The Age of Revolutions: Social & Economic Shifts¶

What You Need to Know (Score 2.0)¶

Before we dive into the "why" of these revolutions, we need to define the "what." Use these terms as your foundation:

Revolution: A fundamental and sudden change in political power or social structure.
- Political: Changing who is in charge (e.g., overthrowing a King).
- Social: Changing how people live and their status in society (e.g., ending slavery).
- Economic: Changing how wealth is distributed or how goods are traded.
The Estates System: The social hierarchy in pre-revolutionary France.
- First Estate: Clergy (church officials).
- Second Estate: Nobility (landowners/aristocrats).
- Third Estate: Everyone else (peasants, city workers, and the middle class).
Bourgeoisie: The "middle class" of the 18th century—merchants, lawyers, and manufacturers who had money but no political power.
Sans-culottes: Literally "those without breeches." These were the urban laborers and shopkeepers of the French Revolution who pushed for more radical changes than the wealthy bourgeoisie.
Haitian Revolution: The only successful slave revolt in history that resulted in the creation of an independent nation (Haiti).
Toussaint Louverture: A former slave and military leader who became the primary leader of the Haitian Revolution.
Mercantilism: An economic system where a mother country (like France) controlled trade and resources from colonies to build wealth. This created tension between the "mother" country and the "colonies."
Social Mobility: The ability for an individual to move up in social status or wealth. Revolutions often happen when social mobility is blocked by the ruling class.
Primary Source Bias: The idea that every historical document is filtered through the author's perspective. A wealthy merchant will describe a revolution differently than a starving peasant.
Propaganda: Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a particular political cause or point of view.

2.0 Example: A student can identify that the Third Estate in France was unhappy because they paid all the taxes while the First and Second Estates held all the power.

Official proficiency scale — the source of truth for scoring

Scoring follows the official NDSBL World History Proficiency Scales — not the examples on this page. Proficient (3.0) for Era 3: Age of Revolutions means:

Explain the causes and global effects of religious division.
Explain the global connections developed during this era because of exploration.
Examine and explain the influence of revolutions on social and political aspects of individuals’ lives.
Explain advancements related to science and technology and the global impact of these advancements.

The Standard (Score 3.0)¶

To reach a 3.0, you must move beyond just naming facts to analyzing impact. You need to explain how economic struggles (like high bread prices or unfair taxes) and social inequalities (like the lack of rights for commoners or enslaved people) actually drove people to take action.

The Standard (WH.6_12.4): Analyze how the economic causes of the French Revolution and the social causes of the Haitian Revolution differently affected individuals based on their status in society.

3.0 Example: A student analyzes a primary source from 1791, such as a merchant's diary during the French Revolution, and explains how rising bread prices led to urban unrest among the sans-culottes, while noting that the author’s wealthy background makes them less likely to mention the specific hardships of the peasantry.

The Difference: * 2.0: "The French people were hungry because of bad harvests." (Fact) * 3.0: "Because the Third Estate bore the entire tax burden while bread prices skyrocketed, members of the sans-culottes organized protests to demand economic relief from the monarchy." (Analysis of cause and specific group impact).

Going Further (Score 4.0)¶

To reach a 4.0, you must synthesize and evaluate. This means comparing two different revolutions and making a judgment about which one achieved more lasting change for the "common person."

4.0 Example: A student compares the French Revolution's goal of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" with the Haitian Revolution’s goal of ending chattel slavery. They argue that while the French Revolution provided legal rights to the bourgeoisie, the Haitian Revolution achieved a more radical and permanent social shift by dismantling the entire economic system of slavery.

CrashCourse Connection¶

Video: The French Revolution * 02:15 – Explains the "Three Estates" and why the Third Estate was frustrated by the lack of social mobility. * 04:30 – Discusses how debt and bread prices acted as economic triggers for the revolution. * 07:10 – Shows how the radicalization of the movement changed the goals from "reform" to "revolution."

Video: The Haitian Revolution * 03:20 – Explains the brutal reality of the plantation economy and mercantilism. * 05:45 – Highlights Toussaint Louverture’s role in organizing a massive, multi-layered resistance. * 08:10 – Discusses the unique social impact of ending slavery as a form of "social revolution."

Watch Prompt: As you watch, keep a T-chart. On one side, list Economic Causes (money, food, trade). On the other, list Social Causes (rights, status, freedom). Note which cause seems more "urgent" for each group.

Reading Library Connection¶

Declaration Rights Man 1789 — This document shows how the bourgeoisie wanted to move away from monarchy toward a system where wealth and talent (not just birth) determined status.
Haitian Declaration Independence 1804 — This highlights the unique social urgency of the Haitian Revolution: the immediate need for freedom from slavery.
Declaration Woman — Use this to identify bias; it shows that even "revolutionary" documents often excluded women, revealing the limits of the revolution's social reach.

Demonstration of Learning — Choose One¶

#	Mode	What You Do for This Specific Standard
1	Written Assessment	Write a 3-paragraph analysis: Identify one economic cause and one social cause for the French Revolution. Use two specific quotes from the Declaration of Rights of Man to show how those causes were addressed.
2	Extended Writing	Write a 500-word comparative essay. Compare the "Social Mobility" of a merchant in France vs. an enslaved person in Haiti. How did their respective revolutions change their daily lives?
3	Verbal Conversation	Record a 3-minute "podcast segment" where you explain to a peer why the Haitian Revolution is considered a "social revolution" while the French Revolution had significant "economic" components.
4	Visual/Creative	Create an annotated infographic. One side shows the "Old Regime" (pre-revolution) and the other shows the "New Order." Use icons to represent different social classes and labels to show what changed for them.
5	Multimedia/Performance	Create a "Point/Counterpoint" video. Act out a debate between a French merchant and a Haitian plantation owner, each arguing why their revolution was more necessary for the survival of their people.
6	Portfolio Annotation	Select two primary sources (one from France, one from Haiti). Annotate them using three colors: Green for economic factors, Blue for social status, and Red for the author's potential bias/perspective.

Deliverable Ideas (Your Studio Product)¶

The Revolution Report: A digital magazine layout featuring "interviews" with a member of the sans-culottes and a Haitian revolutionary, detailing their specific grievances.
The Comparison Map: An interactive map where clicking on Paris or Port-au-Prince reveals a pop-up summary of the social/economic shifts that occurred in those cities during the 1790s.
"Voices of Change" Podcast: A 5-minute audio piece exploring how "freedom" meant different things to different people depending on their wealth and social standing.

Scale Tasks¶

[ ] 2.0 task: Define all 10 key terms in the "What You Need to Know" section and identify one primary economic cause for both the French and Haitian Revolutions.
[ ] 3.0 task: Write a response explaining how the specific social status of an individual (e.g., a peasant vs. a merchant) changed their experience of the revolution, using at least one piece of evidence from the reading library.
[ ] 4.0 task: Construct a nuanced argument comparing the long-term success of the French and Haitian revolutions in creating social mobility for the "lowest" members of society.