How Did The French Revolution Influence The American Revolution

After three centuries of colonial rule, Spanish and Portuguese America got independence. Between 1808 and 1826 all of Latin America except the Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule. This was the result of a combination of long-building tensions in colonial rule and a series of external events. The reforms imposed by the Spanish in the 18th century provoked great instability in the relations between the rulers and their colonial subjects in the Americas. Many Creoles felt Bourbon policy to be an unfair attack on their wealth, political power, and social status. Some Creoles in Venezuela and certain areas that had moved from the periphery to the center during the late colonial era benefitted from the relaxed trade policies. However, this made the Creoles want greater free trade than the Bourbons were willing to grant. It made the Creoles angry with the crown’s preference for the Peninsulares in administrative

After hundreds of years of proven service to Spain, the Creoles felt that the Bourbons were now treating them like a recently conquered nation.

The Haitian Revolution is known to be the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere. Slaves initiated the rebellion in 1791 and by 1803 they had succeeded in ending not just slavery but French control over the colony. The Haitian Revolution, however, was much more complex, consisting of several revolutions going on simultaneously. These revolutions were influenced by the French Revolution of 1789, which would come to represent a new concept of human rights, universal citizenship, and participation in government. In the 18th century, Saint Dominigue, now known as Haiti, became France's wealthiest overseas colony, largely because of its production of sugar, coffee, and cotton generated by an enslaved labor force. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, there were five different groups in the colony: the white planter