESS of VIENNA of 1815, the order in Europe was re-established by the winners. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Thanks to the increasing trade, the industry could increase. Britain turned from an agricultural country to a manufacturing one, with the import of raw material from the colonies. This increase was important for the country, but the labouring class started to live and work in terrible conditions: long hours and poor pay. The factories also caused a drop of wages. The reason that allowed this revolution in England were: ➢ an AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION,with technical innovations that improved farming and so increased production and population; ➢ increase of the CHEAP LABOUR, thanks to the increase of population; ➢ IMPERIAL EXPANSION and the consequent access to cheap materials; ➢ PLENTY of COAL and IRON in Britain; ➢ TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS (Hargreaves’ spinning jenny and Watt’s steam engine) and an efficient TRANSPORT SYSTEM; ➢ FREE TRADE THEORY, the government did not interfere with the market and the “LAISSEZ FAIRE POLICY”,economic laws. This favoured middle class, capitalism and enterprise.