Preparation for Independence

 The British Colonies were better prepared for independence than the Latin American Colonies in the south for multiple reasons. For starters the British North American colonies were only focusing on gaining independence from Britain unlike the Latin American colonies. In Latin America the colonies along with gaining independence they were also striving to make slavery illegal. The mother countries governing Latin American colonies were more hesitant to resist the push for independence since the colonies wanted slavery abolished as part of the package. British colonies also had the support of other European countries unlike Haiti did since Haiti's views on slavery after their independence.  The British colonies and Britain government had a better relationship unlike where France charged Haiti an "independence debt" that left that Haiti in debt just as it was developing. The U.S. economy was not based on slavery like in Latin America where once slavery was abolished no blacks wanted to work since they thought of it as slavery. The majority of people in U.S. worked so not much changed when they gained independence; unlike in Haiti where everyone was forced to return to working at the plantations so the economy didn't collapse.  The education in the U.S. also helped the colony better prepared.  In the book, Literacy in Colonial New England, Kenneth Lockridge says “in cities such as Boston, the rate had come close to 100 percent by century’s end.” Unlike the United States the Latin America colonies had a much lower literacy rate since the majority of their population were uneducated slaves.  In the source, Empire to Nation: Historical Perspectives on the Making of the Modern World by Joseph Esherick, Hasan Kayalı, and Eric Van Young; they say “the literacy rate in New Spain in 1810 could not have been much higher than 10 percent overall, with much of the literate population compressed spatially into the cities.” With the literacy rate this low it would affect the communication  In America where the majority where literate it was much easier for them to spread ideas and information.. The British were much more prepared for independence since they were much more literate and had the backing to help them succeed. 

This picture shows how many slaves there was before they were freed.

sources: 

Doc A: http://comparativehistoryamericanrevs.weebly.com/doc-set-a.html

Doc B: http://comparativehistoryamericanrevs.weebly.com/doc-set-b.html

Doc C: http://comparativehistoryamericanrevs.weebly.com/doc-set-c.html

Doc F: http://comparativehistoryamericanrevs.weebly.com/doc-set-f.html

picture: http://comparativehistoryamericanrevs.weebly.com/doc-set-a.html

Independence Comes At a Cost

The French colony of Saint Domingue gained their independence in 1804. This happened after the colony's slaves, who make up a majority of the population revolted and killed thousands of people. When San Domingue became independent from France they became Haiti. Countries felt intimidated by Haiti since if slaves could overthrow their masters their it could happen in any other country. Once independent the Republic of Haiti was received negatively. Haiti was ignored globally which made them bitter since they had to pay France an "Independence debt" to make globally recognized. The debt they had to pay was one hundred million francs, and Haiti agreed to pay it by taking out a loan from a French bank. Even though it was wrong for France to charge Haiti for becoming independent. No country stopped France from doing it since other countries were scared of Haiti's independence because they didn't want the slaves revolting in their country. Haiti was still paying off the debt in 1947, 140 years after slave trade was abolished and 85 years after the emancipation proclamation. Overall Haiti was affected severely by not being recognized and having to pay a serious price for independence. 

Battle of Vertières in 1803

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Revolution

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/16/haiti-france

Napoleon 

Napoleon was a considered a tyrant by some but others thought he was a hero. Madam de Stael did not think of Napoleon as a hero but rather that "he liked to persuade men by force and by cunning." While some people were not fond of Napoleon other thought of him as a hero like Marshal Michel Ney, who calls him "our august emperor." Napoleon impacted the political, economic, and social systems of Europe.

Napoleon an emperor, a political and military leader.

Napoleon affected the political system of Europe, he created the idea of "meritocracy" which was a political philosophy that secured a persons rewards based on their attributes instead of their social rank. Napoleon also created the "Napoleonic code" which allowed freedom of religion, and stated that jobs in the government should belong to those among the most qualified. In the economic system Napoleon made decision to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States which doubled the United States in size and caused the US to expand.  Napoleon affected the social system by emancipating the jewish people in his empire. Also while he ruled people got better access to education. Overall Napoleon had a major impact on Europe.

USA and Great Britain Comparison

The majority of industrialists were more likely to succeed in Great Britain. Great Britain had plentiful labor and the population increased since there was better food production which gave more people jobs in the factories. The factory owners made more money when they had more people working in the factories. Unlike in the United states where the labor force was limited to young girls working in the factories. In Great Britain the factory business was booming and new factories would open up. An industrialist would be more likely to succeed in Great Britain with the factories and their productions not slowing down anytime soon. 

A textile mill where the workers would spend the majority of their days.

In the United States the workers had a more positive experience than working in Great Britain. The workers in the United States had a less time consuming schedule, better living conditions, receive a decent education, and in their free time: they got to explore the city, buy what they want with their money, watch plays, and gain their independence. In the United States the living conditions were much better than in Great Britain where there was more factories than in the US polluting the air. The girls experience would be better in Lowell because like it says in the article "Early Factory Labor in New England" it says "In the eyes of her overseer she was but a brute, a slave, to be beaten, pinched and pushed about." This source starts of talking about how in England and France how badly the girls were treated in Britain and that wasn't the case in America as much as it was Britain. In the United States the girls would have a much more positive experience displayed with the reasons I have stated above.

Mary Paul's Letters

Mary Paul was part of the "Lowell Experiment" where young girls from the country moved to Lowell and worked in the textile mills with other girls. This experiment was both a failure and a success. It was a failure because the mills failed to manipulate the girls to work for cheaper pay, the girls had to work for very long period of time each day, and the girls had to withstand exhausting conditions with little sleep. this experiment was a success because the girls got the chance to explore the city, buy what they want with their excess money, and got a chance to gain their independence. 

A woman changes bobbins at a machine

 at the mills in Lowell

When Mary was fifteen she had a desire to got to Lowell and work. Mary is excited to go when she first leaves but after the four years of her being there she is ready to go home. In her first letter Mary asks for her dads consent for her to go to Lowell. To help convince her dad, Mary says that she can earn more there and she needs money for clothes which she couldn't if she stayed at her house. After the first letter Mary is hopeful of going and looking forward to go. By the time Mary sends the second letter Mary is getting homesick she says "tell all friends that I should like to hear from them."  Mary tells her father she only wants to stay another year but she doesn't end up leaving since she stays the four years. By the third letter it is winter and Mary describes how dangerous it is with multiple people dying for different reasons. Mary tells her father about her pay and that she able to buy sufficient clothes with her left over money. In Mary's fourth letter she explains to her father that she has been told that she is "growing very poor".  She tells her father how her day goes everyday and the time the other girls and her girls get to eat the three meals of the day. Mary is happy about the boarding house she has since she is with girls from Vermont and they all are "kind and obliging." In Mary's fifth letter she is exhausted and burnt out. She tells her father that her pay has been reduced to about two dollars a week. Mary tells her father since she has been payed less recently she had to switch to a cheaper and closer boarding house. She tries to find other work or at another mill but they are mostly full of work.  In the final letter Mary sends to her father she is worried about what her pay for the week will be since she missed four days. After Mary sends the letter she heads back to Vermont to live with her family.

Picture citation: http://www.uml.edu/tsongas/bringing-history-home/artifacts/set01.htm